2017 December 13, Wednesday, 19.00
Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, Vilnius
Performers
CHRISTOPHER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF VILNIUS
(artistic director and conductor DONATAS KATKUS)
Soloist LIUDAS MOCKŪNAS (saxophone)
Program
Mosaic of Epochs
JOSEPH HAYDN – Symphony No. 64 in A major Tempora mutantur (Hob. I:64)
GINTARAS SODEIKA – Tuba plumbum D‘N‘G for saxophone and strings
FRANK BRIDGE – Suite for strings (H.93)
BENJAMIN BRITTEN – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10 for string orchestra
The Vilnius Municipality St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra stands out for its stylistic versatility. Formed as a baroque orchestra it soon earned a reputation of the reviver of rare scores and also became an excellent performing force for many a Lithuanian composer. This programme revisits several epochs as if tracing the creative path of the tandem of the orchestra and its founder and artistic director Donatas Katkus. With Joseph Haydn being one the conductor’s favourite composers, the Maestro confessed that he “would again greatly enjoy conducting his music”. Couple of the works on the programme are substantially linked: Suite for strings by the composer and violist Frank Bridge and Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge by his disciple Benjamin Britten, the foremost 20th century British composer. Britten’s opus in which he employed the theme from Bridge’s Three Idylls for string quartet (1906) is dedicated to his teacher. Akin to his teacher’s music Britten’s Variations are imbued with the sense of anxiety and absorption, but also sunlit lyricism. Later on the opus drew attention of many a choreographer and was employed in dance productions. However, these works are seldom performed in Lithuania and, according to Katkus, “in anticipation of a New Year it would be rather courteous to bow to scarcely ever heard British music”. Lithuanian contemporary music will be represented by Tuba plumbum, Gintaras Sodeika’s impressive opus premiered in 2013 in Velnio duobė (Devil’s pit) in Aukštadvaris, Trakai reg. as part of an international project “New Music: New Audiences”. Then the solo part was performed by Rimantas Ramanauskas (bass clarinet). The renowned saxophonist Liudas Mockūnas will be the soloist this time. According to the conductor, the performer is in perfect tune with the opus.
