Folklorist, singer, kokle player Biruta Ozoliņa has, for decades, been one of the leading figures in Latvian (particularly Latgalian) folk music, and continues to explore and expand the boundaries of folk music. Over the years, she has released many albums of music explorations, including traditional recordings (1999’s Bolta eimu, a solo album featuring Ozoliņa on vocals and kokle – which remains one of the most affecting and moving Latvian folk music albums of all time), to new age explorations (2002’s Sirdsgrieži), jazz music (2007’s group and album of the same name – Patina), and electronic music (2013’s Sauli sēju with DJ Monsta).
Ozoliņa continues these explorations on 2025’s Daugavas rāgas – which combine Latvian folk songs with Indian raga music. As per the Kennedy center website, “Melodies in Indian music are classified by an ancient system of ragas. A raga (pronounced RAH-guh) is a collection of pitches, kind of like a scale or mode in Western music.” Ragas also deviate from the traditional western half-step/whole-step system, and use ‘microtones’ (intervals smaller than a half-step).
Combining the two musical styles (Latgalian folk and Indian raga) may not be so unusual – the Latvian language is a distant relative of the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, and Latvian is, of course, an Indo-European language. Ozoliņa is joined by an eclectic team of musicians – sitarist and vocalist Shri Subrata De, clarinetist Indriķis Veitners, Ernests Medenis on kokle, and percussionist Vigo Račevskis – playing traditional Indian instruments.
In the recording process, Ozoliņa and Subrata De also discovered a commonality between the two musical styles – according to an interview with Ozoliņa on Latvian Radio 3, the phrase modulation specifically used in the Latgalian singing of the Augšdaugava region of southern Latgale (which is actually closer to the Lithuanian singing style and is different than the traditional Latvian style) is very similar to Indian music.
The album is meditative, with an improvisational feel to it. Ozoliņa’s distinctive voice, at once fragile but confident, floats above the sounds of the sitar. Though the foundation of the recordings are Ozoliņa’s vocals and Subrata De’s sitar, the additional musicians add to the musical palette. Veitners’ clarinet provides an additional dimension to the musical offering of ‘Dzaguze’, as the clarinet melody goes from a somber lower register to soar ever higher at the end of the song.
The album also contains historical vocal recordings, for example on ‘Malvines rāga’, which also features Medenis’ kokle playing, and the sound of the sitar together with the kokle makes for a particularly dreamy and captivating effect. Račevskis’ percussion gives a mystical feel to ‘Pavasari, pavasari’, a song of welcoming the spring, while Ozoliņa and Shri Subrata De trade vocals, and the Indian and Latgalian language cascade to create a lovely linguistic mélange.
Biruta Ozoliņa continues her fascinating and engaging explorations of Latgalian folk music, and Daugavas rāgas is just the latest chapter in this journey. The ancient sounds of India and Latgale blend and flow together and envelop the listener in this mystical journey.
Daugavas rāgas
Biruta Ozoliņa
Upe tuviem un tāliem, 2025
Track listing
- Reita raga
- Dzaguze
- Ceļa raga
- Māras raga
- Bruoli muni
- Malvines raga
- Pavasari, pavasari
