- Leo Ornstein
- Schubert
- Hebrew
- Nicolae Herlea
- Rudolf Jansen
- King Tut
- Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
- The Four Seasons
An Interesting Experience
'Nervus Vagus' by Gintas K, heard by GEOFF PEARCE
'It is a fascinating journey that takes about an hour.'
This a very unusual disc for me to review as it is an electroacoustic music work comprising of thirteen tracks of varying length. I do not think that I can review it track by track, but the overall idea is that it tells thirteen stories. There is a mixture of subjects ranging from a child's laughter, to the telling of a humorous folk tale by a five-year-old child, the consequences of World War 2, a story of forced deportation during Stalin's time and life in Siberia, and a depiction of the state of mindfulness. These stories are all connected from axon to axon along the Vagus nerve which is realised by the electronic collage that envelopes everything.
Listen — Gintas K: Saulė fairy tale about dogs, piglets & a wolf (Nervus Vagus)
(track 6, 0:45-1:30) ℗ 2021 Gintas Kraptavičius :
It is a fascinating journey that takes about an hour. I think the best way to listen to his would be through a good pair of headphones with your eyes closed and just let the experience wash over you. The work was composed this year, 2021, and I could not find anything else about it.
Unfortunately, there are only a couple of paragraphs about the work in the cover that comes with the disc, and there's nothing about the composer. However this is what I have found on Wikipedia :
Gintas K (real name Gintas Kraptavičius; born 1969) is a sound artist born in Lithuania in 1969. He was the core member of the first Lithuanian industrial music group 'Modus'. Performances, actions, even short films shape the activities of 'Modus' (which is translated as 'the way of life').
Later Gintas Kraptavičius was active as a performer and interdisciplinary artist, known for his actions, happenings, written instructions in a post-fluxus manner.
In 1999 Gintas turned his scenery name into Gintas K and started exploring experimental, electroacoustic, electronic, computer music, granular synthesis, live electronic music aesthetics. Since 2011 member of Lithuanian Composers Union. Till now he has released 34 albums, took part in various international festivals, conferences, symposiums as transmediale.05 : Basics, transmediale.07 : Unfinish!, ISEA 2015: Disruption, IRCAM Forum Workshop 2017, ICMC2018, ICMC-NYCEMF 2019 , NYCEMF 2020 , Ars Electronica Festival 2020 , NYCEMF 2021 . Winner of the II International Sound-Art Contest Broadcasting Art 2010, Spain. Winner of The University of South Florida New-Music Consortium 2019 International Call for Scores in electronic composition category.
Listen — Gintas K: Marytė story (Nervus Vagus)
(track 8, 0:00-0:50) ℗ 2021 Gintas Kraptavičius :
For those who generally listen to more traditional forms of music, I urge you not to dismiss this work out of hand, but you do need a good listening environment and equipment to get the best out of it.
It could have been useful to inform the listener with better notes or a link to a description of what each track is about, but perhaps the composer and recording label decided that it might be better for the listener to be immersed in the work without any preconceptions?
Listen — Gintas K: Nervus vagus last point (Nervus Vagus)
(track 10, 3:00-3:58) ℗ 2021 Gintas Kraptavičius :
This was an interesting experience.
Copyright © 17 November 2021
Geoff Pearce,
Sydney, Australia
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC ARTICLES
CLASSICAL MUSIC ARTICLES ABOUT LITHUANIA