One More Billion Problems? ø Music Autumn 2024
This year’s contemporary Lithuanian music festival “Music Autumn” takes an anthropological look at issues affecting the entire world or specific regions—from the impact of consumerism on the environment to the rising global population, from our relationship with virtual reality to survival strategies. How do these themes resonate in the works of composers, in the world of music, and in our understanding of daily life?
The Chordos String Quartet, laureate of the Government Award for Culture and Art, presents a unique creative project at the Liepkalnis Water Storage—a multimedia immersive work titled “One More Billion Problems?” by composer Matas Drukteinis.
The piece invites the audience to journey through the history of modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens), from millennia before our era to the near future, while observing the changing population of Earth. From the dawn of humanity, it took until the early 19th century for the world’s population to reach its first billion. By the end of 2022, the population surpassed 8 billion, and it is projected to reach 10 billion by the second half of this century.
Exploring the continuous growth of human numbers, the composer sonically captures the historical, present, and potential future processes that influence these trends, revealing environmental, societal, technological, and other factors. The work blends two emotional states: formal, statistical observation and an irrational interpretation of the era, transforming the composition into a reflection of human civilization.
At the same time, the piece highlights contemporary challenges associated with the immense human population, such as food and clean water supply, equitable economic and social development, or ecosystem stability. However, as the composer notes, the artistic exploration revealed an unexpected perspective. According to one of the most realistic United Nations forecasts, by the end of this century, the global population will begin to decline for the first time in modern history, bringing entirely new challenges to societies.