New Compositional Techniques as Tools for Reflecting Twentieth-Century History: Some General Tendencies and the Case of Pēteris Vasks
New Compositional Techniques as Tools for Reflecting Twentieth-Century History: Some General Tendencies and the Case of Pēteris Vasks

Summary/Abstract: Many composers are inspired by the dramatic historical events of the twentieth century. These are often reflected using new compositional techniques of the era such as polystylistics, sonoristics, aleatorics, etc. This paper aims to describe these techniques as a tool for creating historical and political references in the music of Pēteris Vasks (1946). The following three works are examined in more detail: Music for Flying Birds for wind quintet (1977), Litene for mixed choir (1993; in memory of the Latvian army soldiers who died in Litene or were sent to the Gulag in June 1941), and the First Cello Concerto (1994). In conclusion, it is argued that dualistic contrasts of compositional techniques or styles play an important role in the composer’s music.

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