This week, two new works by composer Erik Ešenvald will be premiered. On May 9, the composer’s new symphony “That river has begun to flow” will be performed by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO), and on May 11, the new concert for piano and choir “Vēstules” will be performed by the State Academic Choir “Latvija” and pianist Reinis Zariņš.
On Thursday, May 9, at 19.00 at the Great Guild, the world premiere of Eric Aschenwald’s new symphony “That river has begun to flow” will take place at the “LNSO, Eschenwald, Beethoven and Schumann” concert. Erik Ešenvalds has already composed quite a lot for the orchestra – this is not the first symphony in his oeuvre: “The Northern Light” was the first multimedia symphony, then the second multimedia one followed, it was the “Volcano Symphony”. more classic,” the composer reveals in an interview with Ruta Paula.
He borrowed the name of the symphony from the musician Jānis Šipkēvics, or Shipsea lines in the song “Globes”, in which he sings: “That river has finally begun to flow…”
“The world has changed in recent years. There has been more pain.
Once at Ines Zander’s country house, near the Dviete floodplain, she introduced me to those rivers and lakes, which every year, when the so-called fifth season has arrived, leave their banks, their borders. Then there is the feeling that that river is flowing, that river feels itself mature again, feels its freedom, feels what it is by nature – beautiful, free, deep, beautiful, powerful. Then I thought that these words… That it cannot be said more beautifully – that river has started to flow,” the composer ponders.
These words contain so much, and so does this symphony – it was written as a reaction to a time when freedom around the world was curtailed due to a pandemic, and to today, when freedom is curtailed for many in Ukraine due to war.
“I wrote this symphony with such a fragile faith that there will be a return or a future era of the world in which we will understand each other and live meaningfully. A symphony of hope,” says Eric Eschenwald.
In the concert on May 9, Robert Schumann’s overture “Manfred” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto will be played, in which Aurelija Šimkus will be the soloist. Jānis Stafeckis will be at the conductor’s desk of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.
On the other hand, on May 11 at 19.00 in the “Cēsis” Concert Hall, we will experience another world premiere of Ārik Ešenvald’s new work – the concert for piano and choir “Vēstules”, which will be performed by the State Academic Choir “Latvija” and pianist Reinis Zariņš under the direction of conductor Māras Sirmās.
“The most important thing remains in the background, they are Latvian poets. I have selected their texts, lines of their poetry, fragments of their prose, because they have appealed to me a lot. Martuževa, Zandere, Belševica, Aspazija… I could go on and on. 10 letters. I I see it as if they were writing to Reinis Zariņš, the wonderful pianist. They have written letters, and he is sitting at the piano and reading – not literally reading, but he is reflecting on the texts of the letters through his piano playing,” says Eriks Ešenvalds in a conversation with Rūta Paula. .
On the other hand, the choir in this musical composition is like a symphony orchestra, which sits unlit in the depth of the stage and creates a canvas of harmony. Meanwhile, the pianist reflects on joy, on happiness, on thoughtfulness, on everything that is inside poetry.
“It is a musical message in which there are two people – a poetess and a pianist. She writes, he reads, and he conjures those feelings in his piano playing. I did quite a lot of research work on this work, because during the performance some fragments from the voices of the poets themselves will be interwoven ,” reveals the composer.
He admits that he read with great awe all the lines of poetry that appealed to him, because he realized that he could write a symphony about each of the poets himself – with great respect, with great gratitude for how much women writers have given to our nation and female poets. “They inspired me. I don’t want to mention it, but I was very hurt by this Music Academy scandal that unfolded. I don’t know how it will end, but there has been so much injustice, and it all hurts. Then I
will draw faith in nature for the next, good, symphony. I find faith in what the poets say in this quasi-symphony that will be in Cēsis. Difficult times, but I believe in the future – a better future,” emphasizes Erik Ešenvald.
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