Lapides, flores, nomina et sidera
Onutė Narbutaitė and "Aidija" choir | 2023
The concert is enriched by video projections created specifically for this work, displayed on the church dome. At times, the dome overlooks courtyards, churches, or cemeteries in Vilnius; at others, it transforms into a starry vault or the delicate texture of a flower petal. Like the music itself, these projections are inspired by text collected by the composer. As the composer Onutė Narbutaitė describes it, the piece is “a composition of the sung word, based on liturgical texts and the Latin names of stones, flowers, and constellations.”
The visual tapestry combines footage captured on camera with shapes generated through 3D software. Originally, the composition was written for multiple choirs performing simultaneously at different locations throughout Vilnius Old Town, integrating the music into the urban landscape. In the projections, images of Vilnius become an integral element, blending close-up details of the city’s textures with sweeping aerial views filmed by drone.
Another recurring theme, drawn from the text of the work, is the abstracted textures of various stones and plants. These intricate details are captured using macro lenses, allowing for extreme close-ups that avoid direct illustration. The final visual layer consists of cosmic nebulae and constellations, created through 3D modeling and animation software, adding a celestial dimension to the piece.
“This is a composition of singing words rather than autonomous music and is based on liturgical texts and the Latin names of stones, flowers and constellations. The chanting, the music – it all relates into a continuous structured process. The compositional elements – the psalms, the formula Requiem aeternam and the responsory Libera me (the latter presented in authentic form) – repeated in each part, bring the musical process closer to a ritual reminiscent of liturgical All Souls’ Day processions. However, instead of being performed by a moving, it is performed by a regular standing choir. This static solution was brought about by an initial idea: to perform this composition simultaneously by many different choirs in various parts and courtyards of the Old Town, for both the strolling and the rushing passers-by to hear. This concept determined a lot of other things too, namely, the stable nature of the sound of quite long sections, founded on one continuous pedal point or monotonously repeated melodic motifs. The music’s non-concert purpose and planting it into the communal city area, as well as the fact that it is more like a prayer or a psalm rather than a “composition” in nature, all led to maximal simplicity in musical expression and its natural interaction with long-lived traditions, which complement the choice and elementary functions of accompanying instruments.”
Onutė Narbutaitė
Performed by:
Aidija Chamber Choir (artistic director – Romualdas Gražinis)
National M.K.Čiurlionis School of Arts Choir (director – Romualdas Gražinis, choirmaster – Gitana Trimirkaitė)
Lina Baublytė (piccolo flute)
Laurynas Lapė (trumpet)
Jievaras Jasinskis (trombone)
Conductor – R. Gražinis
Video artist – Kristijonas Dirsė
Project Manager – Justinas Linkevičius
Financed by Lithuanian Council for Culture, Panevėžys city municipality.
Partners – Music Information Centre Lithuania, National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts, St. John’s Congregation Monastery in Vilnius, Panevėžys St. Peter and Paul the Apostles Parish, Panevėžys Vytautas Mikalauskas Gymnasium of Arts, Panevėžys Chamber of Communities.
The phonogram of the Lithuanian Music Information Center (mic.lt) is used in the video.
CD album is available at: https://miclithuania.bandcamp.com/alb…
Filmed in the Church of the Redeemer in Vilnius, 2023.