Jānis Cimze

Jānis Cimze was a Latvian pedagogue, collector and harmoniser of folk songs, organist, founder of Latvian choral music and initiator of professional Latvian music. He is buried at the Lugaži Cemetery. Early life Cimze was born at the Rauna Manor Cimze dairy farm (hoflage) to the family of a manor's dairy farm overseer, Andreas (Ansis) Cimze, and his wife, Anne, as the first of 8 children. His initial education came from Rauna Parish School, where he also learned to play the organ. From the age of sixteen, he worked as a private tutor; later, he taught at Valmiera Parish School and served as an organist. Education In 1836, Cimze went to Germany to study at Weissenfels Teachers' Seminary, which he finished in 1838. This was where he learned to play the violin and piano and improved his skills as an organist. In 1838—39, he was an external student at Berlin University, where he attended lectures on mathematics, didactics, and the theory of music. His music professor was Ludwig Christian Erk, a collector, harmoniser, publisher, and researcher of German folk songs. Vidzeme Teachers' Seminary Upon returning from Germany, Cimze headed the Vidzeme Teachers' Seminary from 1839 until the end of his life, where he taught future teachers how to conduct choirs and harmonise folk songs. Cimze followed the principles of Johann Pestalozzi and Adolph Diesterweg, and all education was conducted in German. During his forty-two years at the Teachers' Seminary, Cimze educated more than four hundred students who subsequently became teachers in Latvian and Estonian. Being a teacher in the 19th century also meant being an educator, a musician, a literary and public figure. In the second half of the 19th century, teachers organised choirs and worked with them and cultural societies. Musical legacy Jānis Cimze promoted the development of Latvian choral singing and the cultivation of a cappella performance.