Concert “In the Footsteps of Liudvikas Rėza”

The concert programme “In the Footsteps of Liudvikas Rėza” will feature works by German composers based on L. Rėza’s original poems and Lithuanian folk songs published by him.

Particular attention is devoted to the Lied genre – a chamber song for voice and piano that became an important form of dialogue between literature and music during the Romantic era.

Giedrius Prunskus – baritone
Vilimas Norkūnas – piano

A special place among the creators of Königsberg and L. Rėza’s contemporaries is occupied by Wilhelm Jensen, the first composer to publish his study companion and roommate’s poetry in the form of musical compositions. Alongside his works, compositions by Alexandro Winterberger will also be presented, demonstrating the dissemination within German musical culture of the Lithuanian folk song texts published by Rėza and Nesselmann. The main focus is on the early 19th-century Lied genre – a chamber song for voice and piano that became an important form of dialogue between literature and music during the Romantic era.

L. Rėza himself – a theologian, poet and researcher of Lithuanian culture – was a passionate promoter of the Lithuanian language and folk heritage, seeking to introduce this heritage to Western Europe. The works performed in the programme and their context are based on research by organist and harpsichordist Vilimas Norkūnas, revealing traces of Rėza’s literary legacy that have survived in the music of German composers.

In order to delight the audience’s ears, almost all musical works originally published in German will be presented to the audience in Lithuanian, based on editions of Rėza’s and Nesselmann’s texts (the heritage of Lithuanian folk songs), while Rėza’s original poems have been translated into verse by Antanas A. Jonynas. After a 200-year break since the publication of these works, compositions by W. Jensen, A. Winterberger, E. Grieg and F. Chopin will be performed in Lithuanian in Lithuania for the first time.

1 hour before the concert – introductory lecture by V. Norkūnas, “Liudvikas Rėza’s Legacy in 19th-Century Music – New Discoveries”

The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Information partner: LRT.
Information supporters: Regionų naujienos, Bernardinai.lt.