Pranav Ranjit | Bronius Kutavičius - Dzūkiškos variacijos (Dzūkian Variations) for string orchestra (Score Video) @towardthesea_ | Uploaded April 2023 | Updated October 2024, 7 hours ago.
This video is provided only for educational use; please email me at pranav.sivakumar@berkeley.edu regarding any copyright issues. You can purchase a PDF score from Music Information Centre Lithuania here: musiclithuania.com/products/dzukiskos-variacijos. (Note that there are some differences between the score and the recording, especially at the beginning when the string orchestra enters.)
Folk singer: Veronika Povilionienė
Kaunas State Choir
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Saulius Sondeckis (until 10:27, original audio: youtube.com/watch?v=KBAn4pW6izA)
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Adrija Čepaitė (live recording, 10:27 to end, roughly spliced in because the previous recording ends early. This complete version can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=EqpvXU-uvRA)
Bronius Kutavičius (1932-2021) was a Lithuanian composer whose precise, singular style combined modern techniques like aleatoricism, minimalism and spatial organization with the ritual simplicity of ancient Lithuanian folk music. Along with Julius Juzeliūnas, Feliksas Bajoras, and Osvaldas Balakauskas, Kutavičius was considered one of the most important Lithuanian composers of his generation. He also taught at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre for fifteen years.
Kutavičius' scores are often written with non-standard notation; for instance, his oratorio "Last Pagan Rites" for choir, organ, and four horns includes choral parts notated on circular staves. While the "Dzūkiškos variacijos" from 1974, based on the well-known folk song "Beauštanti aušrelė" ("Dawn is breaking") from the Dzūkija region of southern Lithuania, are not as notationally eye-catching, they are characteristic of his predominant style and constitute one of his most famous works.
Although recordings are often used in their place, the incorporation of a folk singer introducing "Beauštanti aušrelė", and later a choir which sings its harmonization by the famous late Romantic Lithuanian composer M.K. Čiurlionis, form a stark juxtaposition of ancient traditions and modernity. As one can recognize from listening to "Dzūkiškos variacijos", both aspects still retain an important place, perhaps an enduring reflection on the nature of Lithuanian culture today.
You can find a full choral recording of Čiurlionis' harmonization of "Beauštanti aušrelė" here, transcribed by myself: youtube.com/watch?v=Oqym6bKO3jE
This video is provided only for educational use; please email me at pranav.sivakumar@berkeley.edu regarding any copyright issues. You can purchase a PDF score from Music Information Centre Lithuania here: musiclithuania.com/products/dzukiskos-variacijos. (Note that there are some differences between the score and the recording, especially at the beginning when the string orchestra enters.)
Folk singer: Veronika Povilionienė
Kaunas State Choir
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Saulius Sondeckis (until 10:27, original audio: youtube.com/watch?v=KBAn4pW6izA)
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Adrija Čepaitė (live recording, 10:27 to end, roughly spliced in because the previous recording ends early. This complete version can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=EqpvXU-uvRA)
Bronius Kutavičius (1932-2021) was a Lithuanian composer whose precise, singular style combined modern techniques like aleatoricism, minimalism and spatial organization with the ritual simplicity of ancient Lithuanian folk music. Along with Julius Juzeliūnas, Feliksas Bajoras, and Osvaldas Balakauskas, Kutavičius was considered one of the most important Lithuanian composers of his generation. He also taught at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre for fifteen years.
Kutavičius' scores are often written with non-standard notation; for instance, his oratorio "Last Pagan Rites" for choir, organ, and four horns includes choral parts notated on circular staves. While the "Dzūkiškos variacijos" from 1974, based on the well-known folk song "Beauštanti aušrelė" ("Dawn is breaking") from the Dzūkija region of southern Lithuania, are not as notationally eye-catching, they are characteristic of his predominant style and constitute one of his most famous works.
Although recordings are often used in their place, the incorporation of a folk singer introducing "Beauštanti aušrelė", and later a choir which sings its harmonization by the famous late Romantic Lithuanian composer M.K. Čiurlionis, form a stark juxtaposition of ancient traditions and modernity. As one can recognize from listening to "Dzūkiškos variacijos", both aspects still retain an important place, perhaps an enduring reflection on the nature of Lithuanian culture today.
You can find a full choral recording of Čiurlionis' harmonization of "Beauštanti aušrelė" here, transcribed by myself: youtube.com/watch?v=Oqym6bKO3jE
