Page 110 - 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. 110
glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
evidenced by the history of interwar Lithuanian music, even as late as in the
1930s, about 80 to 90 % of secular choir conductors acquired the profession
of musicians upon starting to work as organists.11
The organised activities of educated musicians differed from amateur
societies in greater attention to the criteria of professionalism, the promo-
tion of young composers, and scientific affairs. Thus, e.g., the Music Section
of the Lithuanian Art Society in Vilnius (1908–1911), established on the in-
itiative of M. K. Čiurlionis, announced the first competition of Lithuanian
music works, which took place in 1910; the Song and Tune Collection Com-
mission of the Lithuanian Scientific Society took care of Lithuanian mu-
sical folklore (1909–1914); meanwhile, Čiurlionis Company collected and
promoted works by Lithuanian authors (1913–1915). Thanks to professional
music societies, the ideas were born to establish music schools, a conserva-
tory, and a theatre, and to accumulate and preserve the Lithuanian cultur-
al heritage. Those ideas were implemented only after the restoration of the
independent state of Lithuania.
Lithuanian societies in Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor was the north-eastern part of Prussia, the ethnic lands
of Lithuanians, which was annexed by Germany in the second half of the
19th century. Its population could have rightly been proud of the better con-
ditions for economic life and cultural activities. It was in this region that
the first book, the first Lithuanian hymnal, the first collection of sermons
in Lithuanian, a Lithuanian grammar, the first work of literature, and the
first Lithuanian newspaper appeared. Quite a few print houses were estab-
lished there, which published Lithuanian books and periodicals and pro-
vided them to their compatriots living in the Russian Empire and other
countries with the help of book smugglers. The Romanticism that spread
in Europe in the early 19th century encouraged Lithuanians in that region
to study their language and history, to become interested in science, and
to follow the political life in Lithuania Major. Germans also became in-
terested in Lithuanian heritage, seeing the Lithuanian nation as a tribe on
the verge of extinction. They communicated with Lithuanians, they found-
ed the Lithuanian studies-related society Litauische literarische Gesellschaft
(1879–1914), learned to speak Lithuanian, collected folk songs, and pointed
out the differences between Lithuanian and German church hymns, how-
11 Antanas Budriūnas, “Vargonininkų parengimo klausimu” [On the Issue of Organist
Training], Muzikos barai, no. 2 (1940): 45.
108
evidenced by the history of interwar Lithuanian music, even as late as in the
1930s, about 80 to 90 % of secular choir conductors acquired the profession
of musicians upon starting to work as organists.11
The organised activities of educated musicians differed from amateur
societies in greater attention to the criteria of professionalism, the promo-
tion of young composers, and scientific affairs. Thus, e.g., the Music Section
of the Lithuanian Art Society in Vilnius (1908–1911), established on the in-
itiative of M. K. Čiurlionis, announced the first competition of Lithuanian
music works, which took place in 1910; the Song and Tune Collection Com-
mission of the Lithuanian Scientific Society took care of Lithuanian mu-
sical folklore (1909–1914); meanwhile, Čiurlionis Company collected and
promoted works by Lithuanian authors (1913–1915). Thanks to professional
music societies, the ideas were born to establish music schools, a conserva-
tory, and a theatre, and to accumulate and preserve the Lithuanian cultur-
al heritage. Those ideas were implemented only after the restoration of the
independent state of Lithuania.
Lithuanian societies in Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor was the north-eastern part of Prussia, the ethnic lands
of Lithuanians, which was annexed by Germany in the second half of the
19th century. Its population could have rightly been proud of the better con-
ditions for economic life and cultural activities. It was in this region that
the first book, the first Lithuanian hymnal, the first collection of sermons
in Lithuanian, a Lithuanian grammar, the first work of literature, and the
first Lithuanian newspaper appeared. Quite a few print houses were estab-
lished there, which published Lithuanian books and periodicals and pro-
vided them to their compatriots living in the Russian Empire and other
countries with the help of book smugglers. The Romanticism that spread
in Europe in the early 19th century encouraged Lithuanians in that region
to study their language and history, to become interested in science, and
to follow the political life in Lithuania Major. Germans also became in-
terested in Lithuanian heritage, seeing the Lithuanian nation as a tribe on
the verge of extinction. They communicated with Lithuanians, they found-
ed the Lithuanian studies-related society Litauische literarische Gesellschaft
(1879–1914), learned to speak Lithuanian, collected folk songs, and pointed
out the differences between Lithuanian and German church hymns, how-
11 Antanas Budriūnas, “Vargonininkų parengimo klausimu” [On the Issue of Organist
Training], Muzikos barai, no. 2 (1940): 45.
108
