​Connected with nature

​Few composers feel as close to nature as Pēteris Vasks. The seasons and birds are recurring themes in his work. Daniel Rowland plays the Sonata Estiva (Summer Sonata) dedicated to him. Pianist Natacha Kudritskaya conjures up autumnal colours from her piano in Autumn Music, a movement from the magisterial piano cycle in which Vasks depicts the four seasons. Danish flautist Janne Thomsen plays Landscape with Birds, now a classic of the flute repertoire. Beethoven also painted a landscape with birds in his Sixth Symphony, the Pastoral. The festival musicians perform a masterful version for string septet.