Bronius Kutavičius

Bronius Kutavičius (born 1932 in Molainiai, Panevėžys district municipality, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian composer. He has written numerous oratorios and operas, among them The Last Pagan Rites, Lokys the Bear and The Gates of Jerusalem. He won the Lithuanian State Prize in 1995, and the prize of the Probaltica Festival in Toruń (Poland) in 1996.

Selected works

• Sonata for viola and piano (1968)
• Ant kranto (On the Shore) for soprano and 4 violas (1972); words by Jonas Mekas
• Dzūkiškos Variacijos (Dzuk Variations) (1978)
• The Last Pagan Rites, oratorio (1978)
• Strazdas žalias paukštis (Thrush, the Green Bird), opera-poem (1981); libretto by Sigitas Geda
• Iš Jotvingių Akmens (From the Jatvingian Stone) (1983)
• Pasaulio Medis (The Tree of the World) (1986)
• The Gates of Jerusalem (1991–95)
• Epitaphium temporum pereunti (1998)
• Lokys (Lokis the Bear), opera (2000) - commissioned by the Vilnius Festival (2000), to libretto by US based Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė after Prosper Mérimée's short story Lokis the bear. This afterwards entered the repertoire of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.
• Joys of Spring (2005)

Discography

vinyl

1973 Melodiya 33SM-04251/2 - Stygnis Kvartetas (String Quartet) Nr. 1 (1971): Vilniaus kvartetas. Together with string quartets by Vytautas Barkauskas & Vytautas Juozapaitis.
1980 Melodiya S30-11963/4 - Metauela: Honoured song & Dance Ensemble of Vilnius V. Kapsukas University, dir. V. Alexandavicius. One piece on this LP - words traditional.
1979 Melodiya S10-12535/6 - Dzūkiškos Variacijos (Dzuk Variations) / Praeities Laikrodžiai (Hours of the Past) / Mažasis Spektaklis (Little Play): Lietuvos kamerinis orkestras / Vilniaus kvartetas etc.
1979 Melodiya S42-12623/4 (7") - Eilės: Sigitas Geda: Nijolė Gelžinytė (reading) / Vilniaus Kvartetas.
1981 Melodiya S10-14359/60 - Baroko siliaus variacijos: Vilniaus B. Dvariono Muzikos Mokyklos Strygnis Orkestras (String Orchestra of the B. Dvarenas Music School, Vilnius), dir. Vitautas Kabelis. One piece on this LP.
1982 Melodiya S10-18773/4 - Jubiliejinis koncertas (Jubilee Concert): Paskutinės Pagonių Apeigos (The Last Pagan Rites) / Du Paukščiai Girių Ūksmėj (Two Birds in the Thick of the Woods): Giedrė Kaukaitė / Vilniaus M. K. Čiurlionio vidurinės meno mokyklos choras dir. Rimantas Zdanavičius
1985 Melodiya S10 22333 006 - Lietuvių Kompozitorių Kūriniai Fortepijonui (Lithuanian Composers' Works for Piano) - Sonata. Together with works by V. Lauršas, F. Bajoras & Osvaldas Balakauskas: Birutė Vainiūnaitė
1987 Le Chant du Monde LDC 78037 (5LP set) - 1953-1983: Trente Ans De Musique Sovietique: Paskutinės Pagonių Apeigos (The Last Pagan Rites). This is a repress of Melodiya side 18773 above.
1990 Melodiya S10-29285 009 - Iš Jotvingių Akmens (From the Jatvingian Stone) / Pasaulio Medis (The Tree of the World)
1990 Melodiya S10 29435 008 - Du koliažai: Liuda & Kęstutis Grybauskas - Fortepijonins Duetas (Piano Duets). One piece on this LP.

CD

• Bronius Kutavičius 1. Last Pagan Rites, oratorio for chorus, horn & organ. Leopoldas Digrys (Organ) 2. Epitaphium Temporum Pereunti, symphony oratorio for chorus & orchestra Conductor Robertas Šervenikas. CD Ondine
• Lokys the bear Martynas Staškus 2CD Ondine

References

• Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre
• Biography at sikorski.de (in German)

Further reading

• Raminta Lampsatis: Bronius Kutavicius. A Music of Signs and Changes. Vilnius 1998