<i>Views of the Baltic German Press on the Traditions: of Other Nationalities in Riga’s Music Life in the 1870s–1880s: The Influence of the Political Context</i>

Abstract The history of German presence in the territory of Latvia began in the thirteenth century, when Germans arrived here as crusaders. From that time until the nineteenth century, they played the dominant role in the economic and political life of the region. In the second half of the nineteenth century, however, the situation changed. After the abolition of serfdom (1817–1819), Latvians greatly improved their economic and educational status, and the new Latvian intelligentsia expressed its opposition to German dominance in the region. The Latvian national revival of that period was supported by the Russian authorities with a somewhat selfish interest. The aim of this paper is to answer the question: how did these processes affect the descriptions of music life in the press, or, more precisely, one aspect of press commentaries – the Baltic Germans’ views on the traditions of other nationalities? It has been found that many reviews confirm the Baltic Germans’ interest and openness towards other national traditions. At least some of the German music critics do not deserve to be criticised for ignoring the music life of ethnic Latvians as described in Latvian periodicals. The political context, however, comes to the fore when discussing not the music itself, but the press publications or speeches that include some ‘provocative’ elements – be it claims to the premises of the Rigaer Stadttheater voiced in a Russian newspaper, or efforts to deny the inspiring role of Germans in Latvian cultural history.