Celestine, 2024 for 2 flutes and piano
Passage, 2023 for alto voice and contrabass clarinet
las ondas de este mar tempestuoso, 2023 for alto voice solo
Laghima, 2023, for ensemble cl, vln, vla, vc, pno, perc.
Polynya, 2022, for church organ and 4 percussionists
I'm very happy..., 2021 for alto, tenor, Khitara I and frame drum
nho, 2021 for trumpet, cello and piano
entasis, 2021 for violin, cello and piano
feu sur glace, 2019 for violin, viola, cello and piano LISTEN
mira, 2018 for harpsichord
Stellar wind, 2018 for organ
Nattergalen, 2017 for cello, piano and percussion
Blaurackenflugel, 2017 for fl/bass fl. ob. cl/bass cl. 2 vln. vla. vc. cb.
El mirollo de l'arbore, 2017 for soprano and church organ LISTEN
In Love with Liberty, 2016 for piano LISTEN
Silsila, 2013 for string quartet
Es mīlu mazo, smalko lietu, 2013 for soprano, flute, cello and piano
Ondulado, 2012 for five electric guitars
Mirdzums. In this white snow the pearls are lost, 2012 for violin, clarinet and piano
muqarnas, 2009 for piano solo LISTEN
libellules, 2009 for clarinet and cello LISTEN
hummingbirds, 2009 for flute, harp, accordion and cello
Chant des Dunes, 2009 for organ and percussion
räsä, 2008 for for two kokles, flute and accordion
hall kristalltaevas, 2008 for 12 cellos LISTEN
Ombres chinoises lunaires, 2007 for trombone and piano
Alvéoles, 2005 for string quartet LISTEN
Aragonite, 2005 for string quartet
myrrh, 2005 for piano solo
sens nacre, 2004 for ensemble (fl.ob.cl.accord.2 harp/kokle.perc.vln.vla.vc.db.) LISTEN
feu sur glace, 2019 for violin, viola, cello and piano
Premiere 18 May, 2019, Zirgu street Concert Hall (LV)
Sandis Steinbergs (violin), Andra Darzina (viola), Eriks Kirsfelds (cello), Herta Hansena (piano)
mira, 2018 for harpsichord
Premiere 14 October, 2018, Luznava manor (LV)
Ieva Saliete (harpsichord)
Stellar wind, 2018 for organ
Premiere 4 August, 2018, Old St. Gertrude's church, Riga (LV)
Ligita Sneibe (organ)
Nattergalen, 2017 for cello, piano and percussion
Premiere 13 November, 2017, Latvian Radio concert hall, Riga (LV)
Trio Art-i-Shock
Guna Šnē (cello), Agnese Egliņa (piano), Elīna Endzele (percussion)
Blaurackenflugel, 2017 for fl/bass fl. ob. cl/bass cl 2 vln. vla. vc. cb.
Premiere 7 June, 2017, Altes Rathaus, Vienna (AU)
Ensemble Reconsil, cond. Roland Freisitzer
El mirollo de l'arbore, 2017 for soprano and church organ
Premiere - 9 September, 2017, Old St. Gertrude's church, Riga (LV)
Ieva Ezeriete (soprano), Aigars Reinis (organ)
El mirollo de l'arbore contains an excerpt from Dialogues, the best -known work of the 14th century mystic St. Catherine of Siena. She was one of the most educated and intelligent women of her time, and she had the ear of bishops, cardinals and even the pope, whom she persuaded to move the papacy from Avignon back to Rome. St. Catherine's cosmic text should not be linked only with Catholic religion. It is an associatively poetic message about love, humility and caution, which each listener may understand according to his or her own experience.
In Love with Liberty, 2016 for piano solo
Premiere - 9 November, 2016, Reformatu church, Riga (LV)
Heloise Ph.Palmer - piano
LISTEN
mira, 2018 for harpsichord
Stellar wind, 2018 for organ
Nattergalen, 2017 for cello, piano and percussion
Blaurackenflugel, 2017 for fl/bass fl. ob. cl/bass cl. 2 vln. vla. vc. cb.
El mirollo de l'arbore, 2017 for soprano and church organ LISTEN
In Love with Liberty, 2016 for piano LISTEN
Silsila, 2013 for string quartet
Es mīlu mazo, smalko lietu, 2013 for soprano, flute, cello and piano
Ondulado, 2012 for five electric guitars
Mirdzums. In this white snow the pearls are lost, 2012 for violin, clarinet and piano
muqarnas, 2009 for piano solo LISTEN
libellules, 2009 for clarinet and cello LISTEN
hummingbirds, 2009 for flute, harp, accordion and cello
Chant des Dunes, 2009 for organ and percussion
räsä, 2008 for for two kokles, flute and accordion
hall kristalltaevas, 2008 for 12 cellos LISTEN
Ombres chinoises lunaires, 2007 for trombone and piano
Alvéoles, 2005 for string quartet LISTEN
Aragonite, 2005 for string quartet
myrrh, 2005 for piano solo
sens nacre, 2004 for ensemble (fl.ob.cl.accord.2 harp/kokle.perc.vln.vla.vc.db.) LISTEN
feu sur glace, 2019 for violin, viola, cello and piano
Premiere 18 May, 2019, Zirgu street Concert Hall (LV)
Sandis Steinbergs (violin), Andra Darzina (viola), Eriks Kirsfelds (cello), Herta Hansena (piano)
mira, 2018 for harpsichord
Premiere 14 October, 2018, Luznava manor (LV)
Ieva Saliete (harpsichord)
Stellar wind, 2018 for organ
Premiere 4 August, 2018, Old St. Gertrude's church, Riga (LV)
Ligita Sneibe (organ)
Nattergalen, 2017 for cello, piano and percussion
Premiere 13 November, 2017, Latvian Radio concert hall, Riga (LV)
Trio Art-i-Shock
Guna Šnē (cello), Agnese Egliņa (piano), Elīna Endzele (percussion)
Blaurackenflugel, 2017 for fl/bass fl. ob. cl/bass cl 2 vln. vla. vc. cb.
Premiere 7 June, 2017, Altes Rathaus, Vienna (AU)
Ensemble Reconsil, cond. Roland Freisitzer
El mirollo de l'arbore, 2017 for soprano and church organ
Premiere - 9 September, 2017, Old St. Gertrude's church, Riga (LV)
Ieva Ezeriete (soprano), Aigars Reinis (organ)
El mirollo de l'arbore contains an excerpt from Dialogues, the best -known work of the 14th century mystic St. Catherine of Siena. She was one of the most educated and intelligent women of her time, and she had the ear of bishops, cardinals and even the pope, whom she persuaded to move the papacy from Avignon back to Rome. St. Catherine's cosmic text should not be linked only with Catholic religion. It is an associatively poetic message about love, humility and caution, which each listener may understand according to his or her own experience.
In Love with Liberty, 2016 for piano solo
Premiere - 9 November, 2016, Reformatu church, Riga (LV)
Heloise Ph.Palmer - piano
LISTEN
Silsila, 2013 for string quartet
Premiere - 5 October, 2014 at Bing Concert Hall, Stanford (USA)
Kronos Quartet
David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola) Sunny Yang (cello)
In Silsila (chain in Arabic) we are following the Brahmaputra river down streams from Tibet, through India and Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. It is the highest major river in the world, which starts as a tiny little spring in Angsi glacier in Himalayas. In the curse of the piece we are descending from 5210 m above the sea level. In the South of Tibet this river is called Yarlung Tsangpo river. In The Arunachal Pradesh state of India the river descends very rapidly from its original height and it is known as Siang. It flows southwest through the Assam Valley as Brahmaputra, where it becomes very wide. Then it flows towards the South, through Bangladesh, as Jamuna. In the wast Ganges delta it merges with Padma river, then with Megna river, before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Es mīlu mazo, smalko lietu, 2013 for soprano, flute, cello and piano
Texts by Imants Ziedonis
David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola) Sunny Yang (cello)
In Silsila (chain in Arabic) we are following the Brahmaputra river down streams from Tibet, through India and Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. It is the highest major river in the world, which starts as a tiny little spring in Angsi glacier in Himalayas. In the curse of the piece we are descending from 5210 m above the sea level. In the South of Tibet this river is called Yarlung Tsangpo river. In The Arunachal Pradesh state of India the river descends very rapidly from its original height and it is known as Siang. It flows southwest through the Assam Valley as Brahmaputra, where it becomes very wide. Then it flows towards the South, through Bangladesh, as Jamuna. In the wast Ganges delta it merges with Padma river, then with Megna river, before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Es mīlu mazo, smalko lietu, 2013 for soprano, flute, cello and piano
Texts by Imants Ziedonis
Premiere - 3 August , 2013 at Mazā Mežotnes pils, Latvia
Liene Kinča
(soprano), Dita Krenberga (flute), Ēriks Kiršfelds (cello), Pēteris Plakidis
(piano)
commissioned
by Peteris Vasks Foundation
In the sounds of music I tried to stop at that imperceptible instant where Ziedonis gently and softly, just in a few lines of poetry included the knowledge given by Nature.
The piano is like a moisture, just sensed on your skin - so
lightly and tiny, so fine and grey. The
rain... Like a tissue of harmonies, and
at the same time - foundation and
fulfillment of everything. The melody of voice, cello and flute in one gasp twine
around piano till the chords of the piano symbolically tails of in one note.
Ondulado, 2012 for five electric guitars
Premiere - 11 October , 2012 at Cinema Splendid Palace, Riga
Edgars
Rubenis (electric guitar) Māris Butlers (electric guitar), Dāvis Burmeisters
(electric guitar), Kārlis Tone (electric guitar), Lauris Ābele (electric
guitar)
Commissioned
by festival Skaņu Mežs
The composition Ondulado is meant to be
like a dream in which one awakens from a previous dream... a continuous flow of
abstract things, events, thoughts which find their expression in sounds –
eternal sounds because they existed before memory. One guitar continues to
ondulate in the previous guitar`s current, and this in turn gives new energy to
the next guitar... The piece was inspired by Lunar Mare (Moon seas) which are
dark, vast plains on the moon formed by ancient volcano eruptions which the
first astronomers took for seas. Looking with the naked eye these plains look
darker than the highlands because the iron in their makeup doesn`t reflect
light as intensively.
Each part is named by mare names which are very inspiring, as well as the photographs of
mares on the Moons surface, showing different sizes and shapes of mares, sometimes ornamented with deep
basalt-flooded craters or having irregular outline. Or sometimes there are
small circular and elongated features in the mare plains that probably mark impact
craters buried by less than 1000 to 1700 feet of lava. Some mares are noticeably darker than the rest of the Moon's
surface.
Mirdzums. In this white snow the pearls are
lost, 2012 for violin, clarinet and piano.
Premiere - 26 September,
2012 at Riga Small Guild
RARO trio – Alina
Pogodskina (violin), Reto Bieri (clarinet) and Diana Ketlere (piano)
commissioned
by Peteris Vasks Foundation
muqarnas, 2009 for piano
solo
Premiere - 14 October, 2009 at Riga Great Guild Hall
Elizabete Šīrante (piano)
commissioned
by Arena Festivallisten
In Muqarnas I imagine myself hang on around the streets of Shiraz and admiring the Islam architecture. Muqarnas is one of the most characteristic features of Islamic architecture and is used throughout most of the Muslim world. it is a system of projecting niches used for zones of transition and for architectural decoration. The development and multiplication of muqarnas cells beneath the domes can be understood by their function in reflecting and refracting light. To accentuate their play of light, shining ceramic tiles and even mirrors are utilized, as in the Shāh-Hamza 'Alī mausoleum in Shiraz. Two Persian love songs will be hidden in these architectural decorations: Masnavi and Setereh-Asemun.
Premiere - 23 October, 2010 at the Spīķeri
Concert Hall
Egils Šēfers (clarinet), Eriks Kiršfelds
(cello)
listen
In libellules for clarinet and cello I was
looking for a way to sense a particular dual phenomenon in Nature through sound,
which in this case was incited by the interplay of two musical instruments. Dragonflies
and water. What makes these delicate flaying creatures with translucent,
fragile wing always return to water? What invisible strings connect the
pulsating of light silvery waves with the ceaseless movement of wings streaked
with light? What reflections, imperceptible to human sight, make them race
toward the surface of water? The clarinet and cello duet does not illustrate this
attraction between dragonflies and water. Rather, it reveals the transformation
of one into another. The slow swaying of water is combined with the creature
that swims in waves of air; and the low, darkly saturated, quiet tones of the
clarinet are merged with the cello, uncovering the languid line of the water`s
surface. Fanned by sharp sun rays, the unceasing wings are echoed in wind-split,
rhythmic reflections on the water; and the high, shrill sound of the clarinet
breaks the flagieolets so unusual to the cello. The bright, translucent water
glitters in almost invisible silken wings, he water rises up in flight, and the
dragonfly dives down into the depths…
hummingbirds, 2009 for flute, harp,
accordion and cello
Premiere - 27 February, 2009 in the
festival Provinzlärm, St. Nicolai-Kirche Eckernförde
Ensemble Reflexion K
Hummingbirds are the smallest birds of the world. In this piece I wanted to
observe the world of this little bird`s-eye wieve. I listen to a very soft and humming sounds produced by rapidly flapping their wings up to 80 times per second. I follow
the unbelievable sound trajectories which let this tiny creature hover in
mid-air and even fly backwards. I gaze at vivid colours of the hummingbirds,
hardly separated from wonderful blooms. Crystalline sound of harp will flood in
colourful accordion timbres. Violoncello will sing the voice of birds` heart
which is the biggest heart comparing to the little body. Their heart rate can
reach as high as 1260 beats per minute in the day and only 50–180 beats per
minute in the night. Hummingbirds are capable of slowing down their heart beat
and enter a hibernation-like state known as torpor. During torpor, the heart
rate and rate of breathing are both slowed dramatically.
Chant des Dunes, 2009 for
organ and percussion
Premiere - 23 May, 2009 at the Anglican
Church, Riga
Charles Matthews (organ), Elīna Endzele,
Virdžīnija Mutlu (percussion)
The title of the composition Chants des Dunes (Singing Dunes) has originated from a mysterious phenomena of Nature, known from Marko Polo times – an extraordinary skill of some dunes to sing - to emit a powerful sound of easily defined frequency. Sometimes the process lasts for a few minutes. The origin of this consistent sound has not been investigated yet, so that it occurs very rarely. However, it has been observed that the sound is not created by the flow of the air around the top of the dunes, but it occurs due to the flow of the sand; that means – it is not created by acoustics but by the movement of sand grains.Comparing the ‘singing dunes’ in the different parts of the world, it has been proved that the frequency of the sound is equivalent to the frequency of the relative speed of the sand grain movement. The sound is provided because sand grain movement is synchronous. In my imagination I can associate numerous kinds of percussion with the sound of flowing sand. Overlaying it with a filigree sound of the organ it is possible to create an extraordinary brilliance of sand.
räsä, 2008 for for two kokles, flute and accordion
Premiere - 7 April, 2008 in Lausanne, Switzerland
Ensemble Altera veritas - Ieva
Mežgaile (kokle), Anda Zaborovska (kokle), Andis Klučnieks (flute), Kaspars
Gulbis (accordion)
The word räsä has originated in Java, Indonesia. It has many similar meanings with Sanskrit ‘rasa’ that means taste, essence... In the musical context in Indonesian Gamelan music räsä most often reflects the state of mood or affect. It can also be related to perception, inner meaning, deeper insight or intuition.
On contrary to
Indian ‘rasa’ theory, which is coded (has its specific meaning), in Javanese Gamelan
composition räsä is unpredictable, its essence is blooms only in
specific circumstances - musicians, audience, place, time, food, rituals...
There are no two similar Gamelan compositions. However, considering the fact
that these compositions are so flexible and indefinite, to what extent do they
depend on the piece itself and to what extent on the unique
performance of musicians? It is not always guaranteed that the
particular performance reflects the true, clear, pure räsä.
hall kristalltaevas, 2008 for 12 cellos
Premiere - 5 April, 2008 at Kultuuritehas
Polimer , Tallinn,
Conductor Risto Joost
Ombres chinoises lunaires, 2007 for
trombone and piano
Premiere - 14 April, 2007 in Tallinn
Andres Kontus (trombone) and Mati Mikalai
(piano)
Alvéoles, 2005 for string quartet
Premiere - 15 February, 2006 in festival Présences
2006 Salle - Olivier Messiaen, Paris
Quatuor Molinari
listen
Alvéoles is inspired by different colours, textures, densities and tastes of
honey. The main idea is to sense the nature of honey which is very sticky and
stringy like united play of strings. The form of the piece arose from the
six-angled (hexagon) shape of honey cells where many sounds flows out from one
unique sound reflecting the touching points between the other cells beside (in
the first section). The next sections reflect the various kinds of honey from a
very light and transparent flower honey till dark and dense forest honey. The
final section of Alvéoles shows the
process of crystallization of honey where the larger honey crystals are shaped
by many little crystals.
Aragonite, 2005 for string quartet
Premiere - 15 November, 2005 at Small Guild, Riga
myrrh, 2005 for piano solo
Aragonite, 2005 for string quartet
Premiere - 15 November, 2005 at Small Guild, Riga
String Quartet Diference
String quartet Aragonite
was created after traveling to caves in Slovakia in summer 2005. The composition was inspired by miraculous natural phenomena - aragonite
crystals, found in the concealed underground cliff passages. It`s unthinkable
that Nature can create something that
beautiful that is hidden in the bowels of the Earth. The floral design
transforms into twig pattern and
peculiar stalactite figures,
called floss-ferry or iron flowers. I was taken by the
immensity of thousand years long formation process of aragonite stalactites
that felt timeless. Because of that the
form of composition develops as a slow,
continious movement, reflecting delicate,
subtle inner changes.
myrrh, 2005 for piano solo
Premiere - 4 May, 2005 in Montreal, Canada
Kadri-Ann Sumera (piano)
sens nacre, 2004 for chamber ensemble (fl.ob.cl.accord.2
harp/kokle.perc.vln.vla.vc.db.)
Premiere - 22 April, 2004 in Introvert
Music Festival concert at Anglican Church in Riga
Altera veritas, Ensemble Nove, Conductor Normunds Šnē
The idea of sens nacre is not to contrast
different instrument groups, but to integrate and mix them. Timbre and harmony
organically flow, creating an intangible nacreous feeling. Everything begins
with silence. Look for it deep inside yourself, since the environment is not
always silent enough. At the outset silence illuminates sounds, one by one.
Silence balances sounds, no to overwhelm each other by loudness but to equal
each other in softness. A variety of tones from instruments unite to produce
shades. Kokles/harps melts with marimba, accordion softly reflects the sounds
of the oboe and clarinet. Percussion makes it glitter like nacre and strings
blend the colour.
