The Belgian violinist, Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931), with his impressive blend of virtuosity and poetry, was a great admirer of the young Debussy's music who led the Paris premiere of his only string quartet in December 1893. In September 1892, Debussy was planning an American tour with the financial support of Prince Andre Poniatowski that was to include his 'nearly completed three Scenes au crepuscule', inspired by the Symbolist poetry of his friend Henri de Regnier. He made 'extensive revisions' to them in 1893, even if all that seems to have survived is a series of sketches in Bibliotheque Nationale de France, MS 20632(2), most of which appear to be for violin and orchestra in E or B major. Another related, and more virtuosic, theme emerged in a Parisian sale in June 2006, which opens the main part of the present Nocturne (after a slow introduction).

We also learn from Ernest Chausson in April 1893 that Debussy was composing a work for Ysaye's first American tour in 1894-95, which at one stage was described as a 'concerto'. Then, as Debussy was putting the finishing touches to L'Apres-midi d'un faune in 1894, he told Ysaye he was now working on 'three Nocturnes for solo violin and orchestra which are destined for you', and which undoubtedly derived from his earlier 'Twilight scenes'. The first was to be 'for strings only'. the second for three flutes, four horns, three trumpets and two harps. the third combines all these instruments'. He also informed Ysaye, perhaps with Whistler's Nocturnes in mind, that they were to be like 'a study in grey in painting'. Debussy only abandoned this project in November 1896 after Ysaye told him he would not be able to premiere the Nocturnes in Brussels 'for financial reasons'.

My completion comes closest to the third Nocturne Debussy planned and to being a rondo with related episodes. The dynamic idea that emerged in 2006, which was scored by Debussy, leads naturally into the 'twilight' theme in B major beginning on solo cello and doublebasses, with the high, haunting three-note idea first heard at the outset floating above on solo violin, exactly as Debussy conceived it. All five of Debussy's themes are harmonized and they vary in length between three and thirteen bars: none of them relate to the orchestral Nocturnes of 1897-99. Rather than develop any of these themes, they are presented in changing harmonic backgrounds in the contemporary manner of L'Apres-midi d'un faune, and the whole work centres on an expansive scalar which joins the various aspects of Debussy's 'twilight' themes together in a new perspective.

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