Lithuanian composer Osvaldas Balakauskas dies at 88

VILNIUS - Osvaldas Balakauskas, a prominent Lithuanian composer and National Culture and Art Prize laureate, has died at the age of 88, the culture ministry said on Wednesday.

"We have lost one of the most brilliant musical visionaries of our time, whose intellectual creative foundation and original sound system gave Lithuanian modernism a new direction," Culture Minister Vaida Aleknaviciene said.

"The path of Balakauskas, stretching from studies in Kyiv to prestigious European stages, became a symbol of our culture's openness to the world. The professor proved that a creator's talent can harmoniously merge with dedicated pedagogy and solid diplomatic service to the state. In this difficult hour, I express my deep condolences to his family, loved ones, colleagues, and the entire music community," she added.

Balakauskas was born in Miliunai, Siesikai district.

He graduated from the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute in 1961 and the Kyiv Conservatory in 1969.

Between 1968 and 1972, he served as an editor at the Muzychna Ukraina publishing house in Kyiv, and from 1972 to 1982 he was a consultant for the Lithuanian Composers' Union.

From 1988 to 1992, he was a member of the Sąjudis Seimas Council, and from 1992 to 1994 he served as Lithuania's ambassador to France, Portugal and Spain.

He taught at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre from 1985 and served as head of the Composition Department during 1988–1992 and 1994–2006.

Balakauskas composed modern music using various techniques, including dodecaphony, rhythmic progressions, sonorism, aleatoricism and electronics. He developed a unique compositional system called dodekatonics, based on multi-voiced diatonic structures.

His works include the chamber opera "La lointaine", the ballet "Macbeth", "Requiem in memoriam Stasys Lozoraitis", "Mountain Sonata" for piano and orchestra, and "Opera strumentale" for symphony orchestra.

He also composed music for theatre plays and films.

Balakauskas was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize in 1996 and received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Gediminas in 1999.