Pēteris Vasks’ “The Fruit Of Silence”: VOCES8

The Latvian composer, Pēteris Vasks (b. 1946), began as “a young, angry and avant-garde” modernist. Over time, his music evolved to embrace consonance, simplicity, spirituality, Latvian folk influences, and “echoes of bird songs.”

Composed in 2013, Vasks’ The Fruit of Silence is a choral setting of a prayer by Mother Teresa:

The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.

In the piano’s introduction, upward wandering arpeggios echo Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im SpiegelThe Fruit of Silence is a serene meditation which celebrates the glowing purity of the harmonic series. Here, it is performed by the British a cappella octet, VOCES8 with pianist, Huw Watkins:

Recordings

Featured Image: Saint Benedict Chapel in Sumvitg, Graubünden, Switzerland by contemporary architect, Peter Zumthor, photograph by Marco Masetti

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

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