Benjaminas Gorbulskis (1925-1986) – composer, the father of post-war Lithuanian popular music, kapellmeister, instrumentalist and singer (baritone). He was the first in Lithuania to employ dodecaphonic technique in his Clarinet Concerto. Gorbulskis composed concertos for almost all orchestra instruments; he wrote Saxophone Concerto at the time when the instrument did not have today’s prestige in the Soviet Lithuania as a jazz instrument. His output of 890 opuses includes an opera, a ballet for children, a musical, 6 operettas, works for wind orchestra, Lithuanian folk instruments and their ensembles, pop and symphony orchestras, as well as a number of chamber works, music for theatre, film, radio and circus performances. He made his name as a composer of tuneful and characteristic popular songs (more than 600). He has become a legend by virtue of his creative productivity, his utmost diligence and inborn humour, strong sense of freedom, unbridled imagination and optimism.
