On a summer's eve in 1904, composer Emīls Dārziņš and writer Jānis Poruks were seated at a green gazebo in the vicinity of Cēsis, northeastern Latvia. The two talked but little, as usual. When Poruks left, the composer saw a twilight vision, a strange white image like a dreamy Virgin Mary. This vision inspired him to write the Melancholy Waltz (Melanholiskais valsis), one of the best-known musical works by a Latvian composer.
