Double LP
Slavic Folk Songs is a collection of songs and sacred chants from diverse Slavic regions performed by Ansis Bētiņš & Artūrs Čukurs, based on oral traditions and melodies often without authors or composers. The songs have been arranged by the duo for two voices and are performed a cappella, in various techniques, characteristic to the specific Slavic singing traditions. A path of perils, struggles and misfortunes of the world, yet full of longing, respites, fleeting moments of joy and relentless hope and love throughout. Ansis Bētiņš and Artūrs Čukurs are a newly formed vocal duo from Riga, Latvia. Driven by their organic interest in different singing traditions of various periods, regions, and styles, Ansis and Artūrs have created a collection of Slavic songs - polyphonic folk songs and spiritual chants from diverse Slavic singing traditions based on oral traditions and melodies without specific authors or composers. With a special emphasis on Ukrainian songs, they tell the stories of loneliness, longing for home, peace, and freedom, observing nature, and the divine, but at the core of it all – of love that hurts, heals, and brings peace. The songs are performed in the characteristic «white voice» style, which requires no significant amplification or accompaniment. Ansis Bētiņš is a singer and musician from Riga, Latvia. He studied academic singing and early music at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA) and the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, Italy. He is a lecturer and vocal pedagogue in the JVLMA musicology and early music departments, and in the Riga Cathedral Choir School. Ansis has extensive experience as a soloist and has collaborated with both local and international artists, early music ensembles, and orchestras. His repertoire extends from Renaissance to contemporary music. Among his other interests, language and rhetoric stand out, which is why both his work on ancient music and his work as a freelance actor are connected. Artūrs Čukurs is a theater artist and musician from Riga, Latvia. He has studied at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). With a keen interest in collective creation methods, he is driven by a desire for diversity and is always seeking new ways to blend musical and theatrical experiences together.
