NEXUM Piano and Wind Sextet:
SAULINA NEDZINSKAITĖ (flute)
KRISTUPAS KAČIONAS (oboe)
KĘSTUTIS ABARIS (clarinet)
MARTA ETXEZARRETA (French horn)
LUKAS GRINKAS (bassoon)
GINTARĖ RUDAITYTĖ (piano)
LEO SMIT – Sextet for wind quintet and piano
ARVYDAS MALCYS – Ultimum refugium (The Last Refuge) for piano and wind quintet
FRANCIS POULENC – Sextet for piano and winds in A minor, Op. 100
JEAN FRANÇAIX – Suite L’heure du berger (The Shepherd’s Hour) for wind quintet and piano
Nexum Wind Sextet, the winners of the 6th Vilnius International Youth Music Competition “Premio Scarlatti”, invites you to take a journey through the various periods of the 20th century and hear the various colour combinations of chamber music.
The Sextet dedicated to the Concertgebouw was written by Leo Smit, who perished in the Holocaust. The Sextet was found in a rubbish heap after the Second World War. This dynamic, elegant composition, rich in baroque and jazz motifs, attracted the attention of chamber musicians and was brought back to the great chamber music repertoire.
Malcys’ Ultimum refugium reflects today’s issues. The composer contemplates the contradictory nature of man. The conflicting mood in the music conveys duality: in the human heart inferiority lives side by side with greatness, villainy – side by side with benevolence, hatred – side by side with love.
Poulenc’s Sextet was inspired by circus performances. The rhythms of jazz and ragtime bring this work closer to the aesthetics of interwar cabaret music.
Françaix’s L’heure du berger, also subtitled Musique de Brasserie, is a witty and critical look at the patrons of brasseries, the small restaurants of mid-20th century Paris. Three short sketches depict three characteristic types of patrons: dandies, seductive girls and nervous little patrons. Although written as background music for brasserie patrons, this colourful work is considered an equal part of the concert classical music repertoire.
