Focusing on the religious aspect in Vasks' music, this disc contains three sacred works for choir and orchestra, featuring the outstanding Latvian Radio Choir and its conductor Sigvards Klava, as well as the Sinfonietta Riga. Based on Latin texts from the traditional Christian liturgy, these works include the two contemplative motets Pater noster (The Lord's Prayer) and Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace), as well as the ordinary of the Mass. Vasks' style of choral writing links him to the composers who have come to be described as 'holy minimalists,' a group that includes Arvo Pärt, Henryk Góreck, Giya Kancheli, and John Tavener, whose music, while stylistically diverse, tends to rely on tonal and modal harmonies, is frequently harmonically static or slow-moving and is often linked to plainchant and ancient liturgical traditions. Vasks' choral music is firmly rooted in Western polyphony and is for the most part traditional-sounding; there is little in it apart from certain unconventional harmonic progressions that would make it immediately identifiable as a product of the late twentieth century. Among the other holy minimalists, the sound of his music is most closely related to that of Górecki in its harmonic textures and the somber earnestness of its moods. The three works recorded here are polyphonically and harmonically sensual, in spite of their serious tone. An exception to the sober tone is the Mass' Sanctus, which, while not exactly lighthearted, is lively; the composer imagines it 'sung by happy, little angels.' The Latvian Radio Choir sings with warmth and passion and with excellent control in the composer's extended, sustained vocal lines. Sigvards Klava, conducting Sinfonietta Riga, leads them in deeply felt performances. The CD should be of interest both to fans of choral music and of new trends in minimalism tinged with Romanticism.

Ondine: ODE 1106-2