Exiled Modernism: Lithuanian Music Through The Second World War
2008; Routledge; Volume: 39; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01629770802250156
ISSN1751-7877
Autores Tópico(s)Literature, Musicology, and Cultural Analysis
ResumoClick to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKeywords: Lithuanian avant-gardemodernismnational musiccryptographytranspositions of the rowmicrotonal music Notes Notes 1 Between 1899 and 1910, one in every 212 Lithuanians emigrated from the country, most frequently to the United States. According to L. Truska, 55,000 Lithuanians left for the US in 1868–1998. In 1899–1914, 252,594 more followed. Prior to 1914, 9,000 Lithuanians emigrated to Great Britain, and between 1899 and 1914, approximately 74,000 Lithuanians moved to Riga, Liepaja, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Moscow and other Russian cities (Truska 1961 Truska, L. 1961. Emigracija iš Lietuvos 1868–1914 metais. Lietuvos TSR MA darbai, ser A(10): 71–85. [Google Scholar], pp. 78–9). 2 In many respects, Čiurlionis’ experiences at the Leipzig conservatory remind one of Edvard Grieg's at the same institution, as recorded in his discussions with Niels Gade and Julius Röntgen. See Andersson (2004 Andersson, G. 2004. ‘Die Musik in Schweden im Spannungsfeld zwischen Nationalem und Internationalem im 20. Jahrhundert’ Edited by: Loos, H and Keym, S. (2004) Nationale Musik im 20. Jahrhundert (Leipzig, Gudrun Schröder Verlag) [Google Scholar], p. 370); Schwab (1992 Schwab, HW. 1992. ‘Zur kontroverse um “Weltmusik und Nordischen Ton”’ Edited by: Bohn, R and Engelbrecht, M. (1992) [Google Scholar], p. 197); and Seidel (1998 Seidel, K. 1998. Carl Reinecke und das Leipziger Gewandhaus, Hamburg: Bockel Verlag. [Google Scholar], p. 137). 3 Juozas Gruodis, ‘Matters of Contemporary Music’, unpublished lecture preserved in the Archive of Lithuanian Literature and Art (hereafter LLMA), fond 46, inventory 1, file 106. 4 ‘Later on, folk songs will, of course, disappear from our music altogether. However, the rays of the soul that created them will always shine upon us, and if we lay a genuine foundation, our music, whatever its development, will always remain Lithuanian forever’ (Gruodis, ‘Matters of Contemporary Art’, LLMA, fond 46, inventory 1, file 106). 5 Čiurlionis dated most of his manuscripts himself. In some of these, we also find references to other works. Much of this manuscript material consists of scrapbooks and sketches that were later organized and supplemented by various editors. Significantly, previously unknown manuscripts by Čiurlionis are still being uncovered. For instance, Darius Kučinskas found 11 previously unknown pages of the composer's notes at the Vilnius University Library in 2006. 6 These sketches were later edited and published by S. Šimkus, J. Čiurlionytė, V. Landbergis and others. 7 See, for instance, National Art Museum of M. K. Čiurlionis (hereafter ČDM), Čiurlionis fond, Čiurlionis’ Music (hereafter Čm) 21, Mg 776, p. 260; and ČDM, Čiurlionis fond, Čm 6, p. 00411. These documents are described in Kučinskas (2004 Kučinskas, D. 2004. M. K. Čiurlionio fortepijoninės muzikos tekstas: Genezės aspektas, Kaunas: Technologija. [Google Scholar], p. 84). 8 See ČDM, Čiurlionis fond, Čm 21, Mg 776, pp. 210–11. 9 It should be noted that similar cryptographic schemes were used for the construction of melodic fragments by members of the Second Viennese School: Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern. See, for instance, the use of the monogram B-A-C-H (=Bflat-A-C-B) in Schoenberg's Variataions for Orchestra, op. 31, and in Webern's Bagatelle No. 1; and Berg's use of monograms representing all three members of the school in his Chamber Concerto (1923–1925). 10 The reproduction is taken from Verkelytė-Fedaravičienė (1997 Verkelytė-Fedaravičienė, B. 1997. Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis: Paintings. Sketches. Thoughts, Vilnius: Fodio. [Google Scholar], p. 150). 11 The subtitle given by Bacevičius to both of his piano concertos–sur les thèmes lithuanien–indicates that he still sought for ‘material’ Lithuanian-ness to use G. Gabšys’ term) at this time. In the score of his Concerto No. 1, the composer even underlined and marked the Lithuanian folk motives with an asterisk. At the conclusion of the work, the folk song Oh, You Eve, Little Eve was also provided with a text underlay. Quotations from four Lithuanian folk songs appear in Bacevičius’ Concerto No. 2. 12 Here I invoke Stevan Hristič's distinction between ‘psychological nationalism’ and ‘descriptive nationalism’; see Hristič (1912 Hristič, S. 1912. O nacionalnoi muzici. Zvezda, 5: 316–17. [Google Scholar], pp. 316–17). 13 Jiří Vysloužil has suggested that Hába's eagerness to compose microtonal music might have been inspired by the traditional microtonal singing and playing of his native Wallachian (Eastern Moravian) folk songs and ensembles (Vysloužil 1970 Vysloužil, J. 1970. Alois Hába–Profile, Work, Bibliography, Documents, Brno: House of Further Education and Culture. [Google Scholar]). However, neither Hába nor Kačinskas mentioned ethnographic motivations for their microtonal experiments. 14 Kačinskas arrived in Boston in 1949, where he worked, until 1995, at the Lithuanian St. Peter's Church. He was active as a conductor from 1952 onwards and taught at the Berklee College of Music from 1967 through 1986. After traveling in South America in 1939, Becevičius settled in New York in 1940. He taught at the Brooklyn Conservatory and the Long Island Institute of Music, publishing articles and performing regularly. His solo performances included seven recitals in Carnegie Hall. 15 On the day of Gruodis’ death, 16 April 1948, an article signed with his name and entitled ‘Music Has to Come from the People and Must Be Addressed to the People’ was published in the Soviet Lithuanian daily Tiesa (Truth). Before his death, Gruodis had confessed to his student, J. Juzeliūnas, that he had been forced to write this article, which denounced his own creative work as ‘formalist’ (Ambrazas 1981 Ambrazas, A. 1981. Juozo Gruodžio gyvenimas ir kūryba, Vilnius: Vaga. [Google Scholar], p. 211).
Referência(s)