Conferences held annually on 31 October to commemorate Krisjanis Barons anniversary became a tradition in early 1980's. But in 1994 commemorating the centennary since the first part of "Latvju Dainas" was published, it was decieded to organise a wide international conference devoted to folklore and folklore publications. The conference entitled Folksong: Text and Voice took place 20-24 September 1994 in Lielupe, there were participants from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the USA and Canada (including Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the present President of Latvia). Conference was focused not exclusively on "Latvju Dainas" but also Johann Gotfried Herder's 250th anniversary and centennary since publishing of "Latviesu tautas muzikas materiali" ('Latvian Folk-Music Materials') by Jurjanu Andrejs.

The programme of the conference was as follows:

Wednesday, 21 September
9.30-13.00 OPENING SESSION 1 (Chair: Viktors Hausmanis)
1. Viktors Hausmanis (Riga). Opening Address.
2. Jadviga Darbiniece (Riga). "Latvju dainas" in the Course of a Century.
3. Wilhelm Schmid (Berlin). Die Idee des Nationalen bei Herder
4. William A. Wilson (Provo). Herder, Nationalism, and the Challenge for Future
5. Kristin Kuutma (Tallinn). Cultural Identity, Nationalism and Changes in Singing Traditions
6. Velle Espeland (Oslo). Draumkvedet. From Fragments of a Folksong to a National Heirloom
7. Anneli Asplund (Helsinki). Forbidden Songs- Song Tradition Change and Identity in Ingria Today
14.00-17.00 PARALLEL SESSIONS
SESSION 1.1 (Chair: Magdalene Huelmann)
1. Dace Bula (Riga). Latvian Folksongs on the Stage of National Ideology
2. Kostas Aleksynas (Vilnius). The After-effects of an Unobjective Standpoint on Folklore
3. Igors Suvajevs (Riga). Was geht uns Lettland an?
4. Dagmara Beitnere (Riga). Das Erbe der Volkskunde und eines von Paradigmen des Nationalismus - dievturîba
5. Aldis Putelis (Riga). The Sacred Songs: "Latvju dainas" as the Basis for a Religion
SESSION 1.2 (Chair: Velta Ruke-Dravina)
1. Marite Vîksna (Riga). The Common Effort. Learning About the Contributors of "Latvju dainas"
2. Harijs Suna (Riga). Die choreographische Folklore in "Latvju dainas"
3. Rita Drizule (Riga). Ähnliche und unterschiedliche Gestalten und Motive bei Hochzeitsliedern der Waisen in lettischer und litauischer Folklore

Thursday, 22 September
9.30-13.00 PLENARY SESSION 2 (Chair William A. Wilson)
1. Imola Küllos (Budapest). A New Aspect and Trend in the Hungarian Folkpoetry Research
2. Lauri Harvilahti (Helsinki). An Eye for the Poetic "I" - the Reappraisal of 19th Century Folklore Collections
3. Lujza Mihaltzne Tari (Budapest). Die Zusammenhänge von Musik und Text in 'Volkslieder Sammlungen' Manuskripten des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts
4. Vaira Vike-Freiberga (Montreal). Similarity and Contrast as Structuring Principles in Longer Latvian Folksongs
5. Jukka Saarinen (Helsinki).Variation, Situation and Meaning in Finnish-Karelian Epic Poetry
6. Skaidrite Lasmane (Riga). The Semantics of Self-image in Latvian Folksongs
13.45-16.30 PARALLEL SESSIONS
SESSION 2.1 (Chair: Lauri Harvilahti)
1. Edward Y. Alexeyev (Moscow). Methodological Paradigms of Studying the Textual and Extratextual in Folk Singing
2. Yelena V. Minyonok (Moscow). Videorecording of Folksongs
3. Mare Koiva (Tartu). An Experiment with Magic Spells
4. Edwin S. Ivsins (Toronto). Word by Mouth, Word by Radio
5. Taive Särg (Tartu). How to Perform a Runo Song?
SESSION 2.2 (Chair: Imants Freibergs)
1. Antons Breidaks (Riga). Some Archaic Morphologic Features in the Folksongs from Latgale
2. Beatrise Reidzane (Riga). The Verbal Aspect of Movement in Latvian Nursing Songs
3. Iveta Politere (Riga). 'Vogelsprachen' in der lettischen Folklore. Gattungsprobleme
4. Valdis Zeps (Madison). Latvian Folk Dactyl
SESSION 2.3 (Chair: Zaiga Sneibe)
1. Daiva Raciunaite-Vyciniene (Vilnius). Wiederherstellung der Traditionen der Ausführung von litauischen polyphonischen Liedern Sutartinës
2. Andrejs Krumins (Riga). Die rhythmische Notierung un der reale Klang der Volksmelodien des Rezitieren-Typus
3. Austë Nakienë (Vilnius). Lithuanian Recitatival Melodies and their Parallels

Friday, 23 September
PLENARY SESSION 3 (Chair: Vaira Vike-Freiberga)
1. Friedrich Scholz (Münster) Herders Auffassung Volkslieds und der Literatur und die Geschichte der Lettischen Literatur (vorgeträgt von Magdalene Huelmann)
2. Hugues J. de Dianoux (Paris) Michel Jonval and the interest for the Latvian Folklore and Folksongs in France
3. Ildikó Kriza (Budapest). Hungarian Funeral Song in Rural Tradition
4. Zemyna Trinkunaite (Vilnius). Concept of Death and its Expression in Lithuanian Folksongs
5. Guntis Pakalns (Riga). Volkslieder in den Beileidsanzeigen im lettischen Bezirkszeitungen
6. Baiba Meistere (Riga). Folksong as an Album Rhyme in Pupils' Folklore
13.45-17.00 PARALLEL SESSIONS
SESSION 3.1 (Chair: Imola Küllo^s)
1. Kristi Salve (Tartu). Songs about Song from the Aspect of Baltic - Balto-Finnic Relations
2. Vilis Bendorfs (Riga). Die Musik in der Volkliedertextesammlung "Latvju dainas"
3. Triinu Ojamaa (Tartu). Nganasan Concept of Musical Sound
4. Zaiga Sneibe (Riga). Changing World, Changing Sounds. The Persistence of Latvian Traditional Singing Style
5. Anu Vissel (Tartu). Stability and Variation in the Estonian Herding Vocalises (helletus)
6. Baiba Putnina (Riga). Refrain in den lettischen Volksliedem
SESSION 3.2 (Chair: Beatrise Reidzane)
1. Velta Ruke-Dravina (Stockholm). Die"Latvju Dainas" von Krisjanis Barons als Spiegel der lettischen Sprache des 19. Jahrhunderts
2. Imants Freibergs (Montreal). HyperText Methods Applied to Folk Song Retrieval
3. Silvija Kokina (Riga). The Computerized Data Base of "Latvju dainas". Problems and Results
4. Maija Baltina (Riga). Text, Form and Canon

Saturday, 24 September

10.00-11.00 FINAL DISCUSSION (Chair: Karlis Arajs, Vaira Vike-Freiberga)