The works of one of the brightest American composers of experimental music will be heard in Lithuania Culture

July 18 the program “Anthology of Textual Scores” will be played at the Kinta Music Festival on July 19. – at the Nida Community House, and on July 20 – and in Vilnius Liepkalnis water storage.

The artist, who lived in California and later in New York, became most famous for the works “Deep Listening” and “Sonic Meditations”, has created chamber music compositions, but text scores occupy an important place in her creative catalog.

20th century in the middle of the 20th century, during mass protests once morest the US war in Vietnam, Mr. Oliveros was looking for new forms of composing and listening to music, and tried to create a unique practice of activism. These searches became the basis for text scores and etudes, which were intended for both professionals and amateurs. The compositions united artists from various fields and opened up new models of collective music making. Ms. Oliveros was one of the first female composers who started working with performers on the basis of text scores.

Photo by Robert Dakševičius/Salomeja Kalvelytė

The musicians of the Lithuanian Ensemble Network (Salolmėja Kalvelytė – flute, Gregory Kharaneka – saxophone) and the “IEMA 2023/24” ensemble will perform works from P. Olivera’s anthology of text scores (“Anthology of Text Scores”). According to the Lithuanian conductor Raimonda Skabeikaitė, who currently conducts the “IEMA 2023/24” ensemble, the project is distinguished not only by the fact that artists from different countries meet, but also by the fact that different music-making contexts and traditions are combined.

“The idea of ​​combining the forces of the IEMA ensemble and Lithuanian musicians was born last year. We were looking for works that might not only reveal the identities of these extremely capable musicians, but also allow them to experience new forms of music making, to create spontaneously. Pauline Olivera’s music is characterized by these qualities, as the text scores indicate certain parameters and instructions, leaving a lot of freedom for individual interpretations and listening. This is interactive music”, says R. Skabeikaitė.

Photo of the organizers/Gregory Horoneko

The curator of the project, composer Kristupas Bubnelis also emphasizes that despite the openness of these works, each score inventively offers different schemes of ensemble music: “Sometimes scores are enough for just a few, and sometimes – many different actions, which become a homogeneous musical form. It can be a space, a register, and a duration of time. But the most important point of all, I think, is how this music is experienced by the listener. The listener becomes part of a collective musical session. Although unable to directly influence the development of the composition, he goes beyond the usual stereotypes of musical forms and immerses himself in the immediate contemplation of sound.”

The project of the Lithuanian Ensemble Network and “IEMA 2023/24” ensemble is supported by the Lithuanian Culture Council, the Embassy of the German Federation in Vilnius, the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HFMDK), Vilnius City Municipality. Project partners – Museum of Energy and Technology, Lithuanian Composers’ Union.