Folklore group
Laiksne

In year 2008

      Name: Laiksne
          meaning: water lily
          recommended transcription in English: Laiksne
          approximate pronunciation in English: Laiksne
          Listen pronunciation in AU format (13 Kb)

      Created: October 1993
      Location: Riga
      Leader: Lauma Garkalne
      Number of participants: 6, of them by age:
          from 25 to 44 years: 6
      and by gender:
          males: 1
          females: 5
      Forms of activity: sing, play music, dance
      Musical insruments: kokle (psaltery), accordion, pipe, violin, mandolin, guimbarde, monochord, bungas and other pulsatiles.

Symbolism:     Logotype of Laiksne - symbolizes a water lily.

      Description: The folklore group Laiksne was founded in 1993 in Riga, Latvia. Its repertoire consists of Latvian seasonal ritual and lyric songs as well as traditional dance music. The group’s vocal style is firmly rooted in Latvian tradition but Laiksne also allows present day influences to creep in. Songs and melodies come from whole Latvia, slightly more from Latgalia in the East where folklore traditions are well preserved. Also the name of the group comes from Eastern Latvia where “laiksne means water lily. Laiksne performs vocal and instrumental folk and post folk compositions. Laiksne’s instrumental compositions utilize several Latvian traditional instruments - kokles (string instrument), pipes, bagpipes, violin, accordion, mandolin and percussions as well as some modern instruments - guitar and bass guitar.
    Laiksne has participated in various festivals in Latvia, Czech Republic, Poland, White Russia, Slovenia, Russia, Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania. The group has recorded three CDs, Kyukova dzagyuze (Songs of the Cockoo Bird) in 2001, Jāņu nakti zelta rasa (Midsummer Night Golden Dew) in 2002 and Es jauna būdama (Me Being Young) in 2003 as well as participated in several folk music compilations, for instance Sviests (2005) and Sviests 2 (2007).

Folklore festival Baltica 2006 in Kuldīga

      Sound sample: Treis putneni (Three birds) (2003)
Full song in MP3 format (1416 Kb)

      Address:
          in Latvian: Aija Rozentāla, Tērbatas iela 16/18-17, Rīga, LV-1011, Latvija
          in English: Aija Rozentala, Terbatas str. 16/18-17, Riga, LV-1011, Latvia
      Phone: (+371) 26176329 (Lauma Garkalne)
      E-mail: laiksne_N@N_laiksne.lv
      Home page: http://www.laiksne.lv/

      Date of presenting the information: 31 August 1998, 14 April 2000, 5 July 2001, 6 October 2008

      Older photos:
Procession in folklore festival Baltica-94, July 1994 (37Kb)
On Cathedral place, Riga, John's day 1996 (29Kb)