Jurgis Juozapaitis' new symphonic composition Tower Counterpoints brought victory to the composer at the 2nd international composers' competition, "Sinfonia Baltica", organized by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (February 2004). His success was certainly no coincidence, for Jurgis Juozapaitis, one of Lithuania's most celebrated orchestral masters, has won the most important state awards for his symphonic works Rex (1978), and Concerto for violin Solo contra tutti (2002). The composer perfectly uses colours of orchestral groups, and knows how unite them effectively into an overall dramatic concept. He does not provoke the orchestra, but rather adapts to the expressive opportunities provided by this mighty instrument, wherein the various orchestral groups of instruments 'talk' amongst themselves, in the conventional and effective language of music.
Juozapaitis' latest symphonic composition, Tower Counterpoints, is a succession of distinctive dramatic episodes, displaying his usual musical rhetoric - multi-layered sonorous textures, aleatoric elements, expressive timbral effects, sutartinės type of polyphony, and certain recognizable romantic gestures. This entire succession of spontaneous events is yoked to the central climax - a chorus of bells, which in a live performance moves around the audiences and has a specific visual and aural effect of moving sound. Hopefully, this overture type of composition, initiated by "Sinfonia Baltica", might become a repertoire piece for those seeking a work which is not particularly difficult, and which has a distinctively 'Lithuanian sound'.
Lithuanian Music Link No. 8