Richard Todd <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>...  Why is it that so many of the composers who've come to light in
>recent years, and conductors, have come from Estonia? Why not Lithuania
>or Latvia, Estonia's Baltic neighbours? They were subject to much the
>same influence, for good or bad, that Estonia had under Communism.

Oh, an Easter miracle!!!  I have been trying to get some attention on
Lithuanian music lately and got as much as one reply...

I already posted a very brief introduction about Lithuanian music a while
ago.  I'd be delighted to give further details, but, in short:

-- Estonia has linguistic and geographical links with Finland, which
explains why Estonian music is somewhat close to Finnish music, and a label
like Finlandia has devoted quite a few records to their neighbours.  This
being said, a lot is still to be discovered, and one producer at the
Estonian radio has plans to help making all this available.

-- Estonia is a bit wealthier.  The gap is not going to be reduced before
some time, because Estonia is due to join the European Union with the next
group, and neither Latvia nor Lithuania is.  So one has to look harder for
music from the two latter countries.

-- Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian music are all different.  In my
opinion, Lithuanian music is just as original as Estonian music, and
performers there can be excellent.  They have some great conductors,
Juraitis (Ziuraitis) who conducted the Bolshoi Orchestra, Domarkas,
Sondeckis...  Composers like Balakauskas, Kutavicius, Bajoras, Senderovas,
and also Juzeliunas and Balsys (among the elder) or Martinaitis and
Bartulis (among the younger) are only some of Lithuania's truly great
and captivating composers.  Balakauskas offers a blend of intelligence,
experimentation, sonorous combinations, rhythmic subtlety and vital
strength which is most remarkable.  Lithuania unquestionably was one of
the two or three least "Soviet" musical republics of the former USSR.

As regards recordings, the Lithuanian Music and Publishing Information
Centre released 6 outstanding CDs.  I sent them money orders and never had
any trouble with that, nor did I have any when I ordered 2 monographical
CDs from Bomba, devoted to Balakauskas and Kutavicius.  Otherwise, you can
send money to bank accounts.  Actually, I never had the slightest problem
with either mail or money sent to Lithuania.  (By the way, if anybody has
any opinion or even ready-made idea about Lithuanian music, *please* let
me know...  I'd love to hear what musical audiences think of it.)

-- Latvian music has been under heavier influence from Soviet standards
and policies.  Typical is Ivanovs, who is often presented as "the" greatest
Latvian symphonist, who actually had a strong personality but did not
achieve the level of quality and refinement one could have expected,
often indulging in simplification and primary handling of otherwise quite
striking ideas.  His works are worth hearing, but can be frustrating.
The first internationally known Latvian composer is Peteris Vasks.  Some
discard him as being purely emotional and lacking in technical skill, which
is a bit short.  His symphony for strings is not fully satisfactory, but
often breathtaking (listen to the Finlandia version by the Ostrobothnian
chamber orchestra, the best to my knowledge), and his cello concerto is
brilliant.  For other composers, the best way to find out is to ask the
Latvian Composers Union.  What I have heard so far is closer to Russian
music than either Estonia or Lithuania, but Kalsons' violin concerto is
very spectacular, for instance.

Now, arguably, most of the truly original Latvian composers lived in
exile.  Once again, Kenins is a much underrated master.  He now appears
as a traditionalist, but he is a very deep one, full of invention.  The
Swedish label Bis might record his 8 symphonies.  Let us hope that they
do, although Kenins's music is hardly Nordic in tone and spirit.

One Latvian conductor is quite famous: Mariss Jansons, the son of another
great conductor, Arvids Jansons.  Unfortunately, whereas Neeme Jarvi has
done so much for Tubin, I do not think that M.Jansons ever conducted a
Kenins symphony.

For anybody interested in Lithuanian music, I would advise you to turn to
the Lithuanian MIPC.  It is a very small centre, which most certainly would
need much more financial support to have a real commercial policy, but it
is one of the most competent and enthusiastic MIC's I know (and I have
tried quite a few...).

   Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre,
   URL: http://www.mic.lt
   e-mail: [log in to unmask]
   Address: A. Mickeviciaus 29, 2600 Vilnius
   Phone/Fax: +370 (2) 72 6986

For the Latvian Composers Union, try:

   http://www.lmuza.lv/

(Needless to say, I have no personal interest in all this.  Lithuania is
just one of the very best musical "discoveries" I have made in years.)

Best regards,

Thanh-Tam Le
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