Background
Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor.
Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor.
Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music.
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). Lyrical passages may be followed by agitated dissonances, or interrupted by sombre sections with a march-like feel.
He made extensive use of minimalist techniques as well, but never became attached to any particular method.
2 (1984). Other important works include Cantabile (1979) and Musica dolorosa (1984) and "Bass Trip" (2003) for solo double bass. He has written five string quartets, the fourth (2003) and fifth (2006) of which were written for the Kronos Quartet.
His important works also include "Viatore", Symphony #2 and "Music for a deceased Friend". In 1996 he was the main composer at the Stockholm New Music Festival and in 2006 composer-in-residence at the Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts and the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales.
Royal Swedish Academy of Music]
Since 1994 he has been an honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and in 2001 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.