We have plenty of opportunities to play and listen to early music in its natural environment – in medieval and baroque period castles and churches. The Early Music Festival organized by Latvijas Koncertdirekcija takes place under the stars in in a restored Middle Age castle in Bauska. During the three-day festival, several concerts are performed also in the nearby baroque castle in Rundāle. To lend even more authenticity to the event, period costumes and musical instruments are used . The best known early music ensembles are Canto, Schola Cantorum Riga, Ludus, Sansara, Sacrum and Collegium Musicum Riga. Along with our most dedicated interpreters of baroque classics, Conductors Māris Kupčs and Andris Veismanis, the audiences have an opportunity to enjoy performances by well known guest musicians. The culmination of the festival is a night time performance in the courtyard of the Rundāle castle:the audience has been treated to operas, like Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Georg–Friedrich Hendel’s Acis and Galatea,and a staged re-enaction of the Koenigsberg wedding of the Duke of Courland and the Princess of Brandenburg Luise Charlotte.. In addition to concerts, workshops of early music and dance are held.

Latvian audiences are also fond of sacral music. The Festival of Sacral Music, organized by the State Academic Choir Latvija, has become an important cultural event whose high artistic level, fascinating programme and distinguished guest artists have received international acclaim. Such famous composers as Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt and Sir John Taverner have participated in the concerts of their music. Every year, the choir Latvija also commissions new pieces from Latvian composers.

The beginnings of Latvian religious music date back to the 16th and 17th century, but in 1887 Jurjānu Andrejs composed Garīgā kantāte (Sacral Cantata) that was sung in Latvian instead of the usual Latin. Dievs, Tava zeme deg (Lord, Thine Land Is Burning) by Lūcija Garūta is an emotionally charged cantata first performed in 1944 when Latvia was experiencing the tragedy of World War II. During the Soviet period, the genre of sacral music went into hibernation, to be resurrected after the restoration of Latvia’s independence in the early 1990s.. Pēteris Vasks and Maija Einfelde’s compositions are known and played the world over; some of the other important composers of sacral music are Pēteris Butāns, Arturs Maskats, Rihards Dubra, Andris Dzenītis and Ēriks Ešenvalds.