| Year of Composition: | 1994 |
| Duration: | 12 |
| Instrumentation: | 2vn-va-vc |
| Samples: |  Score  Audio |
Printed editions:
Vilnius: Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre MILC 082, 2014
Released recordings:
CD Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre LMPICCD005, 1998 (perf. by Kaunas String Quartet: Indrė Andruškevičiūtė – 1st violin, Dalia Terminaitė – 2nd violin, Adrija Vitkutė – viola, Saulius Bartulis – cello)
CD "Psalms", Kaunas String Quartet KSK CD002, 2001 (perf. by Kaunas String Quartet: Ilona Klusaitė – 1st violin, Dalia Terminaitė – 2nd violin, Mykolas Daugirdas – viola, Saulius Bartulis – cello)
Programme note:
Oh, Darling is Vidmantas Bartulis’s First String Quartet, written especially for the Kaunas String Quartet, in which his brother plays the cello. The title of the piece seems to be a playful reference to love poetry. The music of this quartet piece, like many other chamber works by Bartulis, is best described in non-musical terms as hearty. To quote the composer: “it is impossible to reach harmony out of nowhere, isolating oneself from the world and the universe, in which pain and purity coexist in perfect balance. I suppose it is impossible to separate these matters.”
The quartet is a one-movement piece which starts with a slow introduction, evoking a perception of a vast space. Due to a gradual development of the musical material in a minimalist manner, stronger volitional impulses draw the listener into a kaleidoscope of both lively and monotonous impressions. The long seeking is crowned with a final ‘kiss.’
© 1998 Rūta Gaidamavičiūtė
Translation © 1998 Laima Zabulienė
