FULL Oratorio „Paskutinės pagonių apeigos“ & Symphony-Oratorio „Epitafija praeinančiam laikui“ (Broniaus Kutavičiaus) Kaunas 2025

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: „Paskutinės pagonių apeigos or The Last Pagan Rites, Epitafija praeinančiam laikui or Epitthypology for a Transient Time  
• Composer: Kutavičiaus Broniaus   
• Libretto: Sigitas Geda  
• Venue & Opera Company: Kaunas Christ's Resurrection Basilica, Kaunas, Lithuania  
• Recorded: 2024
• Type: Concert Live

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

1. Oratorio: “Last Pagan Rites” (Paskutinės pagonių apeigos)
• Composition Year: 1978
• Instrumentation: Soprano solo, children’s choir, organ, and four horns.
• Significance: Widely celebrated as one of the most critical Lithuanian compositions of the late 20th century. It blends minimalist structures with the rhythmic, polyphonic spirit of ancient Lithuanian folk songs (sutartinės) to evoke a hypnotic atmosphere of nature worship. [1, 2]
• Movements:
  1. Oh You Green Grasshopper
  2. Celebration of the Medvėgalis Hill
  3. Incantation of the Serpent
  4. Celebration of the Oak-Tree

2. Symphony-Oratorio: “Epitaph to Passing Time” (Epitaphium Temporum Pereunti)
(Note: Commonly mistranslated or adapted in some archives as “Epitthypology for a Transient Time”.)
• Composition Year: 1998
• Instrumentation: Full orchestra, large choir.
• Significance: A monumental, multi-layered musical timeline tracking four pivotal architectural, historical, and spiritual turning points in the history of Lithuania. It contrasts delicate choral rituals with thunderous, complex symphonic writing.
• Movements:
  1. Introductio. Somnium Gedimini, Anno 1323 (The Founding of Vilnius)
  2. Passacaglia. Vivat Academia, Anno 1579 (The Founding of Vilnius University)
  3. Threnus Aeternus, Anno 1832 (The Closing of the University by the Tsarist Regime)
  4. Dedicatio Ecclesiae Cathedrali, Anno 1988 (The Return and Reconsecration of the Vilnius Cathedral)
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