Achim Breiling <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >BIS released a CD with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lan >Shui some time ago, featuring Jan Jrvlepps Garbage Concerto (1996) and >Imants Kalnins "Rock" Symphony (Symphony No.4; 1972). Anybody know >something about these composers and/or these works? I could not tell about the Swedish composer of the Garbage concerto (surely Peter could enlighten you, or Mats) but I can give a few hints about Imants Kalnins (approximately pronounced "kalningsh"). This Latvian composer was born in 1941. Janis Kalnins, another celebrated Latvian composer who left the country when it was annexed by the Soviet Union and has been active in Canada (Newfoundland) since, is his uncle IIRC. Imants Kalnins caused a kind of scandal in the late 1960s with his symphonic music influenced by rock, more specifically by repetitive, martelated rythmic patterns. His Symphony No. 3 (1968) is an interesting instance of this, maybe a bit simplistic in its throroughly unsentimental, not very lyrical approach, as well as its square symmetric pattern, but at any rate far from the usual socialist realism then prevalent in most of the USSR, including Latvia (while Lithuania and Estonia strived to find their own voice as soon as 1960). There are some affinities with Shostakovich, though. The 4th symphony, which I never heard, is notably longer, and whereas it became I.Kalnins's most famous piece, it seems that some Latvian musicians would rather call it "notorious". However it should be at least of genuine historic interest. If you want to know more about Latvian music, you should try at least a couple of Ivanovs's symphonies (a new integral series has been started by Marco Polo, and Campion has reissued many of the old Melodiya recordings), such as Nos. 5, 10, 11, 12. No. 4 "Atlantida" should be fine, and give some idea of what Ivanovs might have become if he had not endorsed parts of the official Soviet style. Obviously Ivanovs had one of the strongest musical profiles of his time, and he arguably did not make the best of it. His contemporary Skulte (b.1909) has a more optimistic, hedonistic touch, and his 5th symphony is very attractive, a kind of more Northern counterpart of Aram Khatchaturian. No CD to my knowledge. One of Janis Kalnins's more famous works is the 2nd symphony "of the Beatitudes", of which the Riga "Ave Sol" choir has made a CD recording. J.Kalnins is more traditional than Kenins, another exiled Latvian composer in Canada, whom I think is one of the major composers of his generation anywhere. In the following generation, Kalsons remains quite close to the modern Russian school, his 3rd symphony is powerful, but a bit heavy. In contrast, his violin concerto is a virtuosic kaleidoscope, very impressive. Plakidis is much more restrained, and probably one of the true poets of Latvian music. Of course, the best-known Latvian composer nowadays is Vasks, whom Achim has praised many a time on the list. Some of the NY listers may have heard of Gundaris Pone, a modernist whose emphasis was on instrumental virtuosity and dramatic efficiency. Clearly Latvian music is very little represented on CD, and if you do not have old LPs, this new one could be worth investigating. But Bis still owes us the complete symphonies of Kenins, and also some orchestral and chamber music by Jerums (1919-1978), Pavasars and others. Best wishes, Thanh-Tam Le [log in to unmask]