BRONIUS KUTAVIČIUS

Bronius Kutavičius is one of the foremost Lithuanian composers, an outstanding figure of Lithuanian music culture of the seventies. In his music, different means of expression merge in an unorthodox way – from a simple Lithuanian folk song to aleatorics and sonorism. His compositions display an original approach to different parameters of compositional process, as well as different treatment of form. The composer pays special attention to sound, arrangement of instruments, theatricality. In the period of more than 40 years the popularity of his Dzūkian Variations (1974) for strings and tape has not diminished. The opus is dedicated to M. K. Čiurlionis’ 100th birth anniversary. The Lithuanian folk song Beauštanti aušrelė was chosen as the theme of the variations. At the beginning, its melody is performed by a folk singer (or recording), and the final variation presents its arrangement for four-voice choir by Čiurlionis. As pianist and musicologist Vytautas Landsbergis wrote, “the theme of the variations is a beautiful and sad wedding song: this is how the bride is awakened to say goodbye to her parents’ home. (…) When this motif remains alone, after the collage insertion of the choir, when it gradually vanishes, we hear ​​a cheerful romantic ending: the music dissolves, fades. It is akin to saying goodbye to the whole epoch of the soul, but we do not reject it and continue to draw from it.”

Dzūkian Variations is performed by the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Adrija Čepaitė. The recording features the voices of Veronika Povilionienė, the most famous Lithuanian folk song performer, and the Vilnius State Choir.