The meaningful tradition of celebrating the 16th of February, the Day of the Restoration of the State of Lithuania, with opuses by Lithuanian composers at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society continues. This year’s concert programme Dedication to Lithuania is presented by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO), Vilnius Choir, soloists Lukas Geniušas (piano), Monika Pleškytė (soprano), Ieva Prudnikovaitė (mezzo-soprano), Tomas Pavilionis (tenor), Tadas Girininkas (bass), and the conductor Modestas Pitrėnas. The event’s dedication is complemented by the 150th birth anniversary of the nation’s genius, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, celebrated throughout 2025. The programme of this concert, featuring recent works and examples from the golden treasury of Lithuanian contemporary music, is therefore linked to each composer’s contemplation on Čiurlionis. The patron of the concert is H.E. Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania.

The symbolic axis of the festive programme is one of the first dedications to Čiurlionis in Lithuanian music – Dzūkiškos variacijos (Dzūkian Variations) by the foremost composer Bronius Kutavičius. Due to the authenticity of a folk song and its unifying force, the Variations, composed in 1974, became a symbol of the emerging national self-awareness that sprouted behind the ‘Iron Curtain’.

The younger generation composers Zita Bružaitė, Donatas Zakaras, Antanas Kučinskas, Raminta Šerkšnytė presented in the programme will share their own inspirations.

“For me, Čiurlionis’ letters to Sofija were a great discovery. Sincere, fragile, full of love and respect, as if coming from another world, the letters resonated within turning into music”, says Donatas Zakaras, who will be presenting not only his newest work based on text by Čiurlionis, Ar tai kartais ne sapnas? (Isn’t it a Dream?) for mixed choir and symphony orchestra, but also Fantazija Čiurlionio temomis (Fantasy on the themes of Čiurlionis) for piano and symphony orchestra, where the composer has tried to sedulously approach the genius’ subtle piano miniatures (suggested by Lukas Geniušas), and to clothe them in the garb of the symphony orchestra.

In one of his letters to Sofija, Čiurlionis wrote the phrase “Silhouette. Why aren’t you here…”, which inspired Zita Bružaitė’s new symphonic poem Siluetai (Silhouettes). “In Čiurlionis’ paintings, we see recurring images of an angel, a serpent, a mountain, a boat, etc., which come to us either vividly or in a guessable, contoured way, and become barely visible silhouettes against the background of the painting. Since all images have semantic references and can create a narrative, this kind of a programmatic storyline led to the choice of the dominant genre of Romanticism – the symphonic poem”, says Bružaitė.

Antanas Kučinskas’ For Rest (2011), dedicated to Čiurlionis, reveals a modern approach to both the genius’ work and modern compositional technologies. As Kučinskas writes, “the composition is based on the material of  Čiurlionis’ symphonic poem Miške (In the Forest). It has been dismantled down to the ‘elementary particles’: individual notes, micro-segments. By undoing their interconnections, a new, completely different-sounding musical whole was created. The work uses looping, cut&paste, layering and other compositional techniques commonly found in DJ music.”

The concert will be crowned by Raminta Šerkšnytė’s Gloria and Te Deum (Lithuanian premiere). Gloria was premiered in 2018 at a concert Gloria to Lithuania, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Day of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania. Te Deum received its premiere in Duisburg, Germany, at the celebration of the 700th anniversary of Vilnius. “The main sources of inspiration for Gloria were the celebration of the 16th of February, associated with freedom and light, and Čiurlionis’ painting Karalių pasaka (Fairy Tale of the Kings). It is this painting, in which two kings gaze at a glowing world held in the palms of their hands, that I associate with the birth of the state. And in Te Deum, composed a few years later, I sought to convey the hope and belief that even in the current turbulent times moving towards the light will be the vision of Vilnius, Lithuania and the world,” says Šerkšnytė.

The concert Dedication to Lithuania. LNSO, “Vilnius” Choir, Modestas Pitrėnas, Lukas Geniušas to mark the Day of the Restoration of the State of Lithuania will take place on Sunday, 16 February at 19.00 in the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Concert Hall. For more information on the concerts of the LNPhS 84th season, please visit www.nationalphilharmonic.lt LNPhS 84th concert season is sponsored by NORFA.

LNPhS inf.