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The most outstanding aspects of this concert are the return of the talented quartet of saxophonists from Germany to their beloved Vilnius, and two premieres, a German and a Lithuanian one, dedicated to the capital! As always, the exceptional Signum saxophonists promise to set off musical firework full of emotions. The performers’ experience of the stylistic boundaries of music and their constant search for the perfect ensemble sound, be it original compositions for saxophone quartet, orchestral arrangements, baroque compositions or rock, make for a true musical feast. Joining the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra on stage again, Signum presents the premiere of Sea of Ice for saxophone quartet, vibraphone and strings by Christian Jost, one of the most fascinating contemporary German composers. The opus is dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the German painter Kaspar David Friedrich.

Gediminas Rimkus Rimkevičius, a composer of the new Lithuanian work, is celebrating his 60th birthday this year. His work is distinguished by a variety of genres and styles, using rhythm groups, folk ensembles, electronic phonograms, and narrators in orchestral, vocal-instrumental opuses, combining classical and contemporary music language with the styles and genres of a wide variety of musical trends. Receiving premiere performance tonight, Rimkus Rimkevičius’ Vilnius Symphony (2022) was written for the 700th anniversary of the capital. According to the composer, “the symphony builds a symbolic bridge to the historical fount of Lithuanian identity, the city of kings, telling the story of the prosperity and dramatic decline of the Lithuanian capital as a multicultural European city. The symphony is an attempt to feel and reveal the spirit of Vilnius, to create a retrospective, spiritual link with the Vilnius of today and its inhabitants.” Full of vitality, drama and timbral colours, the music conveys the vicissitudes of the city’s history, linking the past and the present, which the composer renders more dramatically than the past re-echoes.

The concert programme will conclude with the suite Viel Lärmen um Nichts (Much Ado About Nothing) by the Austrian Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a successful composer of operas and music for films. The music for William Shakespeare’s play, staged in Vienna in 1920, is considered a psychological study of human characteristics such as lust, seduction and greed, and the atmospheric and action-packed orchestral suite from the play is one of the most famous examples of Korngold’s oeuvre.