DŪDALNIEKI, Latvian folk group
Dūdalnieki (doo dal near key) is a Latvian folk group based in West Yorkshire, in the North of England. It was founded in 1983 and is made up of people of all ages who share an interest in Latvian folklore. The main aim of the group is to uphold ancient Latvian customs and rituals, celebrating the seasonal cycle of festivals. The members and their families come from various areas of Latvia, so Dūdalnieki sing and play traditional tunes from all over Latvia. As musicians come and go, the line-up of the group changes, which in turn means the instruments used also changes.
The majority of Latvian traditional music is vocal, sung in different local dialects. Latvian folksongs are, in the main, made up of ancient four-line verses called "dainas". The dainas date back millennia as the Baltic languages (Latvian and Lithuanian) are two of the oldest languages in Europe. The dainas have been passed down orally for centuries and illustrate everyday family and community life and beliefs.
The group plays many traditional and familiar instruments such as fiddles, bagpipes, melodeon, guitar and recorders, as well as numerous percussion instruments. They also use traditional Latvian folk instruments such as the kokle (this instrument belongs to a small, independent family of instruments found within the area around the north eastern Baltic. It is in the harp/zither family of stringed instruments), trīdeksnis (a percussion instrument), and vienstīdzis (a Latvian monochord).
Dūdalnieki have performed in France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and all over the UK. They have also been broadcast on various radio stations around Europe. Last year they travelled to Siberia to sing and play to the Siberian Latvian community. This was one of the most emotional trips the group has ever undertaken. Dudalnieki made their first trip the Baltica festival in 1991 and have been back on another 6 occasions. At the last festival in 2012 they met and became friends with a French group at the festival and in 2013 travelled to France to celebrate their 30th anniversary in France with their new friends.
The group have released 4 albums
1985: Dūdalnieki audiocassette
1999: CD “Tai kalnāi …”
2003: CD “20″ (20 gadi Dūdalnieki)
2008: CD “Pilnu pūru pielocīju”