Data file for the research of Auseklis Lazdiņš's handwritten sheet music (Excel, PDF), used in conducting the study ''The Repertoire of Latvian SSR Dance Orchestras and Restaurant Ensembles in the Late 1950s and Early 1960s: An Analysis of the Sheet Music Albums Transcribed by Auseklis Lazdiņš

[ENG] Auseklis Lazdiņš transcribed a total of 890 themes that were in his ensemble's repertoire from 1957 to 1960. This file allows for conclusions to be drawn regarding the proportion of Western music, Latvian music, and works by composers from other USSR republics and socialist countries, the dominant music in the repertoire, as well as the permeability of the Iron Curtain.The original Google Sheets file (now converted to Excel and PDF) was created in 2025. The data within it was collected in September 2025 during a 6-hour long interview and document scanning session, during which we scanned three song and sheet music albums, as well as individual photos. The original scans of the heet music albums used to create this dataset are available at: https://zenodo.org/records/17117534 This is the most recently updated version of the file, formatted as Excel and PDF documents. I used this data to write a publication (the abstract is included below). The article has been submitted for publication in a journal published by Daugavpils University. This file is now available for other researchers who wish to continue working on this topic. More about methodology used to creat this file - below. ABSTRACT The Repertoire of Latvian SSR Dance Orchestras and Restaurant Ensembles in the Late 1950s and Early 1960s: An Analysis of Auseklis Lazdiņš's Handwritten Sheet Music Albums The aim of the research is to explore the repertoire of dance orchestras and restaurant ensembles in the Latvian SSR during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and to analyze how much of it consisted of Western music, Latvian music, and the works of composers from other USSR republics. Music was often played upon audience request (especially in restaurants); therefore, the repertoire of dance orchestras serves as evidence of whether the latest Western music of that time managed to penetrate the "Iron Curtain". Also it reflects the tastes of the listeners. The research materials were obtained by interviewing Auseklis Lazdiņš (b. 1935) in the summer of 2025. As an active musician in popular music (dance orchestras, restaurant ensembles) during the late 50s and early 60s, Lazdiņš meticulously wrote down the repertoire of that time (a total of 890 compositions) by hand into three large sheet music notebooks. The study is examined within the context of the history of Latvian rock music. The period under research falls within the era of the "early condemnation and ignoring of rock music" (1957–1962) . This research confirms that dance orchestras in Riga were playing rock and roll as early as the late 1950s; however, this was not the dominant music in the repertoire. METHODOLOGY Initially, I attempted to identify each composition on my own, but due to the large volume of data, I combined this work with the artificial intelligence (AI) tool Gemini (which was more convenient to synchronize with documents stored on Google Drive). I assume that I would not have been able to identify a large portion (perhaps half) of the recognized melodies on my own. Working with AI was also time-consuming, as it required constantly verifying the reliability of the obtained data. Corrections were sometimes made in the handwritten sheet music and song titles, which occasionally caused the AI to get confused or "freeze." I compiled the extracted data into an Excel spreadsheet. The primary instruction for the AI was to accurately record the phonetic transcriptions of the song titles made by the musicians exactly as they appear in the original source, and then to proceed with their identification and data structuring. The table had to include the composition title written in the sheet music, the true title, composer, genre, original language, country of origin, a link to the source or audio recording, specific marks in the notation, a brief history, and the year of composition. Strict constraints were set for the system to not make assumptions in place of missing information and not to translate the original genre names (I coded these myself later). To avoid AI hallucinations, I entered the research material into the system in small batches. Afterward, I manually verified the answers by comparing the audio of the composition with the sheet music to ensure the accuracy of the identification. I also manually coded the origin of the songs (the West or Socialist Bloc countries), paying special attention to the origin of German songs by distinguishing between West Germany and the GDR. -- [LV] Auseklis Lazdiņš kopā pierakstījis 890 tēmas, kuras bija viņa ansambļa repertuārā no 1957.-1960. gadam, ļaujot izdarīt secinājumus par rietumu mūzikas, latviešu mūzikas un citu PSRS republiku un socvalstu komponistu darbu īpatsvaru tajā un repertuārā dominējošo mūziku, kā arī Dzelzs priekškara caurlaidību. SKENĒTAIS NOŠU MATERIĀLS, KAS IZMANTOTS EXCEL FAILA VEIDOŠANĀ: https://zenodo.org/records/17117534 Sākotnēji mēģināju katru kompozīciju atpazīt saviem spēkiem, taču lielā datu apjoma dēļ šo darbu kombinēju ar mākslīgā intelekta (MI) rīku Gemini (to bija ērtāk sinhronizēt ar Google Drive noglabātajiem dokumentiem). Pieļauju, ka lielu daļu (varbūt pusi) atpazīto melodiju saviem spēkiem nebūtu atpazinis. Arī darbs ar MI bija laikietilpīgs, jo nepārtraukti jāpārliecinās par iegūto datu drošticamību. Rokrakstā pierakstītajās notīs un dziesmu nosaukumos reizēm veikti labojumi, kā rezultātā MI reizēm apjuka vai "uzkārās". Iegūtos datus apkopoju Excel tabulā. Galvenais norādījums MI bija precīzi fiksēt mūziķu veiktos fonētiskos dziesmu nosaukumu pierakstus tieši tādā formā, kādā tie redzami oriģinālajā avotā, un tālāk veikt to atpazīšanu un datu strukturēšanu. Tabulā bija jānorāda notīs pierakstītais kompozīcijas nosaukums, patiesais nosaukums, komponists, žanrs, oriģinālvaloda, izcelsmes valsts, saite uz avotu vai audio ierakstu, specifiskas atzīmes nošrakstā, īsa vēsture, komponēšanas gads. Sistēmai tika uzstādīti stingri ierobežojumi neveidot pieņēmumus trūkstošās informācijas vietā un netulkot oriģinālos žanru nosaukumus (tos tālāk kodēju saviem spēkiem). Lai izvairītos no MI halucinēšanas, pētījuma materiālu sistēmā ievadīju nelielos daudzumos. Pēc tam manuāli pārbaudīju atbildes, salīdzinot kompozīcijas skanējumu ar notīm, lai pārliecinātos par atpazīšanas precizitāti. Tāpat manuāli kodēju dziesmu izcelsmi (Rietumi vai sociālistiskā bloka valstis), uzmanību pievēršot arī vācu dziesmu izcelsmei, nošķirot Rietumvāciju no VDR.