Lead by conductors Sigvards Kļava and Kaspars Putniņš, on the 15th of September the Latvian Radio Choir will perform a concert of contemporary choir music from the Baltics as a part of an international conference. The conference is organised by the Latvian Music Information Centre with support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, bringing to Latvia IAMIC (International Association of Music Centres) members and music industry professionals from 30 different countries.
The concert will feature multiple compositions that were first premiered by the Latvian Radio Choir.
In Om, Lux Aeterna composer Andris Dzenītis seeks eternal light and unity by using the classical Latin text of Lux Aeterna, a classical buddhist mantra on eternal light, as well as a vedic mantra on eternal light in tantric seed syllables.
For the thematic core of his work The Fate Of King Lear’s Children, the master of the phenomenon of sound and the musical spacetime Mārtiņš Viļums has borrowed the Irish legend that tells of the children of King Lear that were cursed by their step mother to wander the seas for 900 years, as well as an ancient druid text on creative magic, energetic structures in man and their expression through the art of poetry.
The concert programme also includes the work Piliens okeānā (A Drop in the Ocean), based on sacred texts, by Ēriks Ešenvalds, who is considered to be the most frequently performed Latvian composer. The score, composed in 2006 by this expert in choral music, refers to the lines of St Francis of Assisi and the Homily, the chant of the Sisters of the Calcutta Mission and the words of Mother Teresa: 'Everything we do is but a drop in the ocean. But if we did not, the ocean would be one drop smaller."
Also in the programme is Santa Ratniece’s music for the film Dabiskā gaismā (In Natural Light) as well as Pēteris Vasks’ choir works with Latin texts - the catholic prayer Actus caritatis and Angele Dei, a prayer to a guardian angel which serves as a reminder of God’s protective love. The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, being a deeply religious man, also uses mainly sacred texts for his choir works, including Nunc dimittis: a canticle praising Saint Simeon, taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke.
There will also be a premiere of a work by the New York-based Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė who has been described by the American classical music radio station WQXR as “a textural magician”. In 2020, the composer was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Lithuanian Government Award for her creative work.
More information HERE