Musica Baltica

Teachers keep coming back to Eriks Ešenvalds's Stars, a popular SSAATTBB setting that anchors this collection, along with his equally well-adopted Only in Sleep and Lux Aeterna. Laura Jekabsone's Father Thunder offers more substantial choral works including oratorios for ensemble settings. Selga Mence's Blacksmith Forges in the Sky and Northern Lights provide folksong arrangements that work well for concert programming.

Recent additions include Eriks Ešenvalds's Legend of the Walled-in Woman and Leaves, both SSAATTBB settings released in early 2026, plus Rihards Dubra's Hail, Queen of Heaven. Laura Jekabsone's Zvidzi, zvidzi, sermais zirdzen offers an upper-voices option for younger or developing ensembles.

Eriks Ešenvalds has become the voice most teachers associate with this collection, building a catalog of choral works that favor expanded voicings and a modern harmonic language grounded in Baltic tradition. His settings move fluidly between sacred texts and literary or folkloric sources, making his pieces work equally well in worship and concert settings.

Laura Jekabsone brings substantial compositional scope to the collection, particularly through Father Thunder, which offers directors looking for ambitious, multi-movement works that can anchor a concert or festival program. Her arrangements of traditional Latvian songs add accessible options for smaller or developing ensembles.

Rihards Dubra contributes both sacred and concert works to the catalog, with a compositional approach that balances accessible sonorities with harmonic depth. His settings tend toward traditional voicings (SATB and SSATB), making them practical choices for directors working with standard choir configurations.