The Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, who is known for his atmospheric pieces for string orchestra, ''Cantabile'', ''Musica dolorosa'' and ''Voices'', is concentrating increasingly on chamber music: his latest works are the ''Partita'' for cello and piano, the ''Fifth String Quartet'' and a piano quartet. Vasks has brought elements of ancient and folk traditions in Latvian music into his compositions. While most of his works have programmatic titles relating to natural processes, Vasks is not concerned with a poetic homage to Nature, nor with depiction of landscape as an aesthetic ideal. The main themes which Vasks explores in his most recent musical work are the reciprocal relationship between man and Nature, the beauty of life and the impending ecological and moral destruction of these values.