Oh, My Dear Mother - Geert Callaert - Audio CD (Arrives in 20 days)

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911) composed as he painted: in symbols, colours, and quiet revelations. His preludes breathe the same air as his visionary canvases, where Lithuanian folklore, mysticism, and nature fuse into a single, luminous world. In the intimate VL-series piano works, gently chromatic lines unfold like folk melodies remembered from childhood—fragments his mother once sang in the wooden house at Druskininkai. A sequence of variation cycles on songs of nature, love, life, and motherhood follows, each crafted with the simplicity of oral tradition yet shaded with an increasingly modern harmonic language.

In these 35 pieces, pianist Geert Callaert enters Čiurlionis’ dual universe of sound and vision with unforced tenderness and structural poise. His interpretations illuminate the inner axis where preludes become landscapes, variations become memories, and chromatic whispers become the painter’s brushstrokes translated into tone. This recording offers not only a rare traversal of a still-undiscovered repertoire, but also an invitation into one of the 20th century’s most singular artistic minds—fragile, searching, and incandescent.

Tracklist

1. Preliudas B-Moll Vl 169 (1899)
2. Lietuviska Lopsin?: Prapuoliau, Mo?Iute (Lithuanian Lullaby: I Am In Great Trouble, Mother) Vl 174 Semplice (1899-1900?)
3. Noktiurnas Fis-Moll Vl 178 (1900)
4. Preliudas Fis-Dur (Angelus Domini) Vl 184 (1901)
5. Preliudas H-Dur Vl 186 (1901)
6. Preliudas Des-Dur Vl 187 (1901)
7. Preliudas F-Dur/A-Moll Vl 188 (1901)
8. Dainele (Little Song) Es-Moll Vl 199 (1901)
9. Preliudas H-Moll Vl 182a (1902)
10. Preliudas D-Moll Ii Versija (Second Version) Vl 239 (1903)
11. Preliudas D-Moll Vl 256 (1904)
12. Preliudas G-Moll (Pater Noster) Vl 260 (1904)
13. Oi Giria, Giria (Oh, Forest, Forest) Vl 276: I Andante (1906)
14. Oi Giria, Giria (Oh, Forest, Forest) Vl 276: Ii Espressivo Abbandonato (1906)
15. Oi Giria, Giria (Oh, Forest, Forest) Vl 276: Iii Piu Mosso (1906)
16. Oi Giria, Giria (Oh, Forest, Forest) Vl 276: Iv Andante Tempestuoso (1906)
17. Oi Giria, Giria (Oh, Forest, Forest) Vl 276: V Andante Semplice (1906)
18. Oi Giria, Giria (Oh, Forest, Forest) Vl 276: Vi Largo (1906)
19. Vai Mociute (Oh, Mother) Vl 277: I Moderato Cantabile (1906)
20. Vai Mociute (Oh, Mother) Vl 277: Ii Andantino (1906)
21. Bekit Bareliai (Stretch Away, Harvested Fields) Vl 279: I Largo (1906)
22. Bekit Bareliai (Stretch Away, Harvested Fields) Vl 279: Ii Andante Molto Cantabile (1906)
23. Bekit Bareliai (Stretch Away, Harvested Fields) Vl 279: Iii Moderato Quasi Allegro (1906)
24. Bekit Bareliai (Stretch Away, Harvested Fields) Vl 279: Iv Maestoso (1906)
25. Ei, Mergele, Kur Bavai? (Oh, Maiden, Where Have You Been?) Vl 283: I Lento Ma Non Troppo (1906?)
26. Ei, Mergele, Kur Bavai? (Oh, Maiden, Where Have You Been?) Vl 283: Ii Un Poco Piu Mosso (1906?)
27. Ei, Mergele, Kur Bavai? (Oh, Maiden, Where Have You Been?) Vl 283: Iii Largo (1906?)
28. Kelio Nezinojau (I Didn't Know the Way) Vl 290 Allegro Moderato (1906-1908?)
29. Seriau Zirgeli, Seriau Beraji (I Fed My Bay Steed) Vl 293 Comodo (1906?)
30. Preliudas G-Moll Vl 304 (1908)
31. Preliudas D-Moll Vl 325 (1908)
32. Preliudas C-Dur Vl 327 (1908)
33. Preliudas D-Moll 'Motule Mano' (Oh, My Dear Mother) Vl 340 (1909)
34. Preliudas G-Moll Vl 342 (1909)
35. Preliudas D-Moll Vl 344 (1909)

Label: Antarctica | Origin: Holland