Peteris Vasks - Lauda

Peteris Vasks: Message - Cantabile (1979); Cor anglais Concerto (1989); Message (1982); Musica dolorosa (1983); Lauda (1986).

Release Date: Feb 22, 2005.
Original Release: 1994.

Cantabile for string orchestra
Composed by Peteris Vasks
Performed by Riga Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Kriss Rusmanis

Concerto for English horn
Composed by Peteris Vasks
Performed by Riga Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Kriss Rusmanis

Message, for string orchestra, percussion and 2 pianos
Composed by Peteris Vasks
Performed by Riga Philharmonic Orchestra
with Raffi Kharajanyan, Nora Novik
Conducted by Kriss Rusmanis

Musica Dolorosa for string orchestra
Composed by Peteris Vasks
Performed by Riga Philharmonic Orchestra
with Ligita Zemberga
Conducted by Kriss Rusmanis

Lauda, for orchestra
Composed by Peteris Vasks
Performed by Riga Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Kriss Rusmanis


Raffi Kharajanyan (Piano);
Nora Novik (Piano);
Normunds Schnee (English Horn);
Ligita Zemberga (Cello);
Riga Philharmonic Orchestra;
Kriss Rusmanis (Conductor).


"By his own admission, emotion is central to the music of Peteris Vasks, though his intense outpourings are far from amorphous or undisciplined rhapsodies. Rather, his most passionate works are tempered by an appreciation of tradition and a practical awareness of instrumental techniques, timbres, and orchestral textures. Neo-Romanticism plainly dominates Vasks' works from the last quarter of the twentieth century, and this is revealed in the quasi-Mahlerian essays for string orchestra, "Cantabile" (1979) and "Musica dolorosa" (1983), the lush and brilliantly orchestrated "Cor Anglais Concerto" (1989), and the aspiring, suspension-filled "Lauda" (1986). Yet Vasks also employs many modernist devices: echoes of Bartуk's evocative "night music" may be recognized in "Message for strings, percussion and two pianos" (1982), and towering cluster chords, sweeping glissandi, and free dissonant counterpoint enrich Vasks' expression; his music is not limited to merely imitating the Romantic past, but is open to any technique that communicates feeling. The Riga Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kriss Rusmanis, lavishes all the works with gorgeous sonorities, dynamic intensity, and alert execution. Normunds Schnee, the English horn soloist in the "Concerto," displays a burnished tone that is wonderful to hear, and cellist Ligita Zemberga is haunting in the brief solo in "Musica dolorosa.""

/ Blair Sanderson