The Čiurlionis Code I. LNSO, Kaunas State Choir, Robertas Šervenikas, Philippe Graffin

Performers:
LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(artistic director and principal conductor Modestas Pitrėnas)
KAUNAS STATE CHOIR
(artistic director and principal conductor Robertas Šervenikas)
PHILIPPE GRAFFIN (violin, France)
JUSTINA GRINGYTĖ (mezzo-soprano)
Conductor ROBERTAS ŠERVENIKAS

Programme:
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR – Ballade for orchestra in A minor, Op. 33; Concerto for violin and orchestra in G minor, Op. 80
MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIONIS – Cantata De profundis (From the Depths) for choir and orchestra
LILI BOULANGER – Du fond de l’abîme (From the Depths of the Abyss, after psalm No. 130) for mezzo-soprano, choir and orchestra

Čiurlionis Code is the first of two dedications by the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society to Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, and a celebration of the composer and artist’s 150th birthday. To mark this momentous occasion, the concert will present a geographical retrospective of M. K. Čiurlionis’ time, of which the composer himself was unaware. The programme will also feature the works by M. K. Čiurlionis’ contemporaries, the French Lili Boulanger and the British Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

Kaunas State Choir and the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra will perform one of Čiurlionis’ most beautiful works, the cantata De profundis, which the composer wrote after psalm 130. Lili Boulanger based her work Du fond de l’abîme on the same psalm. Justina Gringytė, one of Lithuania’s leading mezzo-sopranos, will perform the solo part of this heart-rending composition.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, dubbed the African Mahler, composed his Ballade for orchestra in A minor only a year before M. K. Čiurlionis wrote his De profundis. One of his most mature works, the Concerto for violin and orchestra in G minor, will feature the French violinist Philippe Graffin, admired for his clever and subtle interpretations. Full of unexpected connections, the musical dedication to M. K. Čiurlionis will be conducted by Robertas Šervenikas, the second conductor of the LNSO.