Page 104 - 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. 104
glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
titude has been shaped by the concentration of the population in certain
places according to their denomination, nationality, and origin as well as
the nature of their cultural activities. Foreign nationals (Russians, Poles,
Germans, Jews) were active in the cities; in smaller towns, the manors of
nobles and dukes continued the traditions of the aristocracy of the GDL;
and Lithuanian ethnic culture was thriving in the village. The long centu-
ry stood out for a special passion for cognition, an aspiration for education,
and a desire to acquire a profession. Due to that, the closed rural life be-
gan to change, and the interest of peasants in history, mother tongue, and
literature grew stronger. It is no coincidence that increasingly more books
and periodicals were published and new schools were established. Read-
ing, making music, forming societies, and getting people involved in po-
litical and social life became widespread. The intelligentsia of peasant ori-
gin emerged – doctors, priests, teachers, organists. It was its representatives
who became the initiators and leaders of the establishment of the first Lith-
uanian societies.
The first music societies in Lithuania
Music societies in Lithuania were first established as early as in the 17th cen-
tury. Among the oldest ones was the society established in 1630 by Merke-
lis Eliaševičius Geišas, a Lithuanian bishop and state official of the GDL. No
information survived about the activities of that society, but in accordance
with the responsibilities of the founder and with the fact that the society was
still called a confraternity, i. e. a religious brotherhood, it can be assumed
to have taken care of the affairs of ecclesiastical music. In the 18th century,
there were also societies of self-taught musicians, yet no information about
them has survived. Those must have been a mutual-assistance type organi-
sation. Representatives of other professions also formed similar societies. In
1818, there was the Society of Friends of Music in Vilnius, which held charity
concerts and donated the proceeds to its poorest members. Stanisław Mo-
niuszko, a Polish composer who had lived in Vilnius since 1840, founded
St. Cecilia Society and was its leader. He sought to renew ecclesiastical vo-
cal-instrumental ensembles, enrich their repertoire, and publish sheet mu-
sic. After Moniuszko left Vilnius in 1858, the society ceased its activities a
year later, and its ideas and plans were quickly forgotten.1
1 Laima Budzinauskienė, “XIX amžiaus Vilniaus bažnytiniai muzikos kolektyvai”
[Vilnius Ecclesiastical Music Groups of the 19th Century], Istorija. Mokslo darbai,
no. 88 (2012): 33.
102
titude has been shaped by the concentration of the population in certain
places according to their denomination, nationality, and origin as well as
the nature of their cultural activities. Foreign nationals (Russians, Poles,
Germans, Jews) were active in the cities; in smaller towns, the manors of
nobles and dukes continued the traditions of the aristocracy of the GDL;
and Lithuanian ethnic culture was thriving in the village. The long centu-
ry stood out for a special passion for cognition, an aspiration for education,
and a desire to acquire a profession. Due to that, the closed rural life be-
gan to change, and the interest of peasants in history, mother tongue, and
literature grew stronger. It is no coincidence that increasingly more books
and periodicals were published and new schools were established. Read-
ing, making music, forming societies, and getting people involved in po-
litical and social life became widespread. The intelligentsia of peasant ori-
gin emerged – doctors, priests, teachers, organists. It was its representatives
who became the initiators and leaders of the establishment of the first Lith-
uanian societies.
The first music societies in Lithuania
Music societies in Lithuania were first established as early as in the 17th cen-
tury. Among the oldest ones was the society established in 1630 by Merke-
lis Eliaševičius Geišas, a Lithuanian bishop and state official of the GDL. No
information survived about the activities of that society, but in accordance
with the responsibilities of the founder and with the fact that the society was
still called a confraternity, i. e. a religious brotherhood, it can be assumed
to have taken care of the affairs of ecclesiastical music. In the 18th century,
there were also societies of self-taught musicians, yet no information about
them has survived. Those must have been a mutual-assistance type organi-
sation. Representatives of other professions also formed similar societies. In
1818, there was the Society of Friends of Music in Vilnius, which held charity
concerts and donated the proceeds to its poorest members. Stanisław Mo-
niuszko, a Polish composer who had lived in Vilnius since 1840, founded
St. Cecilia Society and was its leader. He sought to renew ecclesiastical vo-
cal-instrumental ensembles, enrich their repertoire, and publish sheet mu-
sic. After Moniuszko left Vilnius in 1858, the society ceased its activities a
year later, and its ideas and plans were quickly forgotten.1
1 Laima Budzinauskienė, “XIX amžiaus Vilniaus bažnytiniai muzikos kolektyvai”
[Vilnius Ecclesiastical Music Groups of the 19th Century], Istorija. Mokslo darbai,
no. 88 (2012): 33.
102
