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Pēteris Vasks
Pēteris Vasks (born 16 April 1946) is a Latvian composer. Biography Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor. He trained as a violinist at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player with Vitautas Sereikaan at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and played in several Latvian orchestras before entering the State Conservatory in Vilnius in the neighboring Lithuania to study composition with Valentin Utkin, as he was prevented from doing this in Latvia due to Soviet repressive policy toward Baptists. He started to become known outside Latvia in the 1990s, when Gidon Kremer started championing his works and now is one of the most influential and praised European contemporary composers. Vasks' early style owed much to the aleatoric experiments of Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki and George Crumb. Later works included elements of Latvian folk music, such as his gentle and pastoral cor anglais concerto (1989 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aizpute
Aizpute (german: Hasenpoth) is a town in western Latvia's South Kurzeme Municipality in the valley of the Tebra River, northeast of Liepāja. History The territory of modern Aizpute was inhabited by ancient Curonians since the 9th century. St. John Lutheran church was built on the Curonian hillfort. In the 13th century during the Livonian crusade, the territory of Aizpute was conquered by German crusaders. In 1248 the master of the Livonian Order Dietrich von Grüningen ordered the building of a stone castle in Aizpute. The castle and the whole settlement became known as Hasenpoth. After the partition of Courland in 1253 Aizpute became part of the Bishopric of Courland. In 1260 Aizpute church was built. Bishop of Courland Otto granted Magdeburg rights to Aizpute in 1378. In the second half of the 16th century Aizpute experienced rapid development because the Tebra river was used as the main trade route for the merchants of Aizpute who shipped their cargo down to the sea. Afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
