The Revival Of Lithuanian Polyphonic Sutartinės Songs In .
The Revival of Lithuanian Polyphonic Sutartinės Songs in theLate 20th and Early 21st CenturyDaiva Račiūnaitė-VyčinienėIntroductionThe ‘Neo-Folklore movement’ (in Lithuania,folkloro judėjimas, folkloro ansamblių judėjimas;in Latvia, folkloras absambļu kustība; in Estonia,folklooriliikumine) is the term used in the Balticcontries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) to denotethe increased interest in folklore tradition duringthe 1970s and 80s. The term also ‘describes thepractical forms of actualizing folklore in dailylife and in the expressions of amateur art thathave accompanied the spiritual awakening ofthe people and their fight for the restoration ofindependence at beginning of the 1990s’ (Klotiņš2002: 107). In Soviet times, the Lithuanian folkloreensemble movement,5 one among thousands of itskind, was a form of resistance to denationalisationand to other Soviet ideologies. Without thisethnic, cultural union there would not have beena Singing Revolution. 6This movement encompassed a variety offolklore genres and styles, reflecting the generalrevival and reinvigoration of folklore. Howevertrue sutartinės remained on the periphery of themovement. They belonged to private rather thanpublic worlds of small groups of singers, and werecharacterised by the control of the emotions andby the hypnotic qualities of the songs. Sutartinėswere seldom employed as an outward expressionof communal national spirit of liberation.Sutartinės are therefore described today as aseparate phenomenon which survived its ownIn contemporary ethnomusicology, attention isincreasingly paid to the definition of the terms‘tradition’ and ‘innovation’. These definitionsinclude stability and mobility; repetition andcreativity; ‘first’ and ‘second existence’1 and similarconcepts, and how these phenomena relateto folklore traditions. Most of today’s musicaltraditions can be described as ‘revival’. This termis used widely yet ambiguously in research inthe English language.2 The word is applied tothe phenomena of revitalisation, recreation,innovation, and transformation, these terms oftenbeing used synonymously and interchangeably. 3Nevertheless, there are some ethnomusicologistswho take a purist approach, adhering to theoriginal meanings of these terms. The Swedishethnomusicologist Ingrid Åkesson describesthree basic concepts that apply to the processesof change in folklore, each with its own shade ofmeaning: ‘recreation’, ‘reshaping’/‘transformation’,and ‘renewal’/‘innovation’ (Åkesson 2006: 1, 8–9).I will use some of these in my work when describingthe trends in today’s sutartinės traditions.Sometimes the terms mentioned above areapplied only to distinct folklore genres or tochanges in style. Sometimes they can describecertain periods in time or general phenomena inthe development process. Special significance isattached to folklore revival in the Baltic countries. 4123456Felix Hoerburger’s concepts of ‘first existence’ and ‘second existence’ folk dance were laid out in a two page article ‘Onceagain: On the concept of folk dance’ in the Journal of the International Folk Music Council (Hoerburger 1968: 30–31).Livingston 1999; Wickström 2002/2003; etc.Åkesson 2006; Baumann 1996, 1989, 2000, 2001; Bohlman 1988; Cook and Everist 1999; etc.Boiko 2001.The term ‘folklore ensemble’ (‘folk group’, ‘folklore group’) here applies to groups of traditional musicians, as well as ‘folk’in ‘folk music’; in other words, to traditional music, rather than to the much broader concept of ‘folk music’ often used inthe English language.A group of historians and sociologists researched the origins of the Sąjūdis-Lithuanian reform movement (a three-yearresearch project entitled “The Phenomenon of ‘Sąjūdis’: a Network Analysis of the Civic Movement”). The conclusionwas that the most prominent and most mobilising was the ethno-cultural movement closely linked with the Catholicunderground. This movement began in the 1970s and reached its peak in 1988–1992. Anthropologists apply the term‘subculture’ to this movement. It was made up of three closely-linked elements: hiking clubs, local lore groups. From 1969onwards folklore ensembles began to be established in Vilnius and elsewhere (Kavaliauskaitė, Ramonaitė 2011: 34).97
The Revival of Lithuanian Polyphonic Sutartinės Songs in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuryre-invigoration and revival.7 It seem’s that today’stendency towards ‘reshaping’ and ‘renewal’ alsoneeds to be distinctive, retaining the musical andspiritual qualities of sutartinės. Before I discuss therevival of sutartinės I will define these qualities.The name for ancient multipart chants, calledsutartinės, derives from the verb sutarti ‘to agree’or ‘to reach an accord’. Characteristic features ofsutartinės are a narrow melodic range the prevalence of dissonances (the intervals ofthe second) in the harmony heterophony complementary rhythms a syllabic relationship between music and text onomatopoetic sounds such as tūto, sadūno,tititi, totata vocalisations which imitate birdsong and/orthe tootling of instruments polytextuality song-dance-music syncretism singing (dancing) in the roundregion at the end of the 19th century, after anintroduction to them by Professor Robert AukustiNiemi of Finland, a leading authority at the time.Together these compiled a treasury of songsfrom the Biržai region and sutartinės texts. Thiscollection, published in 1911 in Helsinki, wasentitled Lietuvių dainos ir giesmės šiaurrytinėjeLietuvoje (Lithuanian Songs and Hymns of Northeastern Lithuania). This work was followed byanother of great importance for its analysis ofsutartinės, Lietuvių dainų ir giesmių gaidos (Noteson Lithuanian Songs and Hymns), compiled bySabaliauskas and published in Helsinki in 1916.These two volumes provide a wealth of materialon sutartinės, including texts, 150 melodies,and important information regarding styles ofsinging, and the functions of songs. The twovolumes are also first sources of instrumentalpolyphonic melodies, intended to be played onwooden trumpets called ragai (horns) or skudučiai(multi-part whistles). This extensive materialwas reprinted in the 1958–59 work by ZenonasSlaviūnas.Most established Lithuanian musicians ofthis period, including composer MikalojusKonstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911), knew nothingof sutartinės.8 Sabaliauskas considered sutartinėsto be one of the most significant symbols ofLithuanian national identity. In his opinion,sutartinės should be the basis of professional musicin Lithuania. He published more than one articleon the subject, claiming ‘we must record all wecan of the melodies. For any Lithuanian composer,they will even be a vital melodic resource for workswhich will move the Lithuanian spirit and maintainthe immortality of the Lithuanian way of life. Thiswill not only lift the spirit of Lithuanians, but alsoof those from other countries, who will realisetheir true value’.9 These opinions were publishedin 1904, more than 100 years ago.Imitation (canon) is especially importantin the old Lithuanian musical tradition, whichencompasses not only primordial poetic andarchaic musical thought, but also the conceptof space. This involves singing (and dancing) ina circle, periodically repeating short, rhythmicmelodic motifs. It also involves achieving a stateof mind close to meditation.Historical sourcesStudy in Lithuania of original Lithuanianpolyphonic hymns, called sutartinės, began earlyin the 19th century, but serious publications didnot appear until the early 20th century. AdolfasSabaliauskas ‘discovered’ sutartinės containingthe dissonant interval of the second in the Biržai789According to Magdalena Sobczak, ‘[t]he object of the revival can be music from a large geographical region but therevival can also have a narrower scope. In such a case, the object would be a single instrument (like the revival of theinterest of the nyckelharpa in Sweden), one musician, or one band’. (Sobczak [s.a.]).According to Sabaliauskas, Lithuanian musicians, among them Juozas Naujalis, Priest Teodoras Brazys, did notunderstand sutartinės at this time (from a letter by Sabaliauskas to Adomas Jakštas-Dambrauskas; Vilnius UniversityManuscript Library, D 243, 1.5). Česlovas Sasnauskas considered writings by Sabaliauskas about sutartinės to be‘incomprehensible, and probably impossible’, and this type of music [sutartinės] as ‘horrible’. In one of his letters toSabaliauskas (never sent), Sasnauskas described it as ‘a crocodile singing in parallel seconds.’ Sarcastically, he added thatthe crocodile ‘was no Lithuanian!’ (Taken from a draft of a letter by Sasnauskas to Eduard Wolter; cit. from: Landsbergis1980: 62–63).Žalia Ruta [Sabaliauskas] 1904: 37–38.98
Daiva Račiūnaitė-VyčinienėSimilar ideas were expressed in print in thefirst half of the 20th century. Edwin Geist10 paidparticular attention to the ancient and moderncharacteristics of sutartinės. On more than oneoccasion he compared them to works by wellknown twentieth-century composers such as IgorStravinsky. In Geist’s opinion, ‘sutartinės representan early form of atonal music. We see in sutartinėsa rapidly-disappearing tendency towards atonalmusic in the 20th century’.11 At this point weshould remember that the Lithuanian composerKazimieras Viktoras Banaitis expressed similarideas:Sutartinės, sung in seconds and sometimeswith harsh dissonances, are our true folktreasure! We might say that Lithuanian countrysingers developed and even emancipatedthe dissonance in antiquity and in doingso, overtook modernist European music bycenturies.12the orchestras themselves, are a product of theSoviet era and require separate study.Transformation of traditionThe subject of this article is the revival of theliving tradition of sutartinės. This is defined as theactive, authentic use of sutartinės by a variety ofage groups and social groups. Particular to thisrenewal is chanting, playing traditional musicalinstruments, and dancing in contemporaryculture.However, before analysing the process ofrevival of sutartinės, it is worth discussing brieflythe period of their disappearance from rural areas.The nearly 40 different types of chanting still inexistence are testimony to the deep-rootednessand former vitality of the tradition. However,sutartinės were no longer sung collectively bythe beginning of the 20th century. They nolonger held any of their former magical-utilitarianfunctions, nor any longer had any meditative oraesthetic impact.These singers of the sutartinės began to beridiculed. ‘If they were teased for clucking likea chicken, then they’d sing like one’, explainedElžbieta Janavičienė-Tamėnaitė (born in 1841).14Stasys Paliulis wrote of a parody which made funof the ‘clucking’ sound of the singers. The womenwould converse as if they were chickens, andwould ‘cluck’ a song:Čia tavo, čia mano,Sudėsim abiejų Bus tik mūsų dviejų(This is yours, this is mine,Put together,Both are ours).15It is interesting that Geist and Banaitis, bothcomposers and independent artists in the firsthalf of the 20th century, had the ideas almostsimultaneously. The ethnomusicologist Prof.Jadvyga Čiurlionytė claimed that ‘chronologically,the sutartinė is totally isolated. It has neither aclear future, nor a clear past. It doesn’t even havea beginning in music; it is one of those totallyidiosyncratic phenomena which are destined todie out in our lifetimes’.13 These composers weregreatly respected at the time.In the first half of the 20th century sutartinės weredisplaced from their natural rural environmentand formed the basis of the music of Lithuaniancomposers. Sutartinės are quoted in the works of,among others, Juozas Gruodis, Stasys Vainiūnas,Vytautas Montvila, Bronius Kutavičius, FeliksasBajoras, Algirdas Martinaitis, Vaclovas Augustinas,and Remigijus Merkelys, although these will notbe examined in this article. Neither will manyother composers who wrote, or are writing, worksof specialist folk music for instrumental ensemblesand orchestras. The specifics of these works, and10111213141516Singer Elena Bratėnaitė (born in 1852) describedthe events: ‘the boys sang like this, making fun ofthe girls singing the sutartinės.’16 Modern culturebegan on the one hand to replace the old music,and on the other, to reinforce it through theGeist was a German composer and musicologist of Jewish origin who lived and worked in Lithuania from 1933–1942.Geist 1940: 71.Kučiūnas 1990: 23.Čiurlionytė 1999: 28.Paliulis 1959, piece nr. 334.Paliulis 1984: 93.Paliulis 1959: 413.99
The Revival of Lithuanian Polyphonic Sutartinės Songs in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centurywork of enlightened individual members of thesociety.17 Yet it could be said that during the firsthalf of the 20th century, sutartinės music remaineda natural and essential part of the lives of theperformers, the last of the singers and musiciansof such music.Sabaliauskas would have said that it wassimply in their blood. When friends and relativesgathered at the homes of many of the sutartinėsfamilies, the skudučiai (multi-pipe whistles) wouldbe taken out and played. All greatly enjoyed thismusic. Kostas Burbulys described a wedding in1928, when long-standing friends found a set ofold skudučiai. They first soaked the whistles in aleto improve the sound. They then began to play:As soon as we came to play ‘Untytė’ (Duck), wedidn’t need the other musicians any more! Weplayed those skudučiai for two whole days.18The links to sutartinės music are witnessedin the vivid stories of Paliulis. Juozas Mitras at95 years in age describes it thus: ‘I feel as if I’min another world when I hear the sound of asutartinė.’19 Another of his stories described howthe face of the old lady, Viktė (Viktorija) Našlėnienė,would become animated at the mere mentionof sutartinės: “Sutartinė ‘Lioj, bajoroita’ (Lioj, littlelady) she sang, stamping her feet, twirling andvirtually dancing.”20Emilija Kuzavinienė’s story about her motherclearly reflects the nostalgia felt for sutartinėsmusic. Her mother, Alena Zaukienė, was a well-171819202122known singer of hymns from Obeliai. Kuzavinienėsaid of her: ‘Mother would have time on Sundaysto sit at her son’s out-of-tune piano for an hour ormore. She’d play as the mood took her, and shewould sing hymns at the top of her voice. Shefound it moving, because this reminded her of theway the sutartinės used to sound.’21The demise of sutartinės seems to be relatedto more than historical and economic factors. It isparallelled by the abandonment of other types ofancient songs from the everyday lives of people.In the course of time, a new sense of aestheticsdeveloped that was totally opposed to the oldstyle. The harsh dissonance of the second ceasedto be considered beautiful, and more importantly,lost its significance. Repetitive rhythms, limiteddance movements, and the monotony whichinduced a sort of meditative state, becamedispleasing. In other words, all that had been thelife and soul of sutartinės became unacceptable tothe modern ear.At the start of the 20th century, in the wholeof the sutartinės area of the north-eastern partof Aukštaitija, only a few select women’s groupsremained. These continued the tradition ofcollective chanting. Such groups resided in theareas surrounding Ukmergė, Biržai, and Kupiškis.22These women accomplished a tremendous culturaland historical mission (ex. 1). They immortalisedsutartinės songs through phonograph recordings,leaving a legacy for future generations. Currently,only a few isolated singers still remember thePreservation of this music would not have been possible without the incentives provided by the authorities. CanonSabaliauskas was a great enthusiast of sutartinės. And without question, the visit by Finnish Prof. Aukusti Roberti Niemiin 1910 left a great impression on sutartinės fans from the lands of Biržai. To mark the occasion a large-scale concertwas held at Sviliai. As might be expected, Niemi motivated many of musicians and singers to revive this musical artand teach it to others to keep its memory alive (Paliulis 1985: 109). The singers of Kupiškis were probably supportedby Priest Kleopas Kuzminas (1858–1938), who also directed the local choir in which the famed Ona Glemžienė sang.She remembered that Kuzminas was especially fond of sutartinės. After World War I, Glemžienė gathered together hergirlfriends from Kupiškis, and again they began singing sutartinės hymns. Later, she invited male skudučiai and lumzdeliai(simple wooden flutes) players to join the group. With them all, she organized a May Day festival of ancient dance andsong in 1923 (Žebrytė 1988: 82). To this day, traces of this woman’s work can still be encountered in the areas surroundingKupiškis.Paliulis 1985: 111.Paliulis 1985: 94.Paliulis 1985: 128.Kuzavinienė 1985: 313.As many as several groups of singers came from the regions of Ukmergė, residing in Užulėnis, Tatkūnai and Vidiškiai. Thegroup from Užulėnis (Taujėnai rural district), including Teresė Dirsienė (born 1865), Morta Jasikonienė (born 1869) andKarolina Masiulienė (born 1867), provided numerous examples of syncretic sutartinės. Their repertoire included those,which had been danced, accompanied by skudučiai (multi-part whistles), and sung; the song being distinguishable bysharp accords. The group from Tatkūnai (Deltuva rural district) – Marijona Gricienė (born 1870), Agota Gricienė (born1850), and Barbora Stimburienė (born 1849) – recorded sutartinės, which are related to the ones from Užulėnis by their100
Daiva Račiūnaitė-VyčinienėEx. 1. Singers from Smilgiai Village, Panevėžysdistrict, dancing ‘Dobilalis’ (Little Clover) (photo byBalys Buračas 1936; VDKM 3880).sutartinės. Few are still able to describe accuratelythe occasions or styles of singing the sutartinėswhich they had learned or heard in their youth.By the mid-20th century ethnomusicologistsstated pessimistically that the authentic groupchanting tradition of sutartinės would disappearcompletely. In 1949 Jadvyga Čiurlionytė claimed:Young people of course aren’t interested.Sutartinės have become museum-piecesin today’s musical culture. They soundreally strange to ears more accustomed tocontemporary music.23RevitalisationThe general mood lightened at the end of the1960s when the choir conductor Povilas Mataitisdirected a concert by a Folk Music Theatre troupeduring which sutartinės were publically performedon stage for the first time in Vilnius. Of the concert,Čiurlionytė wrote excitedly[t]he sutartinės, long-since doomed, were freedfrom the archives and brought to life on theconcert stage, in delightful performances byyoung singers. It transpired that sutartinė is notan archaic relic, but very much a living form ofsong.24And so the concert in 1969 was to becomedefinitive, giving the sutartinė a fresh start, fromwhich it could develop and flourish (ex. 2). Sincethen, sutartinės have become a part of everyfolklore group’s repertoire.There is no doubt that the new wave of revivalfor the sutartinės does not conform directly toauthentic tradition, since in most cases, it is nolonger possible to hand down sutartinės intactfrom one generation to the next. However, this2324is still a vital, rejuvenating, and ever-changingtradition.We shall now look at the dissemination ofthe sutartinės, from the end of the 20th to thebeginning of the 21st century. These headingsare chronological, although this subdivision isarbitrary.texts. However, the singing style of this group is different. It lacks the more rhythmic accents, thus, the style is calmer. Thegroup from Vidiškiai (Žemaitkiemis rural district), including Apolonija Usorienė (born 1881), Kastulė Ališauskienė (born1866), and Salemona Mikalauskienė (born 1871), provided a unique manner of performance, different from any found inany other area. The Biržai group was atypical, featuring one male performer, Petras Lapienė (born 1864), and two women,Marė Jakubonienė and Ona Striužienė. The sutartinės of this group are notable for their syncopated melody, and denseuse of discords of a second. The effect is
The Revival of Lithuanian Polyphonic Sutartinės Songs in the Late 20th and Early 21st Century 98 re-invigoration and revival.7 It seem’s that today’s tendency towards ‘reshaping’ and ‘renewal
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