To Mark Eduardas Balsys’ 100th anniversary: Chamber Works. From habanera to organ

EDUARDAS BALSYS – String quartet; Habanera for piano trio; Concerto No. 3 for solo violin; Galop for wind orchestra from the opera Journey to Tilsit; Violin Concerto No. 1, 2 mvt Andante cantabile (wind orchestra and birbynė version); excerpts from the ballet Eglė, Queen of the Grass-Snakes; Symphony-Concerto for organ and wind orchestra

This year the Lithuanian musical community celebrates Eduardas Balsys’100th birth anniversary paying tribute to him in many concerts. He was one of Lithuania’s most productive composers. His output consists of large-scale compositions for stage, chamber music, songs, etc. His legacy has been nurtured by several generations of performers. As a composer Balsys underwent a considerable evolution of style from the String quartet, written in classical form, to expressionistic opera Journey to Tilsit, based on dodecaphonic technique. His oeuvre reflects turns and twists of the development of Lithuanian music, from ideologically motivated ‘folkloric’ romanticism toward new stylistic trends and compositional techniques. Violin Concerto is his last opus. According to Ingrida Armonaitė, an ardent champion of his music, “solo concerto was written by a man, who had lived his life through and crowned it with the Violin Concerto”. Tonight Balsys music will be presented by a large performing forces.