The White Birds

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Cat No: LMIC171

PRE-ORDER: This item will be shipped with the aim to deliver on release day.

Release Date: 16 May 2025

Label: Skani

Packaging Type: Digipak

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 4751025441434

Genres: Classical Chamber Music

Composer/Series: The White Birds

Description

Trio Baltia's debut album features world premieres of contemporary and 20th century works for string trio by Latvian composers Peteris Vasks, Talivaldis Kenins, Gundaris Pone and Gundega Smite.
Gundega Smite is one of the most important female Latvian composers of the 21st century. Smite's string trio The White Birds is dedicated to Trio Baltia, whose members' personalities and musicianship inspired the composition's concept. Smite says: "The four-part cycle features four white birds that live in the Baltic region: mute swans, collared doves, seagulls and white storks. These are not impressive songbirds. White storks, for example, have a completely underdeveloped larynx and therefore produce only hissing and clattering sounds, while the most characteristic sound the graceful swans make is the flapping of their wings as they fly south for the winter. The tenderly cooing collared doves, for their part, live here all year round, as do the noisy, free-ranging seagulls, who carry with them the spirit of the sea."
Peteris Vasks is one of the best-known and most sought-after composers of classical music of our time. His self-reflecting Castillo interior was originally composed for violin and cello at the initiative of Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta. The version for string trio was created in 2021 and premiered by Sandis Steinbergs, Ilze Klava and Inga Ozola at the Little Mezotne Palace on 31 July 2021. A passionate admirer of Peteris Vasks' music, Gabetta had asked him for a new work to honour Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), who founded several Carmelite monasteries and was a prominent mystic, thinker and writer.
Gundaris Pone is a composer with global breadth. He is undoubtedly among the most interesting and important figures in Latvian music, a man who must not remain only in history. Although he spent most of his life in the United States and Venice, we nevertheless refer to his work as "Latvian music" because Pone himself believed that Latvia was the true place for his scores.

Talivaldis Kenins is one of the most notable Latvian composers - neoromantically inclined, harsh, assertive, technically virtuosic. Born in Latvia and having studied in France, he lived in Canada for the remainder of his life. Kenins is also one of Canada's most-performed composers.

String Trio Baltia is one of the most recognized and innovative chamber ensembles from Latvia. Its artists Paula Sumane (violin), Jevgenija Frolova (viola) and Anna Veselova (cello) are members of some of the best European orchestras, brilliant soloists and active promoters of contemporary music.
Tracklisting