About
Balys Dvarionas was a Lithuanian composer, pianist, conductor and educator. Dvarionas first became known as a composer after World War II. His works are in a romantic vein, with roots in folk song.
Dvarionas composed a variety of works ranging from opera, ballet, symphony to music for film and theater. Balys Dvarionas, together with another prominent Lithuanian composer Jonas Švedas, was commissioned to compose the music for the Anthem of Lithuanian SSR.
Dvarionas's musical works are distinctive for their melody, emotionality, and motives drawn from folk music. Rather than extensively developing his musical material, he preferred exposition and juxtaposition of various musical ideas. The music by Dvarionas may seem extemporaneous, but is natural and rhythmically flexible, and makes an impression of clear and colourful mood.
The composer said of his style in 1971: "My aesthetic ideals were formed under the influence of 19th century romanticism, and I believe in the musician's vocational call to spread beauty, good, harmony, to educate people and to raise them above the routine. I believe that people who say this type of view is behind the times are wrong. The ideals of human good have remained unchanged over many thousands of years: love, truth, freedom and friendship. To serve them is not a step backwards".