MUSIC FOR VILNIUS
Toshio Hosokawa

Toshio Hosokawa

World Premiere

For violin and accordion

2023 MAY 6

Performers

IEVA SIPAITYTĖ

Raimondas Sviackevičius

Chosen Location

Vilnius, Lithuania

Composing for Vilnius

Japan

THE COMPOSITION AS SOUND INSTALLATION IS OPEN

Bell Tower of the St. John's Church

Šv. Jono str. 2

Listen to the composition on Tuesday - Sunday:

The bell tower is open to visitors during the season. This year – since May (the date will be announced soon).

The bell tower is part of the VU Museum, visiting ticket is required.

World premiere of the composition for the Vilnius University and portrait concert

Church of St. Johns (Šv. Jono str. 12)

May 6 | 6:00 PM

May 6 | 8:00 PM

TICKETS FEE: 19–35 EUR

World premiere of the composition for the Vilnius University and portrait concert

May 6 | 6:00 PM

Church of St. Johns
(Šv. Jono str. 12)

FEE:
19–35 EUR

SOON,
follow the news!

World premiere of the composition for the Vilnius University and portrait concert

May 6 | 8:00 PM

Church of St. Johns
(Šv. Jono str. 12)

FEE:
19–35 EUR

SOON,
follow the news!

Toshio Hosokawa, a leading Japanese composer who blends musical traditions from the Far East and Western Europe, recently visited Vilnius and was immediately captivated by the ensemble of Vilnius University Palace. He has dedicated a new composition to the University, recognising its significance in the history and development of both the city and the country. The concert will feature the world premiere of Hosokawa’s new work “Invisible Angels” for violin and accordion, along with other pieces that offer insight into the composer’s creative world. Hosokawa himself will be present for the premieres.

PROGRAM:

  • „Invisible Angels“ (for violin and accordion) – world premiere!
  • „Melodia“ (for accordion, 1979)
  • „Blossoming“ (for string quartet, 2007)
  • „Small chant“ (for violoncello,  2012)
  • „Silent flowers“ (for string quartet, 1998)
  • „Sen V“ (for accordion, 1991–1992)

Performers:
LENsemble Vilnius (artistic director – Vykintas Baltakas)
–> Chordos String Quartet and Raimondas Sviackevičius (accordion)

Durration: ± 1 h 15 min
Doors open: 15 min before the event

_______________________

GIFT FROM VILNIUS UNIVERSITY MUSEUM

The first 70 ticket holders for the concerts will have the exclusive opportunity to participate in a special tour of the Vilnius University Palace. Get to know the space for which Toshio Hosokawa’s music is dedicated!

The tours will take place on May 6 at 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm. More detailed information and a registration link will be shared to the first 70 ticket holders via email provided during the ticket purchase. If there are any remaining spots available for the tour, we will inform and invite others who have purchased tickets.

OTHER EVENTS
Will be announced soon!

SUSITIKIMAS SU KOMPOZITORIUMI
TOSHIO HOSOKAWA

Gegužės 7 d. 13:00 val.
Vilniaus universiteto Auditorija

SUSITIKIMAS SU KOMPOZITORIUMI
TOSHIO HOSOKAWA

Gegužės 7 d. 13:00 val.
Vilniaus universiteto šv. Jonų bažnyčia

NEMOKAMAI. BŪTINA REGISTRACIJA

TOSHIO HOSOKAWA

I am searching for a new form of Japanese spiritual culture and music, one through which I can remain true to myself as well as to my origins. We need to examine the Western world again, more carefully, in order to see ourselves objectively and to truly get to know ourselves.

Toshio Hosokawa, Japan’s pre-eminent living composer, creates his distinctive musical language from the fascinating relationship between Western avant-garde art and traditional Japanese culture. His music is strongly connected to the aesthetic and spiritual roots of the Japanese arts (such as calligraphy), as well as to those of Japanese court music (such as Gagaku). He gives musical expression to notions of beauty rooted in transience: “We hear the individual notes and appreciate, at the same time, the process of how the notes are born and then die: a sound landscape of continual ‘becoming’ that is animated in itself.”

Born in Hiroshima in 1955, Toshio Hosokawa came to Germany in 1976, where he studied composition with Isang Yun, Brian Ferneyhough, and later, Klaus Huber. Although his initial compositions drew inspiration from the Western avant- garde, he gradually built a new musical world between East and West. He first gained widespread recognition with the 2001 world premiere of his oratorio Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima.

Toshio Hosokawa has received numerous awards and prizes. He has been a member of the Academy of Fine Arts Berlin since 2001 and was a fellow of Berlin’s Institute for Advanced Study in 2006/7 and 2008/9. In 2013/14 he was composer in residence at the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra as well as at the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra from 2019 till 2021. In 2018 he received the Japan Foundation award and recently he was awarded the Goethe Medal for his services to cultural exchange between Japan and Germany. He is artistic director of the Takefu International Music Festival and artistic director of the Suntory Hall International Program for Music Composition.

ABOUT THE COMPOSITION

Vilnius Invisible Angels (World Premiere)
For violin and accordion

What I felt in the old and beautiful buildings of Vilnius University was the silent, invisible power of one pure soul. I thought that this invisible power was the spiritual support of the people living in this beautiful historical city, and has supported Lithuania’s independence throughout its long history. In the university churches and halls, there were angels singing in the organ decorations. I listened to the voiceless voices of those angels singing and tried to write them down in musical notation by my own method. I tried to make music where you could hear the whispers, silences and silent songs of the angels. The instruments I used were violin and accordion. If the violin was the voice of an angel, the accordion was the image of a sacred cloud surrounding the angel.

Toshio Hosokawa

VILNIUS UNIVERSITY

Hinc itur ad astra.

From here the way leads to the stars.

The quote on the Vilnius University observatory wall

The university was founded in the 16th century, with the spread of ideas from the Renaissance, Reformation and Catholic Reformation. Vilnius University is considered to be one of the oldest universities in Central and Eastern Europe. Some phenomena of the Jesuit university were so significant they affected the whole of Catholic Baroque and even non-Baroque Europe, including the poetry of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, as well as the logic, rhetoric and theology of Martinus Smiglecius.

The University campus started to take shape in the 16th century within the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Vilnius, in a city quarter built up with brick houses and bounded by four streets: Universiteto, (formerly known as Vyskupu), Šv. Jono, Pilies and Skapo. The design forms of the architectural ensemble are reflective of the major styles – Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism – which dominated Lithuanian architecture.

The old campus houses the Faculties of History, Philology and Philosophy, the Institute of Foreign Languages, the University Library and the Rector’s Office. At present the University architectural ensemble is composed of 13 courtyards with 13 buildings, each consisting of several blocks, as well as the Church of St. John and a belfry.

Vilnius University has gradually moved from the Baroque to the Enlightenment. This process was not substantially hindered even by the annexation of Lithuania to Russia in 1795. According to many contemporaries, the university of the early 19th century was equal to the most advanced universities in Europe. Due to the level of science schools and studies as well as impact on society – the university brought up Simon Daukantas, the pioneer of Lithuanian national revival and well-known poets in Europe, who came from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but who became the coryphaeus of Polish modern culture and the prophets of the nation – Adamą Mickiewiczių and Juliuszą Słowackį. All of them witnessed not only the apogee of the university’s development, but also the tragedy – in 1832, after suppressing the Polish-Lithuanian uprising, Russia closed the university. Thus, ended the epoch of history, which can be called the old Vilnius University era.

In 1918, after the First World War, when the Russian Empire collapsed, the governments of the emerging Polish and Lithuanian states put their efforts into restoring the university in Vilnius. On 5 December, the State Council of Lithuania adopted the statute of Vilnius University. Next year the Poles who had occupied Vilnius managed to restore the university. It was renamed after Stephen Báthory (Uniwersytet Stefana Batorego). In 1939, Lithuania reclaimed Vilnius and the Polish stage of the university’s development came to an end. The Lithuanian university was moved to Vilnius and was renamed Vilnius University.

A new era in the history of the university began in 1990, as Lithuania regained its independence and the university regained its autonomy. The strength of the modern Vilnius University and its aspiration to become the academic home of graphene is measured not only by its historical mission but also by various formal assessments. However, what symbolises today’s Vilnius University the most are the two most important threads of its identity that are twisted like a DNA spiral: its passionate efforts to adapt to the needs and trends of the rapidly changing world; and at the same time, the traditions that have survived since its establishment. The first thread represents the technical and life sciences that have replaced (or were derived from) the logic of the 17th century. The second one represents the poets of the 17th century – even if in (post)modern times, they are often called humanitarians. Thus, while the university enjoys the bonuses of its DNA research, the university’s own DNA has not changed since its establishment.

Today Vilnius University is 1st in Lithuania according to national ranking. It is the most popular and most acknowledged higher education establishment among Lithuani­an secondary school graduates. Vilnius University is Lithuania’s leading academic institution, ranked among the top 400 universities worldwide (QS).

LENsemble VILNIUS

Ieškau naujos japonų dvasinės kultūros ir muzikos išraiškos. Tokios, kuri leistų būti atviram man pačiam ir mano šaknims. Kaip tauta, turime atidžiau persvarstyti Vakarų pasaulį, kad patys save galėtume vertinti objektyviau, kad iš tiesų save pažintume.

Užrašas ant Vilniaus universiteto observatorijos sienos

Artistic director and conductor – Vykintas Baltakas

Initiated by Vykintas Baltakas, LENsemble Vilnius (Lithuanian Ensemble Network) connects professional ensembles, soloists and conductors.

LENsemble consists of: the Chordos String Quartet, Kristupas Wind Quintet, Kaskados Piano Trio, Vilnius Brass Quintet, accordionist Raimondas Sviackevičius and others. LENsemble is working with established institutions of contemporary music in Lithuania and abroad, such as the Lithuanian Composers’ Union, Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre, Lithuanian Academy of Music and theatre, Goethe-Institut Vilnius and Karsten Witt Musikmanagement Berlin.

LEN is proud about its performances at the WDR (2009), at the Ruhr European Capital of Culture (2010), Ultraschall Festival Berlin (2013), Gaida Festival, Flagey Brussels, Concertgebouw Brugge, tours in Serbia, Egypt, Poland, Latvia and its recordings for Kairos, Megadisc Classics, WDR, Deutschland Radio Kultur, WDR, etc. In 2011 LENsemble started the concert series Composers of our time, featuring the influential international and lithuanian composers.

PERFORMERS

Chordos String Quartet

Raimondas Sviackevičius (accordion)

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