Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (; – ) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish.
Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. He has been considered one of the pioneers of abstract art in Europe. During his short life, he composed about 400 pieces of music and created about 300 paintings, as well as many literary works and poems. The majority of his paintings are housed in the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. His works have had a profound influence on modern Lithuanian culture.
Biography Childhood and early music studies Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis was born in Senoji Varėna, a town in southeastern Lithuania which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. His mother Adelė (Adelaidė) Ona Marija Magdalena née Radmanaitė (Radmann) (1854-1919) came from a Lutheran family of Bavarian origin, born in Vileikiai village (Lazdijai region). She finished elementary school in Seirijai. Orphaned at the age of 14, she worked as a nanny in Count Oppermann's estate in Aniškis. His father, Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1851-1914, born in Guobiniai) was an organist and a choirmaster who briefly played the organ in Liškiava, where the couple met.
The newly formed family moved to Senoji Varėna, where their eldest child, Mikalojus, was born. There were nine siblings altogether: Mikalojus Konstantinas (1875-1911), Marija (1879-1969), Juzė (1882-1969), Povilas (1884-1945), Stasys (1887-1944), Petras (1890-1924), Jonas (1891-1955), Valerija (1896-1955), and Jadvyga (1898-1992).
Even though Čiurlionis' family spoke Polish, Mikalojus Konstantinas could understand and read Lithuanian, albeit not fluently, receiving assistance from his fiancée from 1907 onwards.
In 1878, his family moved to Druskininkai, away, where his father went on to serve as the town organist. This is where Mikalojus Konstantinas, called Konstantinas or Kastukas by the family, started publicly displaying his musical proficiency - he was a musical prodigy: he could play by ear at the age of five and could sight-read music freely by the age of seven. He would often fill in for his father playing the organ at Mass, while he played piano at home. A family friend, doctor Jozef Markiewicz noticed his natural talent and, upon Mikalojus' graduation from the folk school of Druskininkai, wrote a letter to the Lithuanian noble Michał Mikołaj Ogiński recommending to enrol M. K. Čiurlionis to the Palace Orchestra School in Plungė.
M. K. Čiurlionis studied in the Plungė Palace Orchestra School from 1889 to 1893. Here he played the flute, received his first orchestra uniform and musical theory basics. He would often travel with the orchestra to play concerts in Rietavas, Palanga, Riga. He had a close relationship with M. Ogiński, who granted him a scholarship which allowed the composer to study in Warsaw.
Life abroad Supported by Prince Ogiński's scholarship Čiurlionis studied piano and composition at Warsaw Institute of Music from 1894 to 1899. He studied piano with the guidance of , and composition with the guidance of the composer Zygmunt Noskowski. Here he met the future Polish composer and director of the Warsaw Conservatory . Together they discussed music and paintings, critiqued each other's compositions, and went on vacation at Morawski's parents' place in Zakroczym. Here he met his friend's sister Maria Morawska. Her father, after noticing the love of his young daughter for the - at the time unknown - artist, intervened and married Maria off to a widower. M. K. Čiurlionis buried himself in work: he wrote preludes, fugues, canons, and cycles of variations for the piano. For his graduation, in 1899, he wrote a cantata for mixed chorus and symphonic orchestra titled De Profundis, and received the diploma for composition. He declined the offer to become the orchestra master for Lublin's Music Society Choir and continued creating - in 1900 he finished his first symphonic poem "In the Forest", which was dedicated to E. Morawski.
After receiving the approval and further scholarship from M. Ogiński, M. K. Čiurlionis enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory from 16 October 1901 until 14 July 1902. There he was taught composition, his main subject, by Carl Reinecke, counterpoint by Salomon Jadassohn and music theory by Emil Paul, as well as organ by Paul Homeyer and piano by Carl Heinrich Heynsen. Though he was not proficient in German, he still enrolled in aesthetics, history, and psychology classes. It is apparent from letters that M. K. Čiurlionis felt very lonely in Leipzig and wanted to come back to Druskininkai; he constantly wrote letters to his family and E. Morawski.
As he was in Leipzig, he listened to and studied the works of G. F. Haendel, P. Tchaikovsky, R. Wagner, F. Liszt, H. Berlioz, and R. Strauss, and created the symphonic overture "Kęstutis". Since he couldn't come back home, he started drawing during his free time. The sudden death of M. Ogiński and disrupted financial support made it harder to finish his studies, but he succeeded in receiving the teacher's license from Leipzig's Conservatory.
Interest in painting M. K. Čiurlionis returned to Warsaw in 1902 and joined the Warsaw Drawing School where he was taught drawing by Jan Kauzik. As he was living in Warsaw, he had to work as a private music tutor to support himself and his brothers, who were also studying in Warsaw. With the strong decision to paint, he refused to teach at Warsaw's Institute of Music. In 1903, he painted the 7-painting cycle "Funeral Symphony", but also did not forget music: he started creating his second symphonic poem "The Sea".
He continued his painting studies in Warsaw School of Fine Arts from 1904 to 1906. His main teacher in Warsaw was symbolist painter Kazimierz Stabrowski, who was also the founder of the first lodges of the Theosophical Society in Poland and passed to Čiurlionis an interest in Theosophy and other esoteric subjects. In the School he was taught drawing by Karol Tichy and Konrad Krzyżanowski, sculpture by Xawery Dunikowski, painting by Ferdynand Ruszczyc, and went to the organized plein-air sessions. In 1904 he showed 19 of his works (stained glass projects, cycle of 6 paintings "The Storm", book covers) in the private exhibition of the School. In 1905 M. K. Čiurlionis held an exhibition where he showed the 10-painting cycle "Fantasies"; in the same year he also participated in the first annual exhibition of Warsaw School of Arts.
As he was working as a private music tutor, he acquainted himself with the family of Wolmans, who quickly became his friends. He had an especially warm relationship with Bronisława Wolman, who sponsored M. K. Čiurlionis' painting. As a thank you, M. K. Čiurlionis gifted her numerous paintings including "Friendship" (1906/1907). In 1905 B. Wolman invited M. K. Čiurlionis with a couple of his friends to the resort town of Anapa, near the Black Sea. Here M. K. Čiurlionis traveled the Caucasus, painted, photographed, and searched for inspiration.
B. Wolman gave M. K. Čiurlionis money for his trip through Europe: he went to Prague, Dresden, Nuremberg, Munich, Vienna; the artist adored the works of Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Böcklin. In 1906 he showed his works in the exhibition of Warsaw's School of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg (the cycles "Creation of the World", "Day", "The Storm" and other creations). Articles started appearing in the press about M. K. Čiurlionis, the first Lithuanian article was in "Vilniaus žinios" (no. 123).
Dedication to Lithuania In 1906, M. K. Čiurlionis wrote to his brother Povilas: "I am going to dedicate all of my previous and future work to Lithuania". As he received the invitation to participate in the First Exhibition of Lithuanian Art in 1907 at Vileišis Palace, Vilnius, he sent his paintings (33 paintings shown), and also helped organize it. Soon after this event, the Lithuanian Art Society was founded, and Čiurlionis was one of its 19 founding members.
In 1907 M. K. Čiurlionis moved to Vilnius, where he lived on 11 Savičiaus Street, and actively involved himself in culture: he was elected to the board of Lithuanian Art Society, was the choirmaster of the choir "Vilniaus kanklės". During his visit to the dress rehearsal of "Blinda" by Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis he met the writer Sofija Kymantaitė (1886–1958). Together with her and the Lithuanian Art Society they prepared the Second Exhibition of Lithuanian Art and discussed the creation of "Folk Palace" (art museum).
Together with Sofija (fiancée) they went to Palanga in 1908, and on 1 January 1909 they got married, later visiting Sofija's parents in Kuliai, Karklėnai, Sofija's uncle in Plungė, stayed in Druskininkai.
Fight for recognition and death Trying to become more known, M. K. Čiurlionis followed his friends' advice and left for Saint Petersburg in 1908. Here he met Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, who introduced the Lithuanian artist to the Russian Artist Society. To have enough money, he had to once again become a private music tutor. While in Saint Petersburg, M. K. Čiurlionis did not forget Lithuania: he proposed creating a music section at the Lithuanian Art Society, sent harmonized folk songs to the "Vilniaus kanklės" choir, and, together with Sofija, wrote music for their opera "Jūratė".
In 1909, after their wedding and parent visits, the newlyweds came to Saint Petersburg. Here M. K. Čiurlionis' paintings were exhibited in "Salon" exhibition, in the Sixth Exhibition of Russian Artist Society, among them – his newest painting – "Rex" (1909). A few of his paintings he also sent to the First Spring Exhibition of Vilnius Artist Society, to the Thirteenth Art Lover Society "Sztuka" Exhibition in Kraków. In March, 1909, Sofija and M. K. Čiurlionis came back to Lithuania, where they helped organize the Third Art Exhibition of Lithuanian Art, painted the "Rūta" Society hall curtain, and wrote the critique essay book In Lithuania. At the end of the year, M. K. Čiurlionis left for Saint Petersburg again.
Constant work without breaks, and material deprivations, tired out M. K. Čiurlionis - Sofija found him acting strangely on Christmas Eve and brought him to the neuropathologist and psychiatrist V. Bechterev, who diagnosed him with burnout. In 1910 the pair came back to Druskininkai. Later on M. K. Čiurlionis was hospitalized in a health resort "Czerwony Dwór" (Red Manor) in Marki, Poland, northeast of Warsaw. While he was recovering, his only daughter – Danutė – was born. In 1911, he went for a walk and caught pneumonia, eventually dying on 10 April 1911 at 35 years of age. He was buried at the Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius. He never saw his daughter Danutė (1910–1995).
Čiurlionis felt that he was a synesthete; that is, he perceived colours and music simultaneously. Many of his paintings bear the names of musical pieces: sonatas, fugues, and preludes.
M. K. Čiurlionis as a composer