Baltic Sea Philharmonic present original and vivid programmes that are specially devised by Founding Conductor and Music Director Kristjan Järvi to bring the rich sounds of the Baltic Sea to the world’s attention. They include classical masterpieces by the famous composers of the region and specially-commissioned works by today’s finest talents, keeping the musical landscape of the region alive and thriving.
Demonstrating diversity, depth, pride in the region’s culture and environment, and investment in its future, our repertoire choices represent perfectly our mission.
‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’
Our 2016 ‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’ programme includes works, written by composers from the area, that celebrate nature in all its glory, demonstrating our advocacy for the environment. These include Sibelius’s Karelia Suite, Pärt’s Swansong, Stravinsky’s The Firebird, and Gediminas Gelgotas’s Mountains. Waters. (Freedom), written for the orchestra in 2015.
Kristjan Järvi explains: ‘Our repertoire is vast and demonstrates the enormity of culture that has been created on the shores of the Baltic Sea, including Brahms, Stravinsky, Pärt, Sibelius and Gelgotas. People sometimes ask me what Stravinsky and Wagner have to do with the Baltic Sea. Stravinsky was born in St. Petersburg and was brought up breathing its air. Wagner based his Ring Cycle on Nordic mythology and his time in Riga. If it hadn’t been for his fascination with this sea-faring part of Northern Europe and for creating a mythology based on Nordic legends, none of that would have come into being. This is why I have included such composers in our programmes.’
‘Baltic Sea Voyage’
The orchestra’s previous programme, ‘Baltic Sea Voyage’, which has been released as a CD, also delved into the unexplored realm of Northeastern European music, featuring film music from Poland (Kilar’s Orawa), Latvian composer Kalnins’ driving Rock Symphony, pieces from the greatest composers of our time – Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam of Benjamin Britten and Penderecki’s Third Symphony – and forays into Nordic and Greek mythology by Nielsen, Stenhammer, Sibelius, Grieg and Beethoven.
Commissioning new music by living composers
Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic has premiered works including Burning Fiery Furnace by Niels Marthinsen (2008); cadenzas for Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Op.61A by Anatolijus Šenderovas (2009); Daniel Schnyder’s Parkour musical (2010); Never Ignore the Cosmic Ocean (2012) and Mountains. Waters. (Freedom), (2015) by Gediminas Gelgotas; and ‘Green’ Piano Concerto by Severi Pyysalo (2015).
