Aeternum: Latvian Composers for the Centenary of Latvia State Choir Latvija & Māris Sirmais

• Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977): Rasa / The Dew:
• 1 Ešenvalds: Rasa / The Dew 04:56
• Irīna Mihailovska (b. 1988): Uguns rituāls:
• 2 Mihailovska: Uguns rituāls 02:56
• Valts Pūce (b. 1962): Dziesmu svētkos:
• 3 Pūce: Dziesmu svētkos 04:58
• Andris Dzenītis (b. 1978): No debesīm:
• 4 Dzenītis: No debesīm 05:11
• Pēteris Vasks (1946): Mūsu kalni:
• 5 Vasks: Mūsu kalni 03:38
• Rihards Zaļupe (b. 1983): Sauciens vējā:
• 6 Zaļupe: Sauciens vējā 04:38
• Uldis Marhilēvičs (b. 1957), Edgars Linde: Mēs esam:
• 7 MarhilēvičsLinde: Mēs esam 05:01
• Vilnis Šmidbergs (b. 1944): Tā lapa, tā lapa, kas lejup krīt:
• 8 Šmidbergs: Tā lapa, tā lapa, kas lejup krīt 04:40
• Maija Einfelde (b. 1939): Krāsas:
• 9 Einfelde: Krāsas 04:00
• Andris Kontauts (b. 1974): Jūras māte, Jūras māte, valdi savas kalponītes:
• 10 Kontauts: Jūras māte, Jūras māte, valdi savas kalponītes 05:50
• Anna Ķirse (b. 1988): Bieza migla zemi sedza:
• 11 Ķirse: Bieza migla zemi sedza 04:30
• Jānis Aišpurs (b. 1980): Piesaukšana:
• 12 Aišpurs: Piesaukšana 04:03
• Ansis Sauka (b. 1963): Ar zvaigžņu kluso gaismu…:
• 13 Sauka: Ar zvaigžņu kluso gaismu… 03:58
• Juris Kulakovs (b. 1958): Mežā. Nakts…:
• 14 Kulakovs: Mežā. Nakts… 04:05
• Raimonds Tiguls (b. 1972): Griezes dziesma:
• 15 Tiguls: Griezes dziesma 05:12
• Jēkabs Jančevskis (b. 1992): Aeternum:
• 16 Jančevskis: Aeternum 04:51
• Total Runtime 01:12:27

Info for Aeternum: Latvian Composers for the Centenary of Latvia

In anticipation of Latvia's centenary, the State Choir "Latvija" and its artistic director, Maris Sirmais, announced their idea for a special and lasting gift to Latvia a new, rich repertoire of choir songs that could be sung by both professional and amateur choirs. Thus they established a creative laboratory in which seventy-seven composers wrote new music for choir.

In five concerts over a period of three years, Sirmais and his choir premiered this gift of songs at the Ziedonis Hall of the National Library of Latvia. The songs had been created by composers already considered modern Latvian classics, accomplished composers of the middle generation and even young talents still studying at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music as well as Latvian composers living abroad and composers with a background in popular music. Each composer chose one of five elements fire, water, earth, sky, love as inspiration while composing. Some of the resulting works clearly represent their corresponding element in sound, while others approach it more generally and abstractly. Still others touch upon the element only remotely, as a thread between lines of text.

Conductor Maris Sirmais: "The works composed as a result of this initiative are dedicated to the best amateur choirs in Latvia, who will not keep this collection of songs only to themselves but through them will also introduce the wider world to the high quality of Latvian music in terms of both composition and performance. This project was developed with the goal of creating real and lasting spiritual values that will continue to live in the Latvian and global choir literature long after our country's centenary. We can take pride in the fact that such a relatively small nation has so many composers who are ready and able to create music of such high quality. We can also be proud of having so many choirs that can perform this music at such a high level."

State Choir "Latvija"
Māris Sirmais, conductor

Māris Sirmais
is one of Latvia’s most significant conductors, a charismatic leader and a driving force in Latvian choral music. Under his more than twenty years of leadership, the State Choir Latvija has become one of Europe’s best-known choirs.

Sirmais has conducted concerts at the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Koerner Hall (Toronto), Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow), Lincoln Center (New York), Tonhalle (Zürich) and Stavanger Concert Hall, and at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein Musik and Lockenhaus Chamber Music festivals. He has collaborated closely with many world-class musicians and composers, including violinist Gidon Kremer, conductor Mariss Jansons, organist Iveta Apkalna, violist Maxim Rysanov, and composers Giya Kancheli and Rodion Shchedrin.

Sirmais has conducted the Berlin Radio, MDR Leipzig Radio, Netherlands Chamber, Netherlands Children’s, Singapore’s ONE Chamber and Lithuania’s Polifonija choirs, and orchestras including Kremerata Baltica, the Moscow Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, Umeå Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Strings and State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia ‘Evgeny Svetlanov’. He performs regularly with almost all of Latvia’s professional orchestras.

The founder of one of the most vibrant symbols of Latvian choral culture, the youth choir Kamēr…, Sirmais was its Chief Conductor from 1990 to 2012. He is an active participant in the Latvian Song and Dance Festival, a nationwide amateur-choir event; since 1998, he has been a Chief Conductor of the festival, and he was the Artistic Director for the 2008 Gala Concert. Sirmais teaches choral conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, and sits on the juries of several international choral and choral conducting competitions. He also gives popular masterclasses.

Vocal-instrumental works play a large role in Sirmais’s concert programmes; such works have included Poulenc’s Gloria and Stabat mater, Pärt’s Credo and Te Deum, Kancheli’s Styx, Honegger’s A Christmas cantata and Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, Tavener’s Svyati, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Adams’s Harmonium, Taneyev’s John of Damascus and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. An active promoter of new choral music, Sirmais regularly commissions and premieres pieces by Latvian composers, many of which have become staples of the canon and are now sung by choirs worldwide. Sirmais maintains close and years-long professional relationships with Latvian composers Pēteris Vasks, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Rihards Dubra, Raimonds Tiguls and Raimonds Pauls. In anticipation of Latvia’s centenary year in 2018, a project initiated by Sirmais—‘Latvian Composers for the Centenary of Latvia’—saw commissions of new works by more than seventy-five composers. In five concerts over the course of three years, Sirmais and the State Choir Latvija premiered a vibrant array of choral music, culminating in a grand finale concert on 4 May 2018. In honour of the event, Musica Baltica published a selection of these works.

Sirmais is a Bearer of the Order of the Three Stars, an honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, and the recipient of many titles and awards for his achievements in culture and for promoting the name of Latvia overseas.

This album contains no booklet.