Page 103 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2023. Glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo ▪︎ Music societies in the long 19th century: Between amateur and professional culture. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 6
P. 103
oi: https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-217-6.101-114
The significance of Lithuanian societies
for the development of national musical
culture and statehood
Danutė Petrauskaitė
Litovska akademija za glasbo in gledališče
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre
Introduction
The 19th century in Lithuania began in 1795, with the last partition of the
Commonwealth of the Two Nations and the final loss of statehood, and
ended in 1915, when it became a theatre of operations during the First World
War. It marked the end of the previous socio-political system, the Ancient
Régime, and the development of new relationships based on the principles
of personal freedom. This era was marked by uprisings and their suppres-
sion as well as the maturation of national self-awareness and the aspirations
for statehood with brought closer the downfall of empires. At the begin-
ning of the century, the hopes of Lithuanians, ignited by romantic dreams
about the great past of their country, were suppressed by violence and co-
ercion within it, yet in the end they brought to the final stretch of the na-
tion modernisation. It could not have been otherwise, because the whole
19th century was described as the age of modernity; merely modernisation
processes did not start in all countries at the same time. Due to Lithuania
being pushed to the condition of the Russian periphery, due to its agrarian
structure and backwardness in terms of material civilization, they were sig-
nificantly delayed in the North-western Region (the so-called lands of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania – GDL – annexed to the Russian Empire).
In the 19th century, nationality in Lithuania was often associated with
a person’s social status. The Polish meant a nobleman or a townsman, the
Lithuanian a peasant, and the Russian a government representative. The at-
101
The significance of Lithuanian societies
for the development of national musical
culture and statehood
Danutė Petrauskaitė
Litovska akademija za glasbo in gledališče
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre
Introduction
The 19th century in Lithuania began in 1795, with the last partition of the
Commonwealth of the Two Nations and the final loss of statehood, and
ended in 1915, when it became a theatre of operations during the First World
War. It marked the end of the previous socio-political system, the Ancient
Régime, and the development of new relationships based on the principles
of personal freedom. This era was marked by uprisings and their suppres-
sion as well as the maturation of national self-awareness and the aspirations
for statehood with brought closer the downfall of empires. At the begin-
ning of the century, the hopes of Lithuanians, ignited by romantic dreams
about the great past of their country, were suppressed by violence and co-
ercion within it, yet in the end they brought to the final stretch of the na-
tion modernisation. It could not have been otherwise, because the whole
19th century was described as the age of modernity; merely modernisation
processes did not start in all countries at the same time. Due to Lithuania
being pushed to the condition of the Russian periphery, due to its agrarian
structure and backwardness in terms of material civilization, they were sig-
nificantly delayed in the North-western Region (the so-called lands of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania – GDL – annexed to the Russian Empire).
In the 19th century, nationality in Lithuania was often associated with
a person’s social status. The Polish meant a nobleman or a townsman, the
Lithuanian a peasant, and the Russian a government representative. The at-
101
