Search - Marcel Worms :: Pteris Vasks: The Seasons

Peteris Vasks was born on 16 April 1946 in the Latvian village of Aizpute. After 1991, the year of Latvias independence which had been occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 were his compositions able to be published and openly performed, his works also becoming better known in the West. The violin concerto Tala Gaisma (Distant Light) written for Gidon Kremer, the cello concerto for Sol Gabetta (2012) and his numerous works for choir cause him to gradually be seen outside of Latvia, as a Latvian counterpart of Arvo Pärt. In The Seasons he attempts to evoke his magical musical world with the piano as the only source of sound. Vasks makes splendid use of the possibilities of the piano without The Seasons being a distinctly pianistic work.The nature is the Baltic nature: a seemingly endless winter, an often blustery spring, a short but intense summer and a colourful autumn The contrasts in dynamics, colour and tone are often extreme; free rhythms and tight motoric passages alternate with each other, as well as simple folk melodies and deeper, long melodic lines. Static sections make way for forceful, agitated episodes with many repetitive elements. Potent and abrasive sequences of complex chords à la Messiaen follow milder combinations of tones.