‘Gausme’ is inspired by the unique textural layers of the soundscape in the centre-eastern part of Vilnius. The sounds produced by people here act in harmony with a biophonic sonority that is constantly active, but can only be heard if you listen carefully to it.
To me, ‘I hear what I can’t see’ are birds, crickets, grasshoppers and other fauna hidden in the grasses and trees, as well as the city’s hum, the sound of car horns on the horizon, the clatter of the construction site, and other anthropophonic sounds. It is an invisible sonority that lies within the acoustic horizon. Listening to it creates a very interesting sensation – the perception of sound as a mass, as a trace element hovering like air. It has its own logic, but at the same time it is constantly changing. This score works in the same way – it has a clear structure of who does what and when, yet how they do it is always a little bit different.
The words ‘I see what I can’t hear’ came about before I even thought of the piece itself, while I was recording a windy, howling morning city on the hill of Bekešas. At one point I stiffened, looking at a few yellowish, flabby, winter-surviving tufts of grass and agrostis. I realised that I could see how intensely they were moving in the wind, but I couldn’t hear them. I have a similar sensation when I watch the slow flow of a river. Even on a quiet morning or evening – a huge amount of water just rushes by without a sound. Meanwhile, all the sounds of the city merge into one drone, and you are in it.
Dominykas Digimas
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Dominykas Digimas is a contemporary composer whose work is characterised by an ascetic, concentrated soundscape, subtle melancholy, and deep introspection. His music often explores inner states of consciousness and the relationship between silence and sound, inviting attentive listening and reflection. Digimas’s compositions are marked by sensitive dynamics, a slow flow of time, and carefully considered structures.
In 2025, the composer’s practice took a significant turn, moving away from music performed on traditional instruments towards new sonic territory. Homemade instruments, constructed by Digimas himself, play a central role in this shift. On the album GAUSME, recorded in collaboration with members of the ensembles Twenty Fingers Duo and Fleitų 3, the composer expands the concept of sound itself by bringing together composition, instrument-making, and performativity into a coherent new artistic experience.
The album features the compositions Girdžiu tai ko nematau (I Hear What I Don’t See) and Matau tai ko negirdžiu (I See What I Don’t Hear), and is released on vinyl by the Music Information Centre Lithuania.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
The work is performed on homemade string, wind, and percussion instruments by:
Twenty Fingers Duo
Arnas Kmieliauskas
Lora Kmieliauskaitė
Fleitų 3
Mėta Gabrielė Pelegrimaitė-Kaupinė
Salomėja Kalvelytė
Kristupas Gikas
Dominykas Digimas
THE TEAM
Produced by Tarp tylos
Co-produced by Music Information Centre Lithuania
Curated and coordinated by Arnas Kmieliauskas
Partners: Sapieha Palace, Lithuanian Composers’ Union
Media partners: LRT Klasika, Radio Vilnius
Funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and LATGA