JURGIS JUOZAPAITIS

In his music Jurgis Juozapaitis, a recipient of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art, uses a variety of compositional techniques – serialism, aleatorics, minimalism. His works display the spontaneity of melodic lines, the natural flow of the music, the expressiveness and the lyricism. Among the composer’s most famous early orchestral works is the Symphony Rex, for which Juozapaitis was awarded the Lithuanian State Award in 1978. Although the bibliography indicates that this Symphony was composed in 1973, the score was actually completed in December 1972 (December 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Juozapaitis’ Symphony Rex). In this work the composer focuses on the colour of the sound; it reveals his characteristic intuitive way of composing. “I like to observe the orchestra and try to unravel the mystery of its sound”, says the composer. The Symphony consists of two movements – Adagio. Allegro animato and Allegro vivace.

The Lithuanian National Philharmonic, Maestro Modestas Barkauskas and the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra have dedicated the performance of Rex to the composer Juozapaitis’ 80th anniversary.