We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Last Pagan Rites. From the Yotvingian Stone

by Bronius Kutavičius

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €10 EUR  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Last Pagan Rites. From the Yotvingian Stone via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days

      €25 EUR or more 

     

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

about

Bronius Kutavičius (1932-2021) was one of the most prominent figures in Lithuanian music culture. His work transcends the boundaries of pure music, encompassing a wide cultural context, revealing layers of Baltic history and pre-history buried deep in the ages, and bringing forth archetypes of mythical and religious consciousness. Kutavičius' music, through its archaic and primordial sensibilities, follows a vision of “cultural archaeology” and is at once rational, mathematically accurate and harmonious. The sometimes complexly intertwined structures of sound pulsate with life and the power of feeling.

Because of the multi-layered repetitiveness and reduction of musical material to quite elementary models, Kutavičius' work may seem similar to early European post-minimalism, yet it sounds completely different. The roots of his “pagan minimalism” lie in the ancient forms of Lithuanian ethnic music, forms which can be considered proto-minimalist.

The composer, like a shaman, is a master at enchanting an audience, drawing them into his rituals. Like an architect he builds precise constructions – scores that can often remind you of mandalas from a variety of geometrical figures: circles, squares, crosses and stars. Or perhaps, like an archaeologist using modern means, he reconstructs the artefacts of ancient culture.

Last Pagan Rites (1978) and From the Yotvingian Stone (1983) are from the archaic themed oratorio group, which was pioneered by the Pantheistic Oratorio (1970).

The authentic, long-term relationship between the choir’s artistic director Romualdas Gražinis and Kutavicius' persona and work shaped the distinctive features of Aidija. These included performativity, ritualistic elements, extended performance techniques and the use of archaic instruments. For this vinyl, the choir recorded the composer’s oratorios again and with such passion as to even break the great stones of the Baltic lands used in the performance which have long come to be seen as relics by performers.

credits

released December 31, 2019

PERFORMERS:
Aidija Chamber Choir
Romualdas Gražinis – conductor
Nora Petročenko – solo soprano (3)
Virginija Karpovičiūtė – solo folk voice (6)
Renata Marcinkutė-Lesieur – organ (1-4)
Arvydas Jankus, Ramūnas Strolis, Algirdas Jedemskij – wooden folk horns (1, 2, 4, 6)
Dainius Petručionis – wooden folk horn (1, 2, 4)
Tomas Matevičius – wooden folk horn (6)

Recording engineer – Laura Jurgelionytė
Liner notes – Asta Pakarklytė, Linas Paulauskis
English translation – Severija Bielskytė, Romas Kinka
Graphic designer – Alicija Širvinskienė, UAB Aktin
Works on the cover by Mikalojus Povilas Vilutis:
Cleopatra (1977), from the MO museum collection
Clockmaker (1977)
Executive producer – Sigita Ilgauskaitė

Supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania
Partner – Lithuanian Composers’ Union

℗ & © Music Information Centre Lithuania, MICL LP 002, mic.lt
© All rights reserved

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

miclithuania Vilnius, Lithuania

A niche label, covering the diversity of Lithuanian art music, ranging from extreme experiments to contemporary classical innovations and practices.

contact / help

Contact miclithuania

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Last Pagan Rites. From the Yotvingian Stone, you may also like: