Inspired by the great Latvian composer, Pēteris Vasks, I am starting a new occasional series on the way of beauty.
For Vasks, the son of a Baptist pastor who was born during the darkest days of the USSR, beauty was the only possible response to the ugliness that had been imposed upon his homeland. Rejecting Soviet Realism, he instead wrote music which told “how beautiful and harmonious the world is”, arguing that “to my mind, every honest composer searches for a way out of the crises of his times— towards affirmation and faith.” That sounds like a pretty good manifesto to me.
So I offer you this beautiful piece of choral music, ‘The Fruit of Silence’, which sets the words of Mother Teresa / St Teresa of Calcutta: “The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service and the fruit of service is peace.”
It’s a stunning performance from the mixed choir of Riga Cathedral Choir School:
And if you’d like to hear the version for strings and choir, here’s another lovely recording: