Philharmonix - The Vienna Berlin Music Club Vol.4 - Baltic

"Baltic," as the title suggests, is dedicated to the music of the Baltic region, specifically Latvia. Sebastian Gürtler was inspired by Latvian melodies, folk songs, and children's songs and created this cycle of works in a unique, intimate, often melancholic and dance-like, but occasionally also hymnic and lyrical musical language.

The catchy "Polka from Latgale" opens the piece. This is followed by the enlivened "Midsummer Night's Hymn," an ode to the joy of life, enlivened by dance rhythms, before more contemplative tones emerge in "Sunset Prayer." An intimately set journey through Lauma's emotional world before her wedding, via a somber requiem of a partridge to a feel-good pop song. At the end, we find ourselves, sometimes fragile, sometimes composed, amidst the blaring sounds of bagpipes, in the midst of the funeral procession honoring a Baltic sailor.