Justė Janulytė

Works / 2017

Midnight Sun

for cello solo and strings with night mutes

Commissioned by the Vilnius Festival 2017

1st performance: 7 June 2017 | Mario Brunello solo and Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, cond. Modestras Pitrėnas, Lithuanian National Philharmonic, Vilnius (LT)

Duration: 25' ca.

Programme note

The way up and the way down are one and the same. Heraclitus

Le tenebre non saranno oscure per te e la notte s'illuminerà come giorno.. (Twilight will no longer be as dark as it was and night will become as bright as day) Giordano Bruno

Midnight Sun explores the musical metaphors of an oxymoron chosen for its title and uses various forms of 'contradiction in terms' and opposition to convey the atmosphere of mysticism, intangible tension and poetic lyricism characteristic of almost white nights in Lithuania in mid-June. The sounds move in space, leaving the trace in the shape of a spinning wheel that connects and neutralizes magnetism between the poles increasingly torn apart, acting simultaneosly with the metamorphoses of an irreversible process. Thus the musical score 'embodies' in sound our dualistic perception of time when we observe the cyclic properties of the slow and irreversible transformations of our own bodies as well as those of nature. Justė Janulytė

The recording is available on demand

"Justė managed to realise her idea. Remaining faithful to her style she achieved a surrealistic, new sounding for her music. J.Janulytė is a truly unique composer able to enchant the listener through the physical nature of her pieces. It is a magic sensation". Jūratė Katinaitė, Lietuvos rytas

Performances

  • "Midnight Sun" for cello solo, double cello quintet and other symphony orchestra strings with night metal mutes (PREMIERE). Mario Brunello, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, cond. Modestras Pitrėnas. Vilnius Festival, Lithuanian National Philharmonic (LT)

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