Baltakas - b(ell tree) for string quartet

In embarking on a new composition, your freedom
is limited by your own ideas. One develops further, ceaselessly absorbing new
impulses, but one’s views and decisions continue to be informed by perspectives
of the past – perspectives which have a history of their own and thus determine
all new experiences.

That is why I find it extremely interesting to
see what music itself has to offer me. Initially it is subconscious, at a later
stage it can be quite surprising. I hit upon “sounding objects”, I ingest them,
listen to them, attempt to understand them – what they are, how they live, what
is important for their existence and I try to keep this living being alive.

My string quartet is based on the rhythmic
articulation of the sound of Swiss cowbells. I listened to this particular
living being with concentrated attention and tried to imitate it, taking
further what I had found in that sound. In this way, I came upon a new world –
new for me and new for the “found” sound.

Vykintas Baltakas