LITHUANIAN ENSEMBLE NETWORK presents HORIZONS 2009–1014 The LITHUANIAN ENSEMBLE NETWORK (LEN) is a professional Contemporary Music organization connecting professional ensembles, soloists and conductors. Vykintas Baltakas directs LEN as an open platform where creative ideas can be professionally realized and as a united ensemble - L’ENsemble. L’ENsemble consists of: the Chordos String Quartet, Kristupas Wind Quintet, Kaskados Piano Trio, Vilnius Brass Quintet, accordionist Raimondas Sviackevičius, pianist Rima Chačaturian, composer and singer Rita Mačiliūnaitė and others. As contemporary music is the source and the goal of all LEN’s activities, discovering new music is what drives all its members. This shared passion paired with the highest professionalism makes LEN one of the strongest player in the Lithuanian contemporary music scene. Starting from 2009 till now, LEN has presented both exciting new music in the home country and promoted Lithuanian works abroad. Worth mentioning are performances at the Festival “Ultraschall” in Berlin, at the WDR-concert series “Ensemble Europa” in Cologne and in Duisburg during the European Capital of Culture in Germany's Ruhr region. LEN is collaborating with important CD labels such as Kairos and Megadisc Classics. This CD summarizes the most interesting events held by LEN in 2009–2014 and documents its best recordings. http://www.lithuanian-ensemble.net WORKS: OSVALDAS BALAKAUSKAS (*1937) Rain for Cracow for violin and piano (1991) Osvaldas Balakauskas has held a strong position in the contemporary Lithuanian music scene since the mid-1960s and has influenced several generations of musicians as a composer and a professor. Balakauskas is one of the most prolific Lithuanian composers: his oeuvre includes five symphonies, more than ten concertos, a chamber opera, a ballet and numerous chamber music compositions. He distinguishes himself as an insightful and accurate music critic and theorist. Rain for Cracow was composed in 1991 for violin and piano (or prepared piano or harpsichord) and consists of several textural variations that are based on the three or four tone microsystems. LUCIANO BERIO (1925–2003) O, King for mezzo-soprano and ensemble O, King was composed in 1968 under the commission by Aeolian Chamber Players. The piece was dedicated to Martin Luther King soon after his violent death in 1968. The words O Martin Luther King are segmented and determine the structure of the composition, while the mezzo-soprano experiments with the phonetics of different name elements. The second version of O, King for eight singers and orchestra was included in Berio’s famous Sinfonia. VYKINTAS BALTAKAS (*1972) Eine kleine Nachtmusik for violin solo (2013) Nichtstück for clarinet, trumpet, soprano and alto saxophones (1996) After completing his degree in composition and conducting in Lithuania, Vykintas Baltakas went on to study abroad in the early 1990s, and became successfully integrated in the international music scene. His musical style has been significantly influenced by his studies with Wolfgang Rihm and Peter Eötvös as well as by his own experiences as a conductor. Baltakas’ music is characterized by precise research and deliberate manipulation of the musical material. Each time establishing his own musical criteria, his works are extremely tightly structured. Highly self-critical as a composer, he often reworks his pieces after the premiere ultimately searching for the ideal sound image. The miniature Eine kleine Nachtmusik for violin was composed in 2013 and is played on one violin string. It is a lullaby which the Lithuanian composer has been singing to his daughters for several years. The music in this piece was partially inspired by fractal ideas where a large image is created of many small images of the same shape. After the composer, “I couldn’t think of a better title than Eine kleine Nachtmusik”. The reference to Mozart is an ironic one… His sardonic composition Nichtstück for clarinet, soprano, alto saxophones and trumpet was composed in 1996 and mocks the sacralization of folk music in Lithuanian music tradition. The composition is based on a simple shepherd’s melody performed by a goat’s horn. At each repetition of the melody, some fragment gets stuck in a loop and is gradually transformed. When this process is complete, the melody is played again, but without the transformed fragment. This will lead towards the melody disappearing. Towards the end of the piece the original melody is reconstructed, however based on the transformed fragments and resulting in a rough and deformed sound. This consequential development is destructive, hence the title Nichtstück (“non-composition”). MATTHIAS PINTSCHER (*1971) Svelto for violin, cello and piano (2006) One of the most successful musicians of contemporary music scene is the German composer and conductor Matthias Pintscher. His rich creative activity is complemented by conducting and teaching. Since 2013 he is the artistic director of Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. Pintscher’s style is appreciated for his subtle instrumentation, sensitive sparkling sounds and high register harmonies. ‘Can music fly at the speed of light?’ With Svelto a trio for violin, cello and piano composed in 2006, Pintscher investigated this question, the title refers to the Italian word for speed. The light tempi evoke an elfish atmosphere, reminding somewhat of a character from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The composition is dedicated to its first performers Julia, Daniel and Jean-Yves. WOLFGANG RIHM (*1952) Am Horizont. Stille Szene for violin, cello and accordion (1991) Wolfgang Rihm is one of the most important composers in German modern music environment. He is the author of over 400 music compositions, some of which are already making history. Rihm’s music is characterized by an intensive creative process, wich ultimately integrates all of his compositions into an intrincic web of stories. Am Horizont. Stille Szene, which Rihm dedicated to his friend Mauricio Kagel on his 60th anniversary, is performed by three musicians located as far away as possible from each other. The shimmering of the sounds in the air recalls the transfer of messages between them. The dynamics balance mainly between pp and ppp and the composition ends in contemplation. *** LEN founder and artistic leader, composer and conductor VYKINTAS BALTAKAS studied composition with Vytautas Barkauskas at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater, before studying composition with Wolfgang Rihm and conducting with Andreas Weiss in Karlsruhe from 1993 to 1997. He subsequently studied in Paris at the Conservatoire National Supérieur and took a one year course at IRCAM. Conductors and composers make up two sides of the coin for the busiest of musicians – an attitude shared by Peter Eötvös who was his teacher between 1994 and 1997. In the meantime he is a regular guest at festivals and with ensembles throughout Europe. Institutions that have commissioned works by Baltakas include the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Biennale, the Wiener Festwochen/Klangforum Wien, the Ensemble Modern and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/musica viva. Vykintas Baltakas has in recent years conducted renowned orchestras such as the RSO and DSO Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the WDR Symphony Orchestra as well as ensembles including Ensemble Resonanz, the Ensemble Modern and Scharoun Ensemble. He has also collaborated with composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Georg Friedrich Haas and Dieter Schnebel. In 2009 he founded the Lithuanian Ensemble Network (LEN) of which he is the driving force. Vykintas Baltakas’ works have been awarded with prizes such as the International Claudio Abbado Composition Prize (2003) and the Siemens Advancement Award (2007). CD recordings of his compositions were recently made by the Ensemble musikFabrik Cologne and the Ensemble Modern. www.baltakas.net