Pēteris Vasks - Voices, II

Voices, symphony for strings (1991)

I. Voices of Silence
II. Voices of Life
III. Voice of Conscience

Kremerata Baltica

The Symphony for Strings - Voices ("Balsis") was composed during the period when the eastern Baltic countries were fighting to gain independence. The title is a reference to the cantabile ("song-like") qualities of much of Vasks's music, although they are instrumental. The Symphony begins with the 6-minute Voices of Silence, where after a brief but magical spell, the choir of strings tingle softly, then sadly, quietly, intensely meditating on the infinite reaches of silent thought. An utterly, utterly, breathlessly beautiful work.

Voices of Life is, as the title hints, teeming with the magical song of birds, a sound much loved by Vasks, representing freedom through flight. A sweeping dawn of massed strings arises in the music, but in a mood of awestruck melancholia not unfamiliar in the music of the "Nordic" peoples, as in Sibelius. Eternal beauty tinged with infinite sadness.

Towards the end of this long (nearly 15 minutes) movement, Vasks seems to direct the music towards the mood of the concluding Voices of Conscience, sorrowfully tracing the pain and suffering of the world, wrecked by war, cruelty, destruction. Long broad lines, requiem-like, develop into ghostly episodes of music which suddenly return to the opening hymn of serene beauty, with its gently throbbing background. We face, the music and composer seem to suggest, the possible renaissance of a new century, one which faith and optimism will bring back. [inkpot.com]

Art by Juan Manuel Echavarría

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