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The choral music of Latvian composer Peteris Vasks offers an ideal approach to new music for people who think they don't like new music. His music is certainly not going to be mistaken for that of a traditional tonal composer or a neo-Romantic; it's full of swoops, clusters, and startling sonorities. While he includes a generous sampling of 20th and 21st century techniques in his compositional toolkit, that's not all he's got in there; he also uses tonal harmonies, recognizable forms, memorable melodies, and it wouldn't be stretching to characterize his music as essentially sweet and sensual without being cloying. Most importantly, he combines his disparate materials in ways that have an inescapably direct emotional impact, often with the simple communicativeness of Eastern European minimalist mystics, with whom he could reasonably be grouped.
Vasks is a prolific choral composer and the eight secular pieces on this 2012 album represent a sampling of some of his most appealing works. Most are a cappella but one is accompanied by violin, cello, and tape, and one by percussion. Some are for mixed voices and some for women's voices. The album opens with its most challenging work, The Tomtit's Message, a dazzling virtuoso showcase for mixed voices that immediately establishes the astonishingly sophisticated musicianship and gorgeous choral sound of the Latvian Radio Choir, led by Sigvards Klava, which seems undaunted by Vasks' most extravagant demands for extended vocal techniques, alternating with sections of piercing tonal purity. Other highlights include the gentle Silent Songs, the rhapsodic Summer for women's voices, and the Plainscapes, an atmospheric wordless vocalize with string accompaniment. The sound of the Ondine CD is cleanly detailed but isn't lacking in warmth or resonance. Fans of composers like Mortensen and Whitacre are likely to find much to enjoy in Vasks' strikingly original choral works.
© TiVo
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Ziles zina (The Message of the Titmouse) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Klusas dziemas (silent songs) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Musu masu vardi (Our Mother’s Names) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Skumja mate (Sad Mother) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Vasara (Summer) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Lidzenuma ainavas (Plainscapes) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist - Sandis Steinbergs, Artist - Guna Aboltina, Artist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Mazi silti svetki (A Moment of Celebration) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Piedzimsana (Birth) (Pēteris Vasks)
Peteris VASKS, Composer - Sigvards Klava, Conductor - Latvian Radio Choir, Choir, MainArtist - Jānis Kokins, Artist
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
Album review
The choral music of Latvian composer Peteris Vasks offers an ideal approach to new music for people who think they don't like new music. His music is certainly not going to be mistaken for that of a traditional tonal composer or a neo-Romantic; it's full of swoops, clusters, and startling sonorities. While he includes a generous sampling of 20th and 21st century techniques in his compositional toolkit, that's not all he's got in there; he also uses tonal harmonies, recognizable forms, memorable melodies, and it wouldn't be stretching to characterize his music as essentially sweet and sensual without being cloying. Most importantly, he combines his disparate materials in ways that have an inescapably direct emotional impact, often with the simple communicativeness of Eastern European minimalist mystics, with whom he could reasonably be grouped.
Vasks is a prolific choral composer and the eight secular pieces on this 2012 album represent a sampling of some of his most appealing works. Most are a cappella but one is accompanied by violin, cello, and tape, and one by percussion. Some are for mixed voices and some for women's voices. The album opens with its most challenging work, The Tomtit's Message, a dazzling virtuoso showcase for mixed voices that immediately establishes the astonishingly sophisticated musicianship and gorgeous choral sound of the Latvian Radio Choir, led by Sigvards Klava, which seems undaunted by Vasks' most extravagant demands for extended vocal techniques, alternating with sections of piercing tonal purity. Other highlights include the gentle Silent Songs, the rhapsodic Summer for women's voices, and the Plainscapes, an atmospheric wordless vocalize with string accompaniment. The sound of the Ondine CD is cleanly detailed but isn't lacking in warmth or resonance. Fans of composers like Mortensen and Whitacre are likely to find much to enjoy in Vasks' strikingly original choral works.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 01:11:22
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Latvian Radio Choir Sigvards Kļava Sandis Steinbergs Janis Kokins Guna Aboltina
- Composer: Pēteris Vasks
- Label: Ondine
- Genre: Classical Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) Choral Music (Choirs)
(C) 2012 Ondine (P) 2012 Ondine
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