Kutavičius Bronius Kutavičius

Bronius Kutavičius (13 September 1932 – 29 September 2021) was a Lithuanian composer and academic composition teacher. He wrote numerous oratorios and operas, often inspired by ancient Lithuanian polytheistic beliefs and music. He also composed film scores, orchestral works and chamber music. Kutavičius is regarded as a symbol of Lithuanian cultural identity, both in music as in politics. Among many awards, he received the Lithuanian State Prize in 1987.

Life

Born in Molainiai, Panevėžys County, Kutavičius studied composition at the Lithuanian State Conservatory in Vilnius from 1959 to 1964, in Antanas Račiūnas [lt]'s composition class. He studied Western techniques such as random operations, timbre experiments and spatial sound concepts (Zufallsoperationen, Klangfarbenexperimente und Raumklangkonzepte). From the 1970s, he studied the folklore of Lithuania, songs, dances, and cults, with ethnological methods. He composed numerous oratorios and operas, among them The Last Pagan Rites, inspired by ancient Lithuanian polytheistic beliefs and music. From the 1990s, he integrated musical cultures including countries such as Japan and Karelia. He worked from 1991 to 1995 on one of his major works, The Gates of Jerusalem, which earned him the Lithuanian State Prize in 1996. He composed his first opera in 2000, Lokys to a libretto by Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée.

His music is performed at international festivals, including the Warsaw Autumn, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Mare Balticum, Wratislavia Cantans, Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Spitalfields Festival, MaerzMusik, ISCM World Music Days in Vilnius.

Kutavičius was a member of the executive council of the Sovjet-Lithuanian composers' association, but held an independent position without concessions to the occupation. His works inspired the movement towards independence in the 1980s.

Kutavičius taught composition at Čiurlionis School of Art from 1975, and at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater from 1984, appointed professor a year later. He retired from teaching in 2000.

Kutavičius died in Vilnius at age 89.

Works

Although an element of drama appears in compositions by Kutavičius, his first opera was premieres in 2000, Lokys (The Bear) , comosed on a commission by the Vilnius Festival. The libretto by Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė is based on Mérimée's Lokis the Bear. The opera entered the repertoire of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. A reviewer noted an eclectic style combining Nordic New Simplicity, 20th-century neo-classicism elements, and "multi-layered musical tapestries" including folk elements, and vocal lines "inherited" from Poland and Russia.

Kutavičius, whose ability to create an acoustic image of Lithuanian history has been acknowledged, received s commission from the state for a large-scale composition to commemorate the 750th anniversary in 2003 of the coronation of King Mindaugas, Lithuania's only king. In response, he wrote a diptych Ignis et fides (Fire and Faith), scored for vocal soloists, recitators, choir and symphony orchestra including folk instruments. The text is based on the first mentioning of the name of Lithuania in historical sources, and the king's coronation. The work combines elements of opera, ballet and oratorio.

The publisher Verlag Neue Musik [de] describes the character of music by Kutavičius:

The work by Bronius Kutavičius transcends the sphere of pure music to enter much wider cultural domains. It uncovers centuries-old layers of history and reaches back to prehistoric times to speak in archetypes of mythical and religious consciousness. At the same time, Kutavičius' music is contemporary enough; it speaks to the modern audience in a novel language. Kutavičius is fluent in modern techniques such as serialism, sonorism, aleatoric, collage, repetitive minimalism (the last corresponds to the basic principles of ancient folk music), spatial organization of music and, consequently, innovative notation. The archaic and primeval in character music by Bronius Kutavičius, a composer on a mission of "cultural archaeology", is also no less rationalistic and mathematically exact. His precise and sometimes sophisticated sound systems are always full of life and strong emotions.

Compositions by Kutavičius include:

• Viola Sonata (1968)
• Ant kranto (On the Shore) for soprano and 4 violas (1972); words by Jonas Mekas
• Dzūkiškos Variacijos (Dzuk Variations) (1978)
• The Last Pagan Rites, oratorio (1978)
• Strazdas žalias paukštis (Thrush, the green bird), opera-poem (1981); libretto by Sigitas Geda
• Iš Jotvingių Akmens (From the Yotvingian stone) (1983)
• Pasaulio Medis (The tree of the world) (1986)
• The Gates of Jerusalem (1991–95)
• Epitaphium temporum pereunti (1998)
• Lokys (The Bear), opera (2000)
• Ignes et fides (Fire and Faith, 2003)
• Joys of Spring (2005)