Peteris Vasks occupies a special position in the circle of Baltic composers. He is not only the most significant and popular composer ever to come out of Latvia. he always speaks to his listeners with a fervent intensity that seems to point to something higher. This higher aspect is without a doubt something that stands above the world of humanity but is also present within each person: divine nature.

"I am deeply rooted in nature, in the nature of the North. It influences all of my music. The nature we know is also quite various. we have four very distinct seasons. The winter is very long, the summer very short and therefore all the more beautiful and longed for. The seasons in between are quite dramatic."

The first of Peteris Vasks's Seasons pieces was not written with the intention of forming a complete cycle. For his friend, Talivaldis Deksnis, he composed in 1980 Balta ainava - White Landscape (Winter), in 1981 Rudens muzika - Autumn Music, and in 1995 the Pavasara muzika - Spring Music. In 2008, Zala ainava - Green Landscape (Summer) came into being, the piece which completed the cycle.

In 2009, as a kind of "encore", Vasks wrote Vasaras vakara muzika - Music for a Summer Evening based on old sketches. this, of all the pieces, is the one most anchored in tradition. Only the two newest pieces - both of which have to do with summer - have a fixed metrical structure. The three earlier works are metrically free, notated without bar lines, which gives them an improvisatory character.

Vasks says of the individual pieces in the cycle: "In Balta ainava everything is white. A new year begins. It is a quiet meditation, a new beginning, with only two themes.

Pavasara muzika. Quasi una Sonata - the most demanding piece in this cycle - is intense, an impressive development. Spring comes slowly, with much drama. It is like a battle, until it is simply there. This multi-faceted piece, with its bird songs, lives from conflicts and dramatic intensification and ends in ecstatic rapture. Zala ainava is based on two themes. Our summer is very brief and offers a respite after the battles. And it is so beautiful! The music reflects joy and contentment. The first theme brings a kind of pure energy. the second is more devoted to tone painting. At the end, a five-note quotation from a well-known Latvian folksong about a drunkard is heard.

Rudens muzika begins pianissimo on a quiet September day, in a peaceful, sunny atmosphere. Now the autumn storms sweep over the land. a gentle sadness settles on the people and on nature, which surrenders its splendor. After a last great storm, the snow comes again as a symbol of purified conclusion and a new beginning. Vasaras vakara muzika takes place at the quiet end of a summer day. The sun sets. Slowness. Memories of previous experiences surface. With the memories' appearance comes an increase in intensity. Towards the end, a kind of folksong is heard: 'We have survived the time of tyranny and retained our identity'. The ending is quiet, everything is asleep."

Christoph Schluren

Translation: John Patrick Thomas and W. Richard Rieves

With this sheet music, you can play ?Baby, It?s Cold Outside? on piano!

The full melody is included in the piano part, so it makes for a perfect instrumental (piano solo) cover.

The famous duet "Baby, It's Cold Outside" was written in 1944 by Frank Loesser, who regularly performed the song at celebrity parties with his wife, Lynn Garland.

In 1949, the song appeared in the film "Neptune's Daughter", and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song!

The song is clearly winter-themed (talking about the blizzard outside!), but it doesn?t mention anything holiday-related. Anyway, the song is generally considered a Christmas song.

Of course, the song has been covered by countless artists since the 40s.

Some of the most memorable recordings include such fantastic duos as Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton, Ray Charles and Betty Carter, Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton, Idina Menzel and Michael Bubl�, Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth MacFarlane and Sara Bareilles!

?Baby, It?s Cold Outside? also appeared in an episode of Glee (?A Very Glee Christmas?, Season 2, Episode 10), where it is performed by members of the Glee Cast (Blaine Anderson/Darren Criss and Kurt Hummel/Chris Colfer).

Time for you to play it!


Here are the full lyrics to ?Baby, It?s Cold Outside?:

[VERSE 1]

I really can't stay (but baby, it's cold outside)

I've got to go away (but baby, it's cold outside)

This evening has been (been hoping that you'd drop in)

So very nice (i'll hold your hands, they're just like ice)

My mother will start to worry (beautiful what's your hurry?)

My father will be pacing the floor (listen to the fireplace roar)

So really I'd better scurry (beautiful please don't hurry)

But maybe just a half a drink more (put some records on while I pour)

The neighbors might think (baby, it's bad out there)

Say what's in this drink? (no cabs to be had out there)

I wish I knew how (your eyes are like starlight now)

To break this spell (i'll take your hat, your hair looks swell)

I ought to say, no, no, no sir (mind if I move in closer?)

At least I'm gonna say that I tried (what's the sense in hurtin' my pride?)

I really can't stay (oh baby don't hold out)

But baby, it's cold outside

[VERSE 2]

I simply must go (but baby, it's cold outside)

The answer is no (but baby, it's cold outside)

Your welcome has been(how lucky that you dropped in)

So nice and warm (look out the window at this dawn)

My sister will be suspicious (gosh your lips look delicious)

My brother will be there at the door (waves upon the tropical shore)

My maiden aunts mind is vicious (gosh your lips are delicious)

But maybe just a cigarette more (never such a blizzard before)

I've gotta get home(but baby, you'd freeze out there)

Say lend me a coat(it's up to your knees out there)

You've really been grand (i thrill when you touch my hand)

But don't you see? (how can you do this thing to me?)

There's bound to be talk tomorrow (think of my lifelong sorrow)

At least there will be plenty implied (if you got pnuemonia and died)

I really can't stay (get over that old out)

Baby, it's cold outside

As years come and go, one increasingly recalls memories of earlier times. One of the most vivid and cherished memories I have while growing up is of Sunday mornings, going to church, sitting in the same pew each week with my grandmother, hearing and singing the beautiful hymns of our faith, and then returning home to the aroma of beef slowly roasting in the oven. My father directed the church choir, my mother and older brothers sang in the choir, so the wonderful music of our faith was instilled in me from an early age. This medley, and others in the series, are arrangements of many of my favorite hymns from those early years, many of which have been lost in more recent editions. A caveat: I have no delusions, and offer no pretenses, that these settings are great art. They are simply expressions of faith which I hope may bring a small measure of joy and comfort to other technically challenged yet serviceable pianists such as myself. The general concept of each medley is to present the hymn, often in its original chorale form, and then vary its harmony or texture. The hymns in this set include "He Leadeth Me", "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us", and "O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee".

A collection of 7 beautiful piano solos to escape into a place of tranquillity and reflect upon the simple pleasures of nature. Each piece is also available for individual purchase, simply search for Suite de Jardin and you will see the 7 pieces.