Šarūnas Nakas & Alla Zagaykevych

STM 067 is a gradually and powerfully expanding sustained composition that was continually developing and polishing from the late 1990’s till now. Nearly an hour of rational and graphic narrative expansion prevents the loss of listening attention and complete empathy. This intense recording figuratively reflects enormous baggage of scene experience, mature intelligence, arrangement and technological knowledge by its authors.

The authors of this masterwork are Šarūnas Nakas (b. 1962) and Alla Zagaykevych (b. 1966), collaborating contemporary music composers from Eastern Europe. The mastermind behind it is Šarūnas Nakas, Lithuanian composer, essayist, multimedia artist, organiser of contemporary music festivals and presenter of radio programs. Active since the late 1980’s, Nakas is the one of the most notable Lithuanians composers, awarded with various national awards such as Lithuanian National Arts and Culture Prize in 2007. Alla Zagaykevych from Kiev, Ukraine is a contemporary classical music composer, performance artist, organiser of electroacoustic music projects, musicologist. She is responsible for the live-electronics and mixing in this collaboration. Read more about them here and here.

STM 067 is extremely sophisticated contemporary composition which could be described as assimilation between minimalism, modern classical and noise music styles. Feels like this work deactivates the parallel worlds with all convulsions and paradoxes. Recording emerged from duo’s continuous work called “Ziqquratu” (definition on Wikipedia). It was originally composed for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin and cello in 1998. It was adapted to the different ensembles twice (Ziqquratu-2 & Ziqquratu-3) and released as CD/DVD “Ziqquratu” by Šarūnas Nakas in 2012. The current version was completely digitized and adapted for this exclusive STM 067. However, it still carries significant ideas of the past.

From the composers’ catalogues

Starting with almost blank background, composition immediately cause the confusion and intrigue to every patient listener. Progressive and accurate development transforms this composition into perplexing ambience. Measured and skilled layering of allegedly static and thrilling textures creates a vivid wholeness. Whirling upper dissonance of atmospheres slightly masks the solid micro activity in a weighty sound environment which could be revealed only by the high-quality headphones or soundsystem. Sharp, sudden and sometimes chaotic instrumentation entries enrich the whole architectural plane with unexpectedness and mood related to horror science fiction films. While maintaining a strong modernist sensibility that reveals itself in the symbolic languages of sound figures and lines, Nakas and Zagaykevych indirectly broadcast interaction of information technologies and the human mind. This lengthy composition may require your concentration, patience, analytical thinking and profound musical knowledge to comprehend all its balanced forceful musical declaration.

STM 067 is like a puzzling and strangely involving Terry Winters modern art painting “Luminace” where objects and information are transcribed as events; pieces of existing data are re-assembled into new patterns. Formed by impulses, minimalistic shapes are used as an operative abstraction for the construction of the complex matrix. Penetrating composition by Šarūnas Nakas and Alla Zagaykevych mirrors their distinctive and highly influential view to the diverse macro-system processes in earth, scientific and mathematical fields and phenomenons of the universe.