Graphique, Op.68

MC Tembras 011, 1994
CD Lithuanian Musicians' Union LMSMBCD-020, 2001 (excerpt)
CD Poème électrique. - Vilnius: Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre LMIPCCD 030, 2005
CD Orchestral Music. - Toccata Classics TOCC 0049, 2007
CD Lithuanian Music in Context I. Lessons of the Avant-garde. - Vilnius, Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre LMIPCCD065-066, 2011

Written in 1964, Graphique is a bold avant-gardist piece. The composer was greatly influenced by the abstract art, especially that of his friend Adomas Galdikas. Impressed with contrasting lights, colours and structures, he called Galdikas’s work ‘real cosmic music’.

In preparation for Graphique, which was supposed to begin his monumental ‘cosmic’ cycle, the composer produced a graphic score. He wanted to chronicle the flow of music in its entirety, before converting it into a conventional score. “The graphic medium helps me link specific elements or structures with the atonal realms. These different, often complex connections allow me to immerse myself into the deep waters of atonality. The drawings define different timbres, hues and shades, dynamics, characters, as well as playing techniques...”

Graphique is a striking example of the pointillist technique and timbral music. It testifies to the composer’s endless efforts to penetrate the new sound vistas. He believed that a true creator is a man of ideas, unsusceptible to the obstacles of life, and remained faithful to this principle until the end.

Ona Narbutienė