Music of Peteris Vasks

Peteris Vasks (Composer), Rudolf Werthen (Conductor), Flanders Fiamminghi Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Flanders Fiamminghi Orchestra
• Conductor: Rudolf Werthen
• Composer: Peteris Vasks
• Audio CD (September 23, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000003D2J
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,725 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #19 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Symphonies > Modern & 20th Century
  • #23 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Forms & Genres > Symphonies
  • #46 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > General Contemporary

Track Listings

1. Musica Dolorosa

2. Cantabile

3. Lauda

4. I. Klusuma Balsis

5. II. Dzivibas Balsis

6. III. Sirdsapzinas Balsis

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Vasks (b. 1946 in Latvia) is one of the rising stars of the Baltic region. His music has some affinities with that of Pärt and Tormis, and while Vasks isn't afraid to tap into different stylistic modes, like Schnittke, his music remains mostly tonal and doggedly idealistic. Musica Dolorosa (1983) is a masterpiece, plain and simple. Its combined strings create a sound world similar to Gorecki's famous Symphony 3. The major work here is the Symphony Stimmen (Voices) for string orchestra. It's unimaginably beautiful, full of flirtatious string-borne melodies and shadows of sadness here and there. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dolorosa, August 28, 2000

By 

"honsaej" (Hudson, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music of Peteris Vasks (Audio CD)

Vasks compositions on this CD are the most powerful modern-classical pieces I have heard. The emotion is raw and clear, the music is soaring and connects directly to the soul. Where it is truly not for the musical faint of heart, it is unbelievably powerful. Prepare for thrilling dynamics and strains of music that flow like ribbon.

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musica Dolorosa, May 28, 2000

By 

Nicholas Croft (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music of Peteris Vasks (Audio CD)

A critical review of a work, in a music store, may be received poorly. Because mostly people who want to purchase that work, will visit the particular page in the first place.

That said, I do not want to issue a critical review on Vasks' music. This music is of an unbelievably high spiritual quality, such as many an aspiring composer could hardly hope to achieve.

So, perhaps, only a few observations are relevant:

I) This is serious music.

II) Little humor is to be found here, and, as a result, perhaps little joy as well. This is music for the time of being poor in spirit. You may feel a desire to weep, while listening. Perhaps in these tears, there is a blessing: communion with someone who has been, in some sense, wounded.

III) What is the ethos that makes this music so serious? Also, what is the ethos that, perhaps, permits happiness to be possible? These, for me, are the interesting questions that Mr. Vasks work raises.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Sampling of Vasks's Style, August 8, 2009

By 

Karl W. Nehring (Ostrander, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music of Peteris Vasks (Audio CD)

Above I have recommended several disks of music by Peteris Vasks on the Conifer label, and those disks would be my first recommendation for the music of this fascinating composer, because those disks offer a richer variety of Vasks's music. However, for those who are afraid to plunge right into uncharted musical waters, and would rather first dip in a toe to check on the temperature, this new Telarc disk offers a fine sampling of Vasks's music, and the recording quality is up to the usual high Telarc standard. If you have not yet heard the music of Peteris Vasks, then you are really missing something special, so put this disk on your must-audition list, and then be prepared to purchase several more disks to round out your Vasks collection.