Dalia Kairaitytė (b. 1953) writes predominantly choral and chamber music for various instrumental combinations. The latter works are written in polyphonic idiom based on linear development of short motifs pervading the whole musical texture. Quite often polyphonic sections are interspersed with the episodes based either on the principles of controlled aleatory or polyphonic superimposition of ostinato layers. The vocal and choral works, on the other hand, demonstrate rather different elements of her musical language. In these compositions, the composer aims at the closest possible link between the music and the text: she moulds her rhythms upon poetic verses, and follows the contour of poetic phrasing by marking and extending semantic emphases. This leads to the frequent change of metre and affects the overall formal design of her works for voice and choir.
