What if the composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911) had not died at the young age of 35? Perhaps his life would have resembled ours more closely—full of rushing, shopping, conversations with emigrated relatives, family concerns, faith, and love. “Voice Messages to Sofija” is a documentary fantasy exploring who Čiurlionis was, what he means today, and what he might still become.
In this work, Lithuania’s great genius steps down from the pedestals of frozen sculptures, disappears from anniversary posters, and becomes a mirror reflecting our own concerns, contradictions, vices, virtues, dissatisfaction, love, and dreams. Čiurlionis’s letters to his wife Sofija are transformed into brief voice messages from the last night of 1911, when he went for a walk, caught a chill, and soon passed away. The narrative freely combines fantasy—such as an imagined psychotherapy session with Čiurlionis—with real biographical events, like frostbitten fingers during a harsh winter.
Alongside the artist’s life, the stories of his family, acquaintances, and even random passersby emerge, inviting the audience to reflect on themselves—or to remember a loved one they might want to call or send a voice message to. To revisit Čiurlionis’s life and work, the creative team employed dramaturgical techniques, sound design, recordings, and music. Drawing on letters and memories of the artist and his contemporaries, the team also conducted expeditions to key locations from Čiurlionis’s biography—from Druskininkai to Palanga. Street interviews with passersby—from “a pearl born in a small nation” to “pop pop pop”—reveal the many ways Mikalojus Konstantinas is etched in our collective consciousness.
Composer and librettist: Jurgis Kubilius
Performers: Eglė Rudokaitė, Emilė Elena Dačinskaitė, Vaidas Bartušas, Božena Burokienė
Sound director: Deividas Jakavičius
Sound recording performers: Jevgenijus Kovalčukas, Paulius Klangauskas
Visual artist: Aurėja Jucevičiūtė
The work incorporates audio recordings from spontaneous street interviews.
Producer: Vocal Arts Network
Partners: Vilnius City Municipality, Vilnius City Hall, XXIII International Arts Festival “Summer in Druskininkai with M. K. Čiurlionis”, Čiurlionis 150, Soundcheck.lt, arts platform Iškrovos, National Organists Association
Duration: 60 min.
Project partially funded by: Lithuanian Council for Culture
