Osvaldas Balakauskas

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Osvaldas Balakauskas (born December 19 1937 in Miliunai) is a Lithuanian composer of classical music.

Contents

[edit] Career

Balakauskas graduated from the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute in 1961 and attended Boris Lyatoshinsky's composition class at Kiev Conservatory in 1969. From 1992 to 1994 he was ambassador of Lithuania. In 1996 he was awarded with the Lithuanian National Award, the highest artistic and cultural distinction in Lithuania. He is currently head of the Composition Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. His output consists of symphonies, concertos, chamber and instrumental music.

[edit] Music

Balakauskas in his early conservatory years has been influenced by Stockhausen, Boulez, Xenakis and in particular, Webern and Messiaen. However, in the 1960's, he developed his own harmonic system, which carries a strong sense of tonality, termed the 'Balakauskas tonality'. This is radically different from the atonality and serialism of the Second Viennese School. His music is also often tinged with jazz rhythms and impressionistic colours.

Important works include Sonata of the Mountains inspired by the paintings of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis(1975), Symphony No. 2 (1979), Opera Strumentale (1987) and Symphonies No. 4 (1998) and No. 5 (2001), the last two named works having been recently recorded by Naxos Records.

[edit] Works

[edit] Stage Works

  • Zodiac
  • Macbeth
  • La Lointaine

[edit] Orchestral Works

  • Symphonies
    • Symphony No. 1
    • Symphony No. 2 (1979)
    • Symphony No. 3 Ostrobothnian, for strings
    • Symphony No. 4 (1998), recorded by Naxos (8.557605, 2005)
    • Symphony No. 5 (2001), recorded by Naxos (8.557605, 2005)
  • Opera Strumentale (1987)

[edit] Concertante Works

  • Piano Concertino
  • Oboe Concerto
  • Ludus Modorum, for cello and chamber orchestra
  • Concerto Brio, for violin and orchestra
  • Concerto RK, for violin and chamber orchestra
  • Sinfonia Concertante, for violin, piano, and orchestra
  • Sonata of the Mountains (1975), for piano and orchestra
  • Passio Strumentale, for string quartet and orchestra
  • Capriccio, for piano and orchestra

[edit] Vocal/Choral Works

  • Requiem in memoriam Stasys Lozoraitis (1995), recorded by Naxos (8.557604, 2004)

[edit] Chamber/Instrumental Works

[edit] External links

Official website for Balakauskas

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