An exhibition of the work of Čiurlionis, a representative Lithuanian painter and composer, will be held at the National Museum of Western Art next spring. I visited the MK Čiurlionis Memorial Museum.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Čiurlionis's birth, and the town is in a celebratory mood. Although it has been raining a lot in Lithuania this summer, today was a beautiful, light-filled afternoon, as if we were sad to see the end of summer.
While touring the museum, I suddenly heard the sound of a piano. Surprised, I asked the receptionist, who told me that piano concerts are held regularly during the summer, and that the night I visited was one of them. A pianist was rehearsing, and I was able to enjoy this unexpected share of the concert for a while.
Ciurlionis's music was also used in the soundtrack for Jonas Mekas's (pronounced Jonas Mekas in Lithuanian) masterpiece "Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania," and perhaps as a result, Ciurlionis's melodies evoke the landscape of Lithuania.
There were many apple trees around the house, and Ciurlionis, who grew up in a musical family, spent time in the apple orchard, enjoying music with his family.
Next to the house stood a large, lush oak tree, the national tree of Lithuania. It looked to be over 150 years old. I looked up at it, thinking that it might have been a tree that had been watching over Čiurlionis's time.
The exhibition will run for a long period from the end of March until June next year. It is likely to be the largest Lithuanian-related event ever held in Japan. It will be an opportunity for many people to become interested in Lithuanian culture through the world of Čiurlionis, a rare talent who was both a painter and a composer. 
