Vilnis Šmīdbergs. Chamber Music

Vilnis Šmīdbergs was born in 1944, one of the darkest years in human history. That also echoes in his music, however, tragedy is not the dominating world view and message characteristic here. A striving for harmony, the presence of humanistic values, the accenting of the spiritual verticals evoked by Christianity, a view of traditions and history – these dimensions are woven throughout Šmīdbergs’ art, he consequentially, seriously and truthfully resolves these themes. That is why a more direct parallel might not be as much with Michael Finnissy or James Dillon, but more with John Tavener, also born in 1944. The Fall and Resurrection composer heard his score at the Sacred Music Festival in Riga in 2004, while, in 2003, Vilnis Šmīdbergs heard the premiere of the Psalm Symphony Laudator; also in his more laconic works, the ethics and aesthetic of Tavener’s creative work often echoes in Šmīdbergs’ conceptual guidelines.

Armands Znotiņš