Songs of Sunset and Dawn

The Baltic Sea Festival showcases two different aspects of the Lituanian composer Raminta Šerkšnytė: a wholly new choral piece commissioned for the festival’s tribute to Eric Ericson as well as this dramatic work for orchestra, choir and solo singers. However, the soubriquet ’cantata’ is something that the composer herself opposes. She feels that it is too easily associated with exaggerated and contrived drama. In Songs of Sunset and Dawn, which is nevertheless called an ’oratorio cantata’, she has intentionally strived towards the typical narrative format. ”In the Western tradition,  music, including instrumental music, often wanted to tell stories. In my new oratorio, even though the genre implies a narrative, I want rather to express the experiences and states of mind that the writings inspire.”

In 1913, writer and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. Early on, his poetic ability and beautiful expression, particularly in his native Bengali, made him famous in India and elsewhere. For Šerkšnytė’s piece, selected writings have been translated into Lithuanian. Other connections to the oriental tradition are clear in the way that each of the three movements are linked to a particular time of day: evening, night and morning.

The highly esteemed Polish science-fiction writer Stanisław Lem has inspired many a writer and artist, including the second movement of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano Concerto, which is a homage to the author. “I imagined a post-biological culture, where the cybernetic systems suddenly develop an existential need of folklore.” The movement, in Salonen’s own words, is music composed by artificial intelligence and twittering robot birds. The entire concerto is dramatic and brilliant and also includes an étude for the left hand, perhaps inspired by one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein and the many works written for him.

The relationship between the mechanical and the organic is a recurring theme in Salonen’s compositions and he has said himself that ”musical expression is bodily expression; it all comes out of the body”. Andrius Žlaby’s empathic, physical playing are definitely well-suited for realizing Salonen’s vision.

No bus to Berwaldhallen from Stockholm City –
Busline 69 is shortened and runs Karlaplan – Kaknästornet / Blockhusudden. For more information, please visit www.sl.se/en/

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s participation has been cancelled
Raimundas Juzuitis’s participation has been cancelled

FESTIVAL OFFER (Östersjöklippet)
With the Baltic Sea Festival Offer (Östersjöklippet), you get three different levels at a discount – 10, 15 and 20% off the regular fare depending on whether you buy three, four or five different concerts at the same time.
TO ’ÖSTERSJÖKLIPPET’

Here you can see the entire festival program