Twenty Fingers

Mykolas Natalevičius (*1985, Lithuania) – dew. mist (2018)

Aaro Pertmann (*1971, Estonia) – An Old Farm (2020, premiere)

Aaro Pertmann – A Winter Story (solo violin piece for young musicians)

Aleksandr Žedeljov – DNA Identity (solo cello piece for young musicians)

Aleksandr Žedeljov (*1983, Estonia) – Friendly DNA Genocide (2021, Estonian premiere)

Alvils Altmanis (*1950, Latvia) – Triptych (1993)

Rita Mačiliūnaitė (*1985, Lithuania) – Dreamcatcher2120 (2021, premiere)

dew. mist (2018). The ambience of a fresh, bright August morning. Slow movement depicts the formation of dew and mist, in which the meditative change of timbre and melancholic harmonies play the most important parts. (Mykolas Natalevičius)

The piece composed for this festival, Old Farm, (2020, premiere) is a kind of a musical story about the past. A traveler comes across a derelict farm. The farm, with window frames creaking in the wind, an overgrown garden and collapsed roof, starts to tell the traveler a story of the events that took place here once. (Aaro Pertmann)

A Winter Story (2021, premiere) for solo violin. This is a children’s piece suitable for a violin student who has already studied the instrument for a few years, so this is not a beginner’s piece. (Aaro Pertmann)

DNA Identity (2021, premiere) for solo cello is like an introductory or children’s version of my main composition. These pieces can be performed separately or together. (Aleksandr Žedeljov)

In the composition titled Friendly DNA Genocide (2021, premiere), I tried to discover and study the parallel between sound vibration (wave) and the primary DNA macro-molecule, which is responsible for the preservation of genetic memory.

As DNA is the collection of unique comprehensive information, I drew a parallel with the concept of the mother chord, which involves all the intervals and main principles of the dodecaphonic technique. Its opposite is the idea of the overtone series, which is present in every sound. 

Here, the violin and cello are like a DNA chain, their voices covering intervallic patterns and using all 12 notes. 

I borrowed the title of the composition Friendly DNA Genocide from the lecture of a professor (A. Panchin) who described a group of scientists who used experiments to interfere with the DNA system of locusts. They managed to artificially modify the gender of individuals as well as the gender proportions of an entire plague of locusts. The goal was to regulate the procreation of pests. On the one hand, this seems outrageous, but on the other hand, scientists have found a humane way to influence and preserve the environment. (Aleksandr Žedeljov)

Triptych (1993). All three parts of this compact piece are built on the same material and dialogue between the instruments. There are certain disagreements and conflicts, but how long can we conflict, it’s time to come to senses and start thinking. (Alvils Altmanis)

Dreamcatcher2120 (2021, premiere) for violin, violoncello and tape, dedicated to Twenty Fingers Duo. I asked various people to tell me their most memorable dreams. After I had written down, recorded and organized the received material, I noticed that all stories of very different dreams’ on the other hand are very similar and it is possible to classify our dreams into five categories: a dream in the dream, erotic dreams, the different appearance of people you know, dreams – traps, incoherent dreams. That was the starting point for creating the structure of the composition. The verbal text in this work has a bigger function than only creating a narrative, I treat it as a musical sound. Mixing fragments of texts from different dreams gave me a possibility to develop the new stories underneath which created new meanings that reflect the illogicality of dreams. Text of narrator written by Aivaras Dočkus; the voices of dreamers: Dovilė Karaliūtė-Barkauskienė, Aivaras Dočkus, Lora Kmieliauskaitė, Matthias Kranebitter, Neil Luck, Vytautas Vepštas and Rita Mačiliūnaitė. (Rita Mačiliūnaitė)

Twenty Fingers Duo is a Lithuanian duo consisting of sibling string players Lora Kmieliauskaite (violin) and Arnas Kmieliauskas (cello). They are both specialists of contemporary and 20th century music and are renowned for their engaging and innovative concert formats. Their main focus is new experimental music but they are also open to participating in other kinds of projects. Both Arnas and Lora have collaborated with ensembles brought to life for various art projects; in addition, they strive to promote Lithuanian music. Continually investigating new avenues, Twenty Fingers have performed over fifty premieres written especially for the duo by composers across the globe. The duo have made regular appearances at international and national festivals and have won multiple national and international competitions.