WORLD MUSIC

The Centre of Folklore and Ethnography of Etnic Minorities in Lithuania annually initiates the creation, presentation and distribution of a new music creation. Our annual goal is to order new world music musical compositions from most famous composers, to encourage them to combine the folk melody, rhythm and poetics of different nations living in Lithuania and new forms of contemporary music. Since 2009, the main goal of this project, which has attracted professional music and authentic folklore artists, is to capture the brightest examples of musical folklore, interest both folk creatives and professional art lovers, educate children and young people in culture, and musical heritage. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and prominent Lithuanian conductors have become our permanent partners-performers. The following works have already been created and successfully presented to Lithuanian and foreign audiences:

LINAS RIMŠA “OLD FAITH”, 2009

The work commissioned for the festival Pokrovskye Kolokola was performed in the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society with great success and became part of the program “Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009” and later at the Lithuanian National Drama Theater and the Moscow International House of Music. 2015 an orchestral version of the work was created, enriching the possibilities of expressing his creative thought through musical expression and including new added parts, which was successfully presented at the celebration of the Day of Restoration of Lithuanian Independence in St. Petersburg in 2017 and at the Tbilisi State Conservatory in 2019.

The composition of the Lithuanian composer on spiritual topics was recognized and highly appreciated by music critics. The CD of the music piece was released twice in Lithuania, and later the right to release this album was given to the famous British company ARC Music.

In the music of Linas Rimša, folklore unites with fragments of other musical cultures, genres and styles. The Russian folklore ensemble performs authentic songs and songs of Lithuanian Old Believers. A rare folklore genre - religious singing poetry - has been selected for the world music project.

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, art director Sergey KRYLOV

Folklore ensemble ARINUSHKA, art directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

Soloists: Viktoras ŽABROVAS, Arina ZACHAROVA

Julia MOROZOVA (organ, cello)

Percussion group HAND VOICES

Rūta RAGINYTĖ (lamzdelis)

Tomas BIELIAUSKAS (oboe)

Nikolai ZACHAROV (bayan)

Tomas VARNAGIRIS (guitar)

DYNGYLDAI (vocals, Republic Tyva)

Conductor Robertas SHERVENIKAS

L I S T E N

ANDREI DOINIKOV “ETHNOSPHERE - A NEW BREATH OF TRADITION”, 2012

The symphonic suite for soloists, folklore ensembles and orchestra "Ethnosphere - A New Breath of Tradition" is a creative experiment of the organizers of the festival Pokrovskije kolokola and participants of the Ethnosphere program. The title of the project reflects the core idea of the movement itself, which brought together performers who have received high recognition in various countries around the world. They nurture folk traditions by translating them into new forms of contemporary music and attracting young, creative musicians. One of them is Andrei Doinikov, a great composer, percussionist, pianist, conductor.

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, art director Sergey KRYLOV
Folklore ensemble ARINUSHKA, art directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

Soloists:

Andrei KOTOV (vocals, folk instruments, Russia)

Sergey STAROSTIN (vocals, folk instruments, Russia)

Sergey FILATOV (piano, Russia)

Vitaly KIS (guitar, Russia)

Sergey KLEVENSKY (folk instruments, Russia)

Dmitry VLASENKO (folk instruments, Russia)

Conductor Andrei DOINIKOV (Germany-Russia)

L I S T E N

GEDIMINAS RIMKUS RIMKEVIČIUS “FOLK RHAPSODY”, 2013

The Slavic song cycle "Folk Rhapsody" is also a composition of the popular world music trend of our time. The composition of the Lithuanian composer Gediminas Rimkus Rimkevičius “Folk Rhapsody” reveals the composer's individual approach to folklore, the synthesis of folk and academic music. The voices of folk artists, blending harmoniously with the orchestral and ethnic instruments, create a unique mystery of ancient and contemporary music.

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, artistic director Sergey KRYLOV

Folklore ensembles ARINUSKA, art directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

TRAIKOTKA, artistic director Irena VIŠNEVSKA

SVIATO, Artistic Director Arina ZACHAROVA

Soloists: Yevgeny YEFREMOV (vocals, Ukraine)

Sergey KLEVENSKIJ (folk instruments, Russia)

Julia MOROZOVA (piano, Lithuania)

Nikolay ZACHAROV (bayan, vocals, Lithuania)

Tomas BOTYRIUS (saxophone, Lithuania)

Igor KRAMAREVAS (trumpet, Lithuania)

Artūras CHALIKOVAS (guitar, Lithuania)

Percussion group HAND VOICES (Lithuania)

Valentinas KRULIKOVSKIS (jaw harp, Lithuania)

Vyacheslav LUKJANENKO (jaw harp, Lithuania)

Conductor Robertas SHERVENIKAS

L I S T E N

JONAS JURKŪNAS “FROM THIS CITY”, 2014

The piece features folk songs from different nations - Russian, Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian, Belarussian, Lithuanian and other - revealed by modern means of contemporary music expression. Jonas Jurkūnas, a talented composer who has won recognition in Lithuania and abroad, asks himself and his listeners the question: "What would representatives of different nations from Vilnius, spread all over the world, tell the people of distant lands about themselves and Vilnius?". The answer lies in the piece, in which the orchestra symbolizes the city of Vilnius, the performers - ethnic groups who have lived and still live in Vilnius since ancient times, and their profound national idiosyncrasies. The piece consists of vocal-instrumental episodes and orchestral inserts, and the finale sounds an orchestral tutti, symbolizing the apotheosis of the Lithuanian capital. An avid experimenter, the piece blends music and visual arts in a harmonious way, revealing the potential for art synthesis and its unique impact on listeners.

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, artistic director Sergey KRYLOV

Folklore ensembles ARINUSKA, art directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

SVIATO, Artistic Director Arina ZACHAROVA

Folklore Ensemble INTAKAS

Soloists: Rafail KARPIS (tenor)

Saulius PETREIKIS (multi-instrumentalist)

Hamidreza RAHBARALAM, Tomas KULIKAUSAS (percussion)

Gospel Choir HARK!

Visual artist Rimas SAKALAUSKAS

Set designer Anželika ŠULCAITĖ

Conductor Modestas BARKAUSKAS

L I S T E N

LINAS RIMŠA “WOMEN'S SONGS”, 2015

The concept of the piece is exceptional - the composer presents the singing folklore of women of different nations in the context of contemporary music, thus highlighting the importance of the female element in the traditional culture of different nations and revealing the possibilities of synthesis of ethnic music and modern music composing and performance.

In folklore, a woman's life beginning is associated with fortuity and the magic of the word. A woman's word has a bigger influence than a man's word, often gaining a curse resembling power. The feminine creative beginning in folk songs involves lyricism, the ability to express symbols, emotionality, rituality, generalization and the pursuit of tradition. All these aspects have been explored, reviewed, revealed and articulated by the composer with the help of the music language, so the composition should be seen not only as a high-level piece of music, but also as a result of scientific research and discovery.

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, artistic director Sergey KRYLOV

Soloists:

Shorena JANIASHVILI (vocals)

Erica JENNINGS (vocals)

Laurita PELENIUTE (vocals)

Tatjana ZACHIKEVICH (vocals, Poland)

Rūta RAGINYTĖ (The Snowdrop)

Percussion group HAND VOICES

Conductor Robertas SHERVENIKAS

L I S T E N

ALGIRDAS MARTINAITIS “SAGA OF LIFE”, 2016

The cantata in World music style in which spontaneous, naughty Russian national songs intertwine with the static, "fatal" musical inserts which are characteristic to works of a large form of vocal music – to cantatas and oratorios. Such examples already are included in works of composers of the 20th century – Carl Orff, Valery Gavrilin, Karl Jenkins. The work consists of three parts symbolizing human life stages: youth – pleasures of spring, a wedding; a maturity – summer works and holidays; an old age –autumn, fall when acts of all human life are weighed. In the work, the author tries to emphasize vocal theatricality, expressiveness of the song text, providing to performers scenic freedom and by emphasizing lines of the Russian national character.

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, artistic director Sergej KRYLOV

Folklore ensemble ARINUSKA, artistic directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

Soloists: Viktoras ŽABROVAS, Arina ZACHAROVA

Rafail KARPIS, Evelina SASHENKO (vocals) Julia MOROZOVA (celesta)

Sergej STAROSTIN (ethnic wind instruments)

Giedrius GELGOTAS (flute)

Dominykas VYŠNIAUSKAS (trumpet)

Percussion group HAND VOICES

Conductor Modestas PITRĖNAS

L I S T E N

ZITA BRUŽAITE “COLLAGES”, 2017

“Collages” is a musical composition, which does not fit into the strict framework of genre and style, reflecting the composer’s last term objective of creating monumental compositions, which have individual genre name (cantatorium “Lumen fidei" (2013), simfort "The Shield", (2016) and the music epic "... because miss you" (2016) ). Although most of the collages’ terms represent the visual arts of different connection techniques, they can also be organic in music, especially in Zita Bružaitė’s works, where stylistic interlacing is not uncongenial. The composer’s idea for the work was "borrowed" from the love theme, which is often exploited by various artists. In this theme’s background intertwines the counterpoint of human birth, the longing and loss, i.e. personal, community and global relations. Collages comprises of five parts, that may be regarded as a roundel e.g. rotating wheel cycle, in which the only thing that changes is us, but the themes and emotions remain eternal.

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, artistic director Sergej KRYLOV

Folklore ensemble ARINUSKA, artistic directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

Raimonda VEBELIUNAITE-VIRVYTIENE, Karolina DAUKŠIENĖ (flute)

Rimantas VALANČIAUSKAS, Dalius NOREIKA, Audrius BARVYDIS, Arūnas MULIARČIKAS (trombone)

Tomas DIČIŪNAS (keyboard)

Tomas MASLAUSKAS (bass guitar)

Tomas Kulikauskas, Artūras Žemblyas (percussion)

Conductor Modestas BARKAUSKAS

L I S T E N

ANATOLIJUS ŠENDEROVAS “DEDICATION”, 2018

The theme of the work "Dedication" was inspired by Tomas Venclova's book ""Vilnius: City Guide". "Dedication", with the help of the musical language, gives meaning to very vivid moments related to the facts of old Vilnius history. The work reveals the image of a multiethnic Vilnius, and tells the story by interweaving the facts of the lives of individual nations in the city and their interrelations. Each part of the piece reflects the cultures of the peoples living and creating in Vilnius and is associated with a specific historical place (Town Hall, Bolshaya Pogulianka, etc.) and the town’s personalities (Adam Mickiewicz, Francysk Skaryna, etc.) or city related facts. The city tells its story on the stage - like all nations - Lithuanians, Russians, Byelorussians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Jews, Poles, Karaites, Georgians - together they built and created the capital of the modern city as it is now. The piece's unique dynamism was given by the dancer's choreography, revealing the creator's idea and reinforcing the impact of his idea.

ARTISTS:

Čiurlionis Quartet

Folklore ensemble ARINUSKA, artistic directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

Soloists Arina ZACHAROVA, Irma FEDARAVIČIŪTĖ (vocals)

Folklore Ensemble BEDINERA (Sacramento)

Petras VYŠNIAUSKAS (saxophone), Arkadij GOTESMAN (percussion)

Vilnius Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel YATOM

Edita STUNDYTĖ (choreography)

Conductor Karolis VARIAKOJIS

L I S T E N

LAIMIS VILKONČIUS THE MASS OF THE STARLING”, 2019

The composition will feature Sigitas Geda's poetry (from the collection of “Jotvingiai Mass”) and authentic folk music of various nations. The form of mystery does not restrict the author to freely connect these components in the language of world music style. The author’s work is designed as a montage of folklore, customs and original music, which retains the meaning and style of the original folk music and the dimensions of modernism.

The motto of the work is a fragment of Sigitas Geda's poem:

"... Starling, / My lonely pastor/ Red stem,

But everything else is black, already rounder, / leading a mass ... "

ARTISTS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, artistic director Sergej KRYLOV

Folklore ensemble ARINUSKA, artistic directors Irena and Nikolai ZACHAROV

Soloist Arina ZACHAROVA (vocals)

Julia MOROZOVA (piano)

Percussion group HAND VOICES

Laimis VILKONČIUS (reader)

Directed by Yuri POPOV

Conductor Karolis VARIAKOJIS

L I S T E N

LINAS RIMŠA, GINTAUTAS VENISLOVAS, JIEVARAS JASINSKIS "THERE WAS A DAY", 2020

Based on Simonas Firkovičius poetry and Karaite folklore

The premiere of the 15th International Folklore Festival "Pokrovskije kolokola" features a work by the famous Lithuanian composers Linas Rimša, Gintautas Venislovas and Jievaras Jasinskis "There was a day" dedicated to the Karaite nation and its history. The main goal of this initiative is to contribute to the preservation of the invaluable cultural heritage of the Karaite nation, to give meaning to an important historical event - the commemoration of the Lithuanian Karaite Year. The work intertwines music and Karaite poetry, and reflects the destinies of man and the nation in Lithuanian and Karaite languages. Some of the poetic compositions are by Simonas Firkovičius (1897 -1982). He is a prominent figure in Karaite culture, a poet, a public figure, and a senior clergyman. His contribution to the survival of the community and the Karaite language in the very difficult circumstances of the twentieth century is very significant. Both managerial and creative talent of Simonas Firkovičius is significant. His abundant work is important as a monument of language and as a rich source of the characteristics, morals and customs of community life.

PERFORMERS:

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

(artistic director and conductor Sergei Krylov)

Conductor Modestas PITRĖNAS

Soloists:

Luka MEBONIA (ethnic vocals, percussion, Sakartvelo)

Arina ZACHAROVA (ethnic vocals)

Dovilė KAZONAITĖ (soprano)

Stein SKJERVOLD (baritone, Norway)

Jurgis SAKALAUSKAS (acoustic guitar, bouzouki)

Folklore ensemble ARINUŠKA (artistic directors Irena and Nikolai Zakharov)

Percussion Ensemble HAND VOICES (leader Tomas Kulikauskas)

L I S T E N

LEON SOMOV „PERPETUUM“, 2021

Leonas Somovas, one of the most famous Lithuanian electronic music composers, made his debut at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic as the author of the work Perpetuum, which uniquely combines electronic music and folklore.

Perpetuum is a world-style music piece that tells the story of a person's entire life, from birth to death using the sound of electronic music, string quartet, percussion and authentic folk songs. Slavic folk songs performed by the folklore ensemble Arinuška, including Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian and Polish compositions, enhanced the majestically conveyed cycle of human life in eight different parts of the work.

In creating Perpetuum, Leon Somov boldly interpreted folklore melodies, changing the structure of songs, the melody of vocal lines, and seeking to combine individual motifs and works into a unified and storytelling whole. According to the producer, some of the changes are particularly bold, and the works are very far from the original versions of folk songs, but the spiritual totality of the folklore and authentic melodies have absorbed the new modern electronic sound very well. The premiere of Leon Somov's work was joined by the Čiurlionis Quartet (strings) to the ensemble Arinuška led by Irena and Nikolai Zakharov, for which arrangements were made by JIEVARAS JASINSKIS.

PERFORMERS:

ČIURLIONIS QUARTET

Jonas TANKEVIČIUS (Violin I)

Darius DIKŠAITIS (Violin II)

Gediminas DAČINSKAS (viola)

Gleb PYŠNIAK (cello)

Folklore ensemble ARINUŠKA

Leon SOMOV (electronics)

Džiugas DAUGIRDA (percussion)

L I S T E N

JIEVARAS JASINSKIS „ORERO“, 2022 m.

SAKARTVELO FOLKLORO PAGRINDU

World Music žanras skatina skirtingų kultūrų susiliejimą, atvirumą bei atskleidžia visų žmonių vienovę. Būtent apie tai pasakoja kūrinys „Orero“ (dvi tautos – gruzinų kalba), o jo skleidžiama žinia – būdami kartu esame stiprūs, tik drauge – Lietuva ir Sakartvelas – galime apsaugoti savo laisvę, savo kultūrą ir tradicijas. Saugodami tikrąsias savo ir kitų tautų vertybes galėsime darniai gyventi šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje, tik įsiklausydami į protėvių žodžius išgirsime ir suprasime vieni kitus šiandien. Jo autorius – kompozitorius ir pripažintas aranžuotojas Jievaras Jasinskis – jau yra sėkmingai įgyvendinęs projektus, įkvėptus įvairių tautų tradicinės muzikos, dalyvaujant folkloro atlikėjams, jungiant tradicinės sudėties orkestrus su etninės ar džiazo muzikos instrumentinėmis grupėmis. Naujam projektui pasirinkti gruzinų tradicinės muzikos temą inspiravo ilgametis ir labai turiningas projekto organizatorių dialogas su Sakartvelo etninės muzikos atlikėjais bei neįprasta Sakartvelo muzikinio folkloro įvairovė.

ATLIKĖJAI:

LIETUVOS KAMERINIS ORKESTRAS

(meno vadovas ir dirigentas Sergej KRYLOV)

Dirigentas Modestas PITRĖNAS

SHARA BAND (Sakartvelas)

Arina ZACHAROVA (etninis vokalas)

Enrikas SLAVINSKIS (akustinė gitara, bouzouki)

Tbilisio Vano Saradžyšvili valstybinės konservatorijos

K.VARDELI STRING QUARTET (Sakartvelas):

Konstantine EROYAN (smuikas)

David AKOPIAN (smuikas)

Ekaterine GARDAVADZE (altas)

Giorgi NADAREISHVILI (violončelė)

Perkusininkų ansamblis HAND VOICES (meno vadovas Tomas KULIKAUSKAS)

K L A U S Y T I

MINDAUGAS STUMBRAS „SPELL“, 2023 m.

UKRAINIEČIŲ TRADICINĖS MUZIKOS PAGRINDU

„Labai įvairiapusis, spalvingas, platų muzikinių žanrų spektrą apimantis ir pasaulio intonacijų įkvėptas darbas. Kūrinyje skamba styginių kvartetas, gitara, kontrabosas, fortepijonas, trimitas, perkusija ir vokalo ansamblis. Perkusija tapo viena reikšmingiausių šio kūrinio dalių. Plati mušamųjų instrumentuotė suteikė galimybę puikiai atsiskleisti pasaulio muzikos ritmų įvairovei. Ukrainiečių liaudies dainos, atliekamos folkloro ansamblio SVIATO, neabejotinai yra kūrinio ašis. Ji dar ir apipinta lietuvių liaudies dainų motyvais, pietų šalių ritmais ir harmonija, Artimųjų Rytų intonacijomis. Styginių kvartetas tapo dalimi, kuri sujungė visas muzikines temas į vientisą ir nuoseklų stambios muzikinės formos kūrinį. Jame netrūksta epizodiškai išnyrančių improvizacinių elementų, trimito, fortepijono ir gitaros solinių interliudų. Visa tai, mano manymu, sukuria nepaprastai spalvingą opusą, kuris įtraukia klausytoją ir nepaleidžia iki paskutinio akordo“ (M. Stumbras).