Georgs Pelēcis (b. 1947)
Piano Suite No. 1 (1980)
Music in the Meadow, for string trio, flute and bassoon (1990)
The Last Song, for violin and chamber orchestra (2005)
Rundāle Quintet, for clarinet and string quartet (2011)
Autumn Landscapes, for piano quartet (2012)
rec. 1998-2013, Latvian Radio Studio 1, Riga
Reviewed as lossless download
SKANi LMIC113 [77]

I have been a devotee of the music of Latvian composer Georgs Pelēcis for more than two decades since I first heard his double concerto for violin and piano, Nevertheless, whilst driving to work one morning. I sat in the car until it finished to find out what this beautiful piece was; the students just had to wait. Recordings of his music are few and far between; fortunately, a musician of the stature of countryman and Moscow Conservatorium classmate Gidon Kremer, soloist on Nevertheless, has long been a supporter (and appears on this recording). Pelēcis’s music is described as “New Consonant”, which means that it is clearly music of this era, rather than a pastiche of Romantic or earlier styles, and is melodic, intended to please the listener (or at least the majority of them). It is also relatively simple, though not simplistic, with a minimalist (or at least repetitive) aspect to it, though you would not mistake it for Philip Glass.

The five works presented here from Latvian radio broadcasts span thirty-two years of Pelēcis’ compositional career, and are programmed in chronological order. The Quasi marcia which starts the first Piano Suite comes as a quite a surprise, with lots of dissonance and awkward rhythms. Not having heard any of his music from this far back, I assumed that the Pelēcis I knew was still developing, but the second movement Andantino took me straight into the world of Nevertheless.

The two movements of Music in the Meadow are contrasting in their moods, the first introspective, the second a rustic but gentle dance. At eight minutes or so each, they possibly don’t have quite the material to sustain the length, but the writing for the two wind instruments set against the three strings is delightful.

In another recording’s notes, Pelēcis explains The Last Song as “every one of us experiences a particular feeling when we do something for the last time: a last kiss, the last journey, the last song”. It is a lament, with the violin gently keening sadly.

The opening of the Rundāle Quintet jerks us back into happier thoughts, with a rustic dance, with the clarinet burbling away joyously. The five movements show considerable contrast, centred around the intense (for Pelēcis at least) slow movement, and it is a really fine work that deserves to be on the playlist of any aspiring clarinet quintet.  In case you were wondering, Rundāle is the name of a Baroque palace in Latvia, so it may be that the work was written for a concert there – three of the movements would seem to be named after locations there: Gold Hall, Rose Garden, White Hall.

His single movement piano quartet Autumn Landscapes begins sombrely, with the descending runs on the piano reminding me very much of the slow section of Nevertheless. It is a slow burner with the first seven minutes remaining in the sombre mood, before the tempo begins to pick up. Again, I would suggest that it occupies a little more time than the material can justify, but to some extent, the same could be said of all of his music. It is deliberately repetitive in a way that possibly pleases the brain as it is able to recognise the patterns as they return.

Sadly, the booklet is no more than the contents and performers list, but I’m used to having no background to Pelēcis’s music: after 20+ years and two recordings, I still have absolutely no clue as to the significance (if any) of the title Nevertheless. Performances are excellent, as is the sound quality.

This is not complex music to make you think. It is simple, hypnotic, sweet and soothing, just as the composer intends, and in the current state of the world, it may be just what you need.

David Barker

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Performers
Piano Suite: Ventis Zilberts
Music in the Meadow: Jānis Bulavs (violin), Olafs Štāls (viola), Leons Veldre (cello), Ilona Meija (flute), Dzintars Jurgelaitis (bassoon)
The Last Song: Gidon Kremer (violin), Kremerata Baltica
Rundāle Quintet: Guntis Kuzma (clarinet), Sandis Šteinbergs (violin), Terēze Zīberte-Ijaba (violin), Katrīna Krašauska-Krauze (viola), Ainārs Paukšēns (cello)
Autumn Landscapes: RIX Piano Quartet