Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. Selekted works for Piano. Notes

Instrumentation: piano

Year of publication: 2020

Editor: Rokas Zubovas

Music engraver: Robertas Budrys

Publisher: Music Information Centre Lithuania

The pianist Rokas Zubovas, the composer’s great-grandson and a passionate promoter of his music, has put together and edited a quite big compilation – almost 100 pages – titled Kūrinių fortepijonui rinktinė (Selected Works for Piano), which contains all of the pieces chosen for the participants of the International Čiurlionis Piano Competition. The volume includes some of the composer’s early and late works (Fugue in B-minor, Sefaa Esec Variations, Besacas Variations, etc.).

“For Čiurlionis, the piano was the main tool of self-expression in music,” said Rokas Zubovas. “His piano works might be seen as his creative laboratory, the birthplace of his most daring musical visions that often transcend the boundaries of a single artform. My aim was to preserve, whenever possible, the authentic notation. Some of the pieces published here had been prepared for performance by Čiurlionis himself. In many instances, his original editorial notes might help pianists understand what kind of interpretation Čiurlionis had in mind.”