From the Golden
Treasury of Latvian Organ Music
is the generic title of a series of
concerts planned to cover several seasons
launched by Vita Kalnciema. The present
release gives a fair idea of what may
be expected from this (hopefully) ongoing
series, and of the wealth of organ music
composed in Latvia during the 20th
Century. All the pieces here were composed
during the past century. The earliest
work is Kalniņš’ Fantasia
in G minor composed in 1903
and the most recent, Dubra’s The
Longing for Eternal Hills, composed
in 1995.
Kalniņš
may be regarded as the first noteworthy
Latvian composer of the early 20th
Century. He is represented here by the
Fantasia which is still
rather indebted to Franck, and by the
Pastoral in B major of
1913 which clearly demonstrates considerable
stylistic progress. The music of the
later work is more varied and more searching,
with many fine instrumental touches.
Both pieces are really very fine and
definitely deserve to be heard.
Mediņš
belongs to the same generation as Kalniņš
(incidentally, both are exact
contemporaries of composers such as
Ravel, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Ireland
and Bridge); and his Prelude No.1
(from a set of three) is another well-written
piece still rooted in tradition, but
– again – well worth hearing.
Barisons’ The
Prayer is a substantial piece
falling into two sections played without
a break: Repentance, more troubled
in mood and Forgiving, appeased
and serene. This fine work shows that
some Latvian composers were then looking
West; and the Barisons’ piece as well
as that of Keninš often made me think
of Widor and Dupré.
Tālivaldis
Keninš, now resident in Canada,
is one of the best-known composers in
this collection, Vasks being the other
one. Keninš’ music has been fairly
well served as far as recordings are
concerned. There exists a 4-disc
set published as part of the Anthologie
de la musique canadienne, as well
as a couple of discs with some of his
chamber works. He sometimes resorts
to the Lutheran chorales from his youth,
as in his very fine Partita on
Lutheran Chorales for strings
(1983) and Introduction, pastoral
and Toccata on the Lutheran Carol "Beautiful
Saviour" from the same year.
This is a magnificent piece of music,
again reminiscent of Dupré and
Langlais (and none the worse for that).
The Pastoral is beautifully atmospheric
whereas the concluding Toccata is appropriately
brilliant and assertive.
Vasks’ Te Deum
of 1991 is a most welcome addition to
his growing discography, the more so
that this superb piece shows him in
an unusually optimistic mood. The music
moves forward with confident energy
towards a jubilant climax followed by
a hushed, peaceful coda of great beauty.
There is nothing here of what has often
be referred to as "Baltic holy minimalism".
This is one of the finest and the most
attractive works here, as are
the last two items by Kalējs and
Dubra.
Kalējs’
Peraspera ad astra
("from the Thorns to the Stars") is
dedicated to innocent children who were
deported to Siberia at the end of World
War II and who died in exile. The troubled,
ominous mood of the opening section
develops into tragedy and despair, and
is ultimately relieved in the final,
consoling section ending with a radiant
hymn-like coda slowly fading away high
up in the air. The music is somewhat
more complex and rhythmically alert,
but again superbly
written (one sometimes think of Messiaen
and Kutavičius), but it is nevertheless
quite accessible.
This interesting selection
ends with Dubra’s The Longing
for Eternal Hills.
On the whole, this is somewhat simpler
in design and idiom than Kalējs’
and quite attractive. It opens
hesitantly, with a fragile melodic phrase
over soft chords. It then slowly develops
into a long, supple melody gaining momentum
in the central, animated section and
ending in a moving hymn of praise.
Vita Kalnciema plays
beautifully throughout, and the whole
is superbly recorded, in natural acoustics.
Reviewing discs may often yield unexpectedly
delightful surprises. This is the case
with this magnificent release that I
cannot but strongly recommend.
Hubert Culot
Vita Kalnciema, at the organ of Riga Cathedral