Folklore friends group
Pērlis

Baltica-97 in Araisi, July 1997

      Name: Pērlis
          meaning: toponym, literal translation: the place of pearls
          recommended transcription in English: Perlis
          approximate pronunciation in English: Pehrlis
          Listen pronunciation in AU format (13 Kb)

      Created: March 1996
      Location: Druviena, Gulbene distr., Vidzeme
      Leader: Dace Vītola
      Number of participants: 34, of them by age:
          younger than 14 years: 14
          from 14 to 24 years: 10
          from 25 to 44 years: 3
          from 45 to 64 years: 7
      and by gender:
          males: 11
          females: 23
      Forms of activity: sing, play music, dance, play roundelays
      Musical instruments: kokle (psaltery), pipe, guitar, accordion, violin, guimbarde, bag-pipe, drum.

      Description: Folklore friends group Pērlis was formed on Easter 1996. First we were a large-family association, and we wished to sing and play together, to study the spiritual heritage of our folk, revive its ancient traditions in our own farmsteads and spur to do this other people too. Later we started to attract other people, for instance schoolchildren, and study not only songs, roundelays and play of instruments, but also the traditional crafts as weaving and forging (in the old good sense) of the traditional metallic adornments.
    We live near Pearl forest, therefore we have named ourselves Pērlis. Earlier, as stories tell, in Druviena creeks actually were found pearls.
    Group's music is characterized by two basic directions: we try to master the ethnographic manner of singing and music playing, but sometimes some songs sound with us in the postfolklore manner in accompaniment of guitar.

Festival Pulkā eimu, pulkā teku, 1998

      Sound sample: Ozols auga jūriņā (Oak grows in the sea) (1998)
One couplet in AU format (339 Kb)
Full song in MP3 format (401 Kb)

      Address:
          in Latvian: FK Pērlis, Druvienas kultūras nams, Druvienas pagasts, Gulbenes rajons, LV-4426, Latvija
          in English: FE Perlis, Druviena Culture house, Druviena parish, Gulbene distr., LV-4426, Latvia
      Phone: (+371) 2-9337028 (Dace), 2-8273513 (Līga)

      Date of presenting the information: 17 October 1998, 22 March 2007