Latvia’s 1918–2018 centenary celebrations culminated on 18 November at the Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia. Among the major cultural events was a large-scale performance on the embankments of the river Daugava in central Riga. Experienced by around 100,000 people and broadcasted live on national television, Saules mūžs, which translates as Lifetime of the Sun, combined music and a choreography of lights and pyrotechnics and told the story of the Latvian state, from its foundation to the present day. The music score was composed by Ēriks Ešenvalds and Kristaps Krievkalns and included fragments of Latvia’s musical history as well as arrangements of Ešenvalds’ own works.
Photo: Aivars Liepiņš, Latvian Ministry of Culture LV100