I Like..., a series of pieces based on influences, excerpts and quotes from the music written before him, is termed Bartulis’s iconic work by some critics. The writing of the series extended over several decades and resulted in unforgettable musical ‘dialogues’ with his beloved composers of the past. Bartulis was evidently keen to chat with them, sometimes with a touch of humour and on other occasions overwhelmed with respectful reverence or affectionate admiration.
“The fact that I Like... exists as a series of my pieces,” he once admitted, “is rather unexpected even to myself.” Next, he mentioned a mysterious ‘character’ who once exclaimed ‘I Like Bach!’ after turning on a radio that broadcasted Bach. Nobody knows now if the ‘character’ was Bartulis himself or an imaginary figure and whether it was a real person at all.
The four compositions on this album have been recorded by Bartulis’s friends and genuine fans of his music, the St Christopher Chamber Orchestra of Vilnius Municipality, violinists Rūta Lipinaitytė and Ingrida Rupaitė, flautist Giedrius Gelgotas, pianist Indrė Baikštytė and conductor Modestas Barkauskas, the artistic director of the orchestra.
By Rasa Murauskaitė-Juškienė
Purchase a CD and read full liner notes.
released January 30, 2023
St Christopher Chamber Orchestra
Modestas Barkauskas - conductor
Texts: Rasa Murauskaitė-Juškienė
Editor: Linas Paulauskis
Translator: Darius Krasauskas
English language editor: Howard Jarvis
Photographer: Rytis Šeškaitis
Graphic design: Liudas Parulskis
Producers: Radvilė Buivydienė, Nerijus Masevičius
Recorded at Vilnius LP Recording Studio, January 2022
Recording producers: Vilius Keras, Aleksandra Kerienė
Recording engineers: Evelina Bajorinienė, Giedrė Žarėnaitė-Molenaar
Baltic Mobile Recordings
www.bmr.lt
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 CD118,
mic.lt