The music of Lithuanian composer
Zibuokle Martinaityte is not easy to classify.
Martinaityte has been resident in the U.S., the homeland of minimalism, and there is a sheen to her music that will attract lovers of that tradition. Yet when one applies closer listening, her works seem anything but minimalistic. They are almost busy, with numerous small, initially almost imperceptible developments that coalesce into larger events. Think somewhere between
Reich and
Ligeti, with an edge from the more cosmic kinds of 1970s progressive rock, and that will land one in the ballpark. Here
Martinaityte, with the
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra under conductor
Karolis Variakojis, offers three new works, two of them written since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In the elegant words of annotator
Frank J. Oteri, she creates "music that seems to suspend time in an era where time seems suspended." Stasis becomes, not an organizing principle, but a stylistic element. The final work,
Sielunmaisema ("Soul Landscape"), is a four-movement four seasons work, that, in
Oteri's words, depicts "the composer's internal responses to the four seasons rather than direct portrayals of each of these seasons in sound." Yet the seasons themselves are recognizable, and the work could provide an offbeat counterpoint to the
Vivaldi Four Seasons violin concertos for performers who feel the familiar
Piazzolla and
Richter works are played out. The album provides a good introduction to
Martinaityte's music, and
Ondine's sound, recorded at the Grand Hall of the Lithuanian Philharmonic Society, is typically transparent and agreeable. ~ James Manheim
