Ẑibuokle Martinaitye

Vocal appeal:

‘I love the way the human voice sounds’

The Lithuanian composer made a name for herself at home before relocating to the US. There she has established a bright new musical path, though continues to enjoy a strong connection to her roots. A concert of her music forms part of the Vilnius Festival this month and her new album Saudade is out on the Ondine label.

Moving to New York was like a new beginning. It coincided with a stylistic shi in my music. I realised I didn’t want to play mental games with my music any more; I had been writing for my own enjoyment but not so much for the audience’s. I decided to simplify my means, so instead of having a bunch of extended techniques, where all the instruments are overworked and the listener is lost, I would concentrate on the essence and the emotion.

I love orchestral textures. Writing for large ensembles is my preferred medium because of the multitude of instruments and the possibility of layering the sounds. It creates a magical shimmering e ect that you can’t achieve with just one instrument. It’s like layering a canvas; some things are more in the foreground, some in the background.

I love exploring the possibilities of timbre. Earlier in my career I was attracted to unusual instrument combinations such as trombone, saxophone and accordion. They didn’t have much of a loaded history behind them, so I felt you could hear them with new ears. I am currently working on a piece for lowest-range instruments – the tuba, bass clarinet and contrabass – so I still retain that fascination.

My composing process is old fashioned. I sketch in notebooks, but I like to live with the idea for a while first. I try and familiarise myself with the experience of the timeframe I want to write for, and see what I want to fill it with. Then part of the process is improvisation, so I sit at the piano and look for sounds – they sort of come by themselves. Some beautiful moments appear, but they don’t always make it.

I haven’t explored too much vocal music. I’ve written some choral pieces that don’t sound like choral pieces, because I treat voices as instruments. I love the way the human voice sounds and the meaning it can carry, so I would like to work with voices more. My dream is to write an opera at some point.