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Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra Part 1​(​comp. Raminta Šerk​š​nyt​ė​)

from Liudas Mock​ū​nas "Polylogues" (2xCD) by Feat. LT National Symphony, St Christopher Chamber, Modus Chamber orchestra, Chordos String Quartet

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    With this double album I introduce myself as a performer of contemporary classical music, which, I believe, might come as a surprise for listeners who are familiar only with my work in the fields of improvised music and avant-garde jazz. However, various genres of music as diverse as classical and jazz, free improvisation and contemporary classical were always there along the way, playing a significant role in shaping my approach to musical performance as an improviser and a musician in general – an approach that blurs distinctions not only between different genres but also between improvised and composed music, improvisation and interpretation.

    In addition to leading my own bands and working on my own projects, I consider myself very lucky to have had many fortunate opportunities to appear as a soloist and a section member with major symphony and chamber orchestras, both locally and further afield, as well as to collaborate with fantastic chamber ensembles and creative improv and jazz bands, which have notably included the Gaida Ensemble and the Lithuanian Ensemble Network, the Chordos and Čiurlionis string quartets, the Copenhagen Art Ensemble, the Barry Guy Ensemble, the Andrew Hill Jazzpar Octet, the Marc Ducret Ensemble for Lady M, the New Jungle Orchestra, the Konvoj Art Ensemble featuring Evan Parker and Sten Sandell, Vladimir Tarasov and the Lithuanian Art Orchestra, and the Improdimensija Orchestra. Some of these wonderful orchestras and musicians continue to keep me company in live concerts and on these two discs.

    Over the years I’ve also had a chance to work with many talented composers who have written fascinating music specifically for me or who would ingeniously adapt to my abilities and inclinations as an improviser by giving me the freedom of self-expression in their otherwise strictly written compositions. Out of several dozen such works I have selected ten compositions by eight (mostly Lithuanian) composers and wrapped it all up under a title adopted from one of my all-time favourite Lithuanian concert pieces for solo saxophone, Polylogue by Osvaldas Balakauskas. All of the pieces were recorded – some live, some in the studio – over a period of fifteen years, from 2005 to 2020, which retraces a substantial chapter in my professional career as an improvising multi-reed player and composer.

    CD 1 opens with the title track and features contemporary Lithuanian music for solo saxophone and orchestra. CD 2 sets off with the track Social, which marks the beginning of my ‘socializing’ with the Chordos Quartet. All works for solo saxophone and string quartet committed to this disc have been recorded with the same constellation of musicians (except for the closing piece where percussionist Arkady Gotesman and accordionist Raimondas Sviackevičius joined us), which may be called a band as we’ve been playing music by different composers and experimenting with my own music involving a lot of improvisation based on graphic scores and other alternative forms of notation for almost two decades now. I have also seized the opportunity to pay homage to my first clarinet teacher, the brilliant musician Algirdas Doveika, by including my take on a solo clarinet piece by Vykintas Baltakas, which Algirdas used to play beautifully himself.

    Wishing you lots of exciting musical discoveries!

    Liudas Mockūnas
    January 13, 2021, Kernavė, Lithuania

    Includes unlimited streaming of Liudas Mockūnas "Polylogues" (2xCD) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
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about

RAMINTA ŠERKŠNYTĖ (*1975)
Concerto for alto saxophone and chamber orchestra (2002)

For me, the key to composing a new piece is often found in the timbral characteristics and technical capabilities of instruments, which suggest the overall character and the elements of musical language. The saxophone, an instrument distinguished for its especially wide variety of tonal and expressive possibilities, lent inspiration for the contrasting moods of the three movements in this concerto – playful, lyrical, and sarcastic. In addition, being indispensably connected to jazz music, it has inevitably determined certain features of this music that are akin to jazz, such as swinging rhythms, harmonies based on seventh chords, and the virtuoso cadenzas of the soloist.

Raminta Šerkšnytė

The proposal to perform this piece came from the long-standing Artistic Director and Conductor Emeritus of the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra, Professor Donatas Katkus. With all my love for Raminta’s music, I must admit that there were certain moments in this concerto (and to some extent in the soprano concerto by Arvydas Malcys next on this album) that I had to put in extra effort to attune myself to the composer’s aesthetic intent. On the other hand, while studying the scores of both concertos, I became very much attracted by the idea of finding and putting my own voice to this music through interpretation and improvised cadenzas. So, I started digging deeper into this music, discovering its inherent beauty.

Liudas Mockūnas

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from Liudas Mock​ū​nas "Polylogues" (2xCD), released March 21, 2021
RAMINTA ŠERKŠNYTĖ (*1975)
Concerto for alto saxophone and chamber orchestra (2002)

Part I. "Lento misterioso. Allegro scherzando. Lento"

Liudas Mockūnas (alto saxophone), St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra,
conductor Modestas Pitrėnas

Recorded live in 2013 at the St Catherine’s Church in Vilnius by Arūnas Zujus.

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Liudas Mockūnas Vilnius, Lithuania

Lithuanian saxophonist and clarnetist (born 1976)focused on improvised, avantgarde jazz, experimental and conteporary classical music. Among his stage partenrs were and are Andrew Hill, Copenhagen Art Ensemble, Mikko Innanen, Stefan Pasborg, Barry Guy, Agusti Fernandez, Marc Ducret, Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, Ottomo Yoshihide, Kazutoky Umezu, Vladimir Tarasov ... more

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