Čiurlionis' first and second cycles of sonatas were most likely created in the summer of 1907, in Druskininkai, because the artist “did not paint that winter in Vilnius, only producing sketches and jotting down his ideas,” (Čiurlionienė-Kymantaitė, S. “Iš atsiminimų apie M.K. Čiurlionį”. Čiurlionis M.K. Apie muziką ir dailę. Vilnius: National Publishing House for Fiction, 1960, 322).

In his painted sonatas, Čiurlionis interprets the form of the musical sonata. Sometimes the artist presents a full four-part composition, and other times chooses to limit his work to two or three paintings within a series. In the “Sonata of the Sun”, the analogy of the musical sonata is especially obvious. The motif of the gateway and castle silhouette at the bottom of “Allegro” is the principal melody that is developed further in the centre of the painting, with the reiteration of the musical theme, the reprise, at the top. From the open gateway of the reprise, the viewer's glance follows the path of the sun back down to the exposition.

The rhythm of the massive forms and serene lines creates the slower “Andante” section of the musical series – a contrast to the “Allegro” composition.

The lightly and whimsically painted “Scherzo” is closer in its appearance to “Allegro” than “Andante”. Flowers bloom on the banks of the wide sweep of the river, colourful butterflies flutter above the arches of a bridge, and the vast disc of a darkened sun and the crescent of the moon can be seen on the horizon.

“Finale”, the fourth painting in the cycle, completes the life cycle of the sun. The frozen bell is an extinguished sun. The themes in the first three parts of the series are repeated in the ornamentation. Slumbering kings now sit in the empty mountain thrones of “Allegro”. Distant suns flash in the dark space beyond the spider web. This entire composition is reminiscent of a magnificent cosmic occurrence, wherein our measurements of time fade away into oblivion.

"Sonata I (Sonata of the Sun" was exhibited at these exhibitions:

"From Amber to the Stars. Together with M. K. Čiurlionis: Now and Then" at M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas (Lithuania), March 21 - October 12, 2025;
"Beyond Heaven and Earth" at the Museum Belvédère in Heerenveen (Netherlands), February 24th – June 8th, 2024;
“The Wild Souls: Symbolism in the Art of the Baltic States” at the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius (Lithuania), 10th July - 27th September, 2020;
“The Wild Souls: Symbolism in the Art of the Baltic States” at the KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn (Estonia), 12th October, 2018 - 3rd February, 2019;
"Angels and Demons. Figures of Modernity" at the Palazzo Roverella in Rovigo (Italy), 14th February - 14th June, 2015.

Angels and Demons. Figures of Modernity

Angels and Demons. Figures of Modernity

Related content