Symphony of Prayer

‘The Symphony of Prayer is programmatic music, although it’s impossible to describe an exact programme. It is a pensive work and at the same time a summary of my life.’ This is how Laurušas describes the work which he composed for his own 70th birthday. The one-movement symphony is written in a narrative style and, like a monologue, gives an insight into a person’s inner life with moments of joy, fear and contemplation. It is rich in dramatic contrasts and stylistic quotations, the attentive listener will discover reminiscences from Romantic music, clusters, linear polyphony, aleatorism, and sonorous passages. In the Symphony of Prayer the string orchestra is driven to the limits of its tonal possibilities, especially by various playing techniques.