A Dedication to Čiurlionis

The 150th anniversary of the birth of the Lithuanian composer, painter and choirmaster Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, will be celebrated at the International Klaipėda Cello Festival. The momentous occasion will be marked by premieres performed by the grandson of the Lithuanian genius, pianist Rokas Zubovas, and the young cellist Gleb Pyšniak. 

In 1902, while studying at Leipzig Conservatoire, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis began to compose a work for cello and orchestra. Most probably, it was supposed to be a one-movement Konzerstück. Čiurlionis wrote down the four bars to be played after a slow introduction in a letter to his friend Eugeniusz Morawski. Only these four bars remain of the original work for cello and orchestra. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Čiurlionis’s birth, the duo of cellist Gleb Pyšniak and pianist Rokas Zubovas commissioned three composers from the Baltic states to dedicate a new work to Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis.

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, a winner of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts, Latvian composer Arturs Maskats and Estonian composer Mihkel Kerem based their compositions on the four surviving bars written by Čiurlionis. Their compositions serve to build bridges of time and culture between the early 20th-century Lithuanian classical composer, who studied in Leipzig, and today’s musical culture of the Baltic countries. The programme will also feature piano miniatures by M. K. Čiurlionis, masterfully adapted for cello and piano by cellist Juozas Čelkauskas. 

‘A Dedication to Čiurlionis’ is a gift for the anniversary of Čiurlionis, which will contribute towards the repertoire of cellists from Lithuania and abroad.