Vasks: Balta ainava - White Scenery (Winter)

Peteris Vasks occupies a special position in the circle of Baltic composers. He is not only the most significant and popular composer ever to come out of Latvia; he always speaks to his listeners with a fervent intensity that seems to point to something higher. This higher aspect is without a doubt something that stands above the world of humanity but is also present within each person: divine nature. “I am deeply rooted in nature, in the nature of the North. It influences all of my music. The nature we know is also quite various; we have four very distinct seasons. The winter is very long, the summer very short and therefore all the more beautiful and longed for. The seasons in between are quite dramatic.” - Peteris Vasks