PETERIS VASKS (b.1946): Missa, Dona nobis pacem, Pater noster.

Description: As we have come to expect of Vasks, these works are the very opposite of experimental, and demonstrate a simple, though by no means simplistic, expression of faith. Warmer and less ascetic than some other members of the 'spiritual minimalist' community, from Pärt onward, Vasks most clearly evokes the great Baroque and Romantic religious choral works. Here and there a phrase may remind one of Sibelius or a (likely unconscious) borrowing from Tchaikovsky, but for the most part these works are close companions to the Brahms of the German Requiem, Beethoven, and Bach. Vasks' rich choral textures are ideally matched by his sumptuous string orchestra accompaniments, rendering these works among the most satisfying religious choral works of recent years. Latvian Radio Choir, Sinfonietta Riga; Sigvards Klava.