Latvian composer Pēteris Plakidis, who passed away in 2017, left a rich musical legacy. His oeuvre included chamber music, choir music, as well as symphonic music. To highlight his achievements in symphonic composition, the Latvian national record label Skani released the album Atskatīšanās (or Glance Back) in 2019, which collected four of Plakidis’ symphonic works performed by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vassily Sinaisky.

Dziedājums, composed in 1986 and dedicated to the 60^th anniversary of the LNSO, is full of drama and tension, from the piercing strings that open the work, which are then enhanced with the calls of the trumpets. The brass instruments then present their own discordant sounds in a kind of dialogue with the lighter melodies in the woodwinds. Plakidis regularly alternates between softer melodies and discordant bursts of sound throughout the work, giving the work an ominous feel, that, at any moment, the calm can be broken by a crash of sound. At the midway point, the work reaches its climax, with the strings sounding like an alarm in their relentless performance, which again leads to a moment of calm in the woodwinds and harp performance. The work is punctuated by the sound of a bass guitar, which, with its atypical sound for a symphonic work, adds to the unease. The intensity continues all the way to the conclusion, and only in the closing moments does an air of calmness prevail. Conductor Sinaisky and the LNSO provide for a memorable and nuanced interpretation of this fluid and dynamic work.

Plakidis composed Variācijas orķestrim (or Variations for Orchestra) in 1996, and here again the listener must use their imagination to understand what the variations even are. A tender yet somber descending melody in the strings begins the work, which is then taken over by the woodwinds. An air of mysteriousness arises with the extended performance of the strings, which leads into a deliberate, almost aggressive performance in the brass instruments. An extended interlude gives the work a mystical feel, with brief bursts of activity in all the instruments, but this transforms into an almost grotesque march, with shrieking strings and brass supplemented by thundering percussion.

The composer was known for being very tight-lipped about his works, offering little in terms of explanation or detail about what a work might be about. The CD booklet is then, perhaps appropriately, light on detail on the works, leaving the listener to reach their own conclusions about what the composer was trying to say through his music. The earliest work on the CD – Leģenda (or ‘Legend’), composed in 1976, is also probably the most enigmatic of the four works, perhaps due to the era it was composed (still well into the Soviet occupation of Latvia, as well as the era of stagnation in the Soviet Union). The work begins with a sound like raindrops in the percussion, which is then joined by what might be the sound of birds in the strings. The orchestra does indeed seem to tell a story, and the performance of the LNSO guides the listener through this tale, giving a vibrant vitality to Plakidis’ tale, but it is up to the listener to fill in the details of the story itself.

The appropriately reflective Atskatīšanās (or ‘Glance Back’) closes out this collection. Composed in 1991, at the time Latvia regained its independence during the upheaval in the former Soviet Union, perhaps Plakidis intended this work to be also a kind of a dividing line – between his compositions under the Soviet cultural system and the new, independent Latvian culture. Mystical elements return in this composition, with the sound of the woodwinds akin to a song of conjuring. Still, there are elements of unease and uncertainty, and the work builds to a dramatic crescendo, with tolling of bells to accentuate the somber atmosphere. The music slowly dissipates at the conclusion, perhaps indicating an uncertain, elusive future.

The loss of Pēteris Plakidis in 2017 was a significant loss to Latvian academic music and culture. Though not a prolific composer, the works he did compose were monumental and vivid, and this is confirmed by the recordings on Atskatīšanās. The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vassily Sinaisky, reveal the many facets and textures of Plakidis’ works, confirming him as a singular orchestral composer.

For further information, please visit the Skani website

Pēteris Plakidis – Atskatīšanās

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Vassily Sinaisky conductor

LMIC/SKANI 076, 2019

Track listing:

1. Dziedājums
2. Variācijas orķestrim
3. Leģenda
4. Atskatīšanās

The Latvian Radio Choir, long known not just for their versatility, but also their enthusiasm for modern and challenging works, have, for decades now, brought the names and music of Latvian choir music composers to audiences over the world. Through the tireless efforts of conductors Sigvards Kļava and Kaspars Putniņš, names such as Maija Einfelde, Mārtiņš Viļums, Andrejs Selickis, among many others, have been heard by audiences that would likely not have heard them otherwise.

The choir also diligently release recordings of the works of Latvian composers, such as The Fruit of Silence, Mārtiņš Brauns’ Daugava, Daba un dvēsele, among many others. On their 2019 CD Evening Impression (or Vakara impresija), the choir presents more introspective, ethereal choir works by Latvian composers, all composed in the past decade.

Sacred elements imbue many of the works on this collection. Using text from the Gospel of John, composer Juris Karlsons’ gently flowing ‘Gaisma’ (or ‘Light’) creates a calm, reassuring atmosphere with its repeated phrase ‘Es esmu gaisma’ (I am the Light). Composer Andrejs Selickis finds inspiration in the 51^st Psalm for his ‘Radi manī, ak Dievs’ (Create in Me), and intertwines Gregorian and Byzantine elements to create a deeply spiritual work. Ēriks Ešenvalds sets the writings of the Eastern Orthodox monk Silouan the Athonite to music in the contemplative ‘I Write’. The work, envisioned as an episode from the monk’s life, is a deeply reverent prayer, lifted to soaring heights by the voices of the choir.

Ešenvalds also provides the brief and almost fragile ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’. Using text by Irish poet William Butler Yeats, the work, a confession of love, is vividly interpreted by Ešenvalds and his striking harmonies.

Pēteris Vasks interprets the poetry of Latvian poet Imants Ziedonis in ‘Mīlas dziesmas’ (Songs of Love), a cycle of five miniatures. From the gently undulating ‘Tāds gaišums’, to the very reserved and solemn ‘Un pēkšņi tāds klusums’ and the reflective, delicate ‘Ne lapa nekustas’, Vasks’ brings forth the spiritual and emotional in the poetry. The cycle was composed shortly after Ziedonis’ death in 2013, and the choir ensures that this is a highly personal, performance of this work.

Latvian poetry also provides inspiration for Maija Einfelde’s ‘Vakara impresija’, based on a poem by Rainis. Einfelde’s music often has harsh, even emotionally raw harmonies, and Rainis’ text about approaching dusk becomes unsettling, even ominous. Arturs Maskats’ lyrical, expressive ‘Liepziedā’, based on poetry by Ojārs Vācietis, gives the choir many opportunities to display their skill in this nuanced, colorful composition.

Jēkabs Nīmanis has composed much for theater, and this is evident in his ‘Krēslas stundas’, a kind of ghost story set to music based on a text by Jānis Vainovskis. Partially spoken, the choir acts as a kind of narrator for the otherworldly text about an unexpected encounter with a female spirit.

Slightly out of place on this particular collection is Mārtiņš Viļums’ ‘Bij’ man viena balta pupa’, if only because the work, based on a Latvian folksong, is sung in a Latvian folk style (that is, occasionally loudly and shrilly). Still, the work, with its extensive mythological elements (according to the liner notes, “The bean is an ancient Indo-European mythological symbol – the path to heaven”) and mystical atmosphere, results in a dramatic and engrossing performance.

Calm and meditative, the Latvian Radio Choir and conductors Sigvards Kļava and Kaspars Putniņš create an engaging and ruminative musical journey. Combining sacred and secular elements, as well as both melodic and discordant sounds, Evening Impression further displays the many facets of the sound of the choir, and reaffirms their position as the leading interpreters of modern Latvian choir music.

For further information, please visit the Latvian Radio Choir website.

Evening Impression

Latvian Radio Choir

LMIC/SKANI 075, 2019

Track listing:

1. Juris Karlsons – Gaisma

Pēteris Vasks – Mīlas dziesmas

2. Tāds gaišums

3. Un pēkšņi tāds klusums

4. Kur biju?

5. Tad apstājas laiks

6. Ne lapa nekustas

7. Jēkabs Nīmanis – Krēslas stundas

8. Ēriks Ešenvalds – He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

9. Ēriks Ešenvalds – I Write

10. Mārtiņš Viļums – Bij’ man viena balta pupa

11. Maija Einfelde – Vakara impresija

12. Andrejs Selickis – Radi manī, ak Dievs

13. Arturs Maskats – Liepziedā