Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. Little Sonata. Our dear songs

In solving the editing puzzle, Prof. Vytautas Landsbergis presented his vision, enriching Čiurlionis’ works with dynamic expression or adding textural richness. In the collection “Minor Sonata. Our Songs”, the politician, art, music and cultural historian, who has published about 30 books, mostly devoted to Čiurlionis’s work, edited and published those classical works that he himself often performed during concerts in Lithuania and abroad.

“Minor Sonata” is a name invented by the professor himself, where four works (VL 269–271a) fit into the ancient sonata form. “I have a vision that this “Minor Sonata” could establish itself in the pianists’ repertoire as a larger, comprehensive work and, perhaps, would be suitable for the Čiurlionis Piano Competition”.

The second part of the collection is called “Our Songs”. Here you will find arrangements of Čiurlionis' folk songs, small variations. The editor expands them, sometimes enriches the texture, sometimes rearranges parts: "I wanted to make a larger work from a single song, more attractive for concert performance. Therefore, they are often expanded. I simply offer such a variant, as I play it myself, as I play it in my concerts." The variation "Lithuanian Lullaby" is published for the first time in the collection. It was once written down from memory by my sister Jadvyga Čiurlionytė.

Instrumentation: piano

Year of publication: 2020

Editor: Vytautas Landsbergis

Notographer: Liutauras Stančikas

Publisher: Lithuanian Music Information Centre