Page 161 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 161
oi: https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7055-86-3.159-169
The Visions of Lithuanian Musical Education
Vita Gruodytė
Litovska akademija za glasbo in gledališče
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre
For the countries that occupied it, Lithuania was considered either as the
Far East (by Germany) or as the Far West (by Russia). This particular geo-
graphical situation very precisely defines the problem that the Lithuanians
faced in 1918, after the proclamation of their independence. This swaying
between East and West, not only geographically, but also culturally, consid-
erably complicated the question of national identity, which was at the same
time urgently needed to be defined. According to historian Tomas Balke-
lis, “during the post-war conflicts, the Lithuanian identity was created in op-
position to various ‘enemies of the state’ — Poles, Bolsheviks, Germans.”1 In
other words, the construction of identity had to begin with rejection.
Beginnings of a musical awareness
The cultural rise of the Lithuanians began at the very end of the 19th cen-
tury. In his article About Music (in 1910), the first professional composer
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911) prefigured the future paths
of Lithuanian music. He also mentioned the rejection of foreign influences,
namely Polish and German music. As in Central Europe and Russia, Lith-
uanian musical nationalism was above all “a weapon against the supremacy
of foreign musical culture.”2
1 Tomas Balkelis, Lemtingi metai [The Crucial Years] (Vilnius: Tyto Alba, 2019), 19.
2 Bojan Bujic, “Nationalismes et traditions nationales,” in Musiques-1. Musiques du
XXe siècle, ed. Jean-Jacques Nattiez (Paris: Actes Sud, 2003), 176.
159
The Visions of Lithuanian Musical Education
Vita Gruodytė
Litovska akademija za glasbo in gledališče
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre
For the countries that occupied it, Lithuania was considered either as the
Far East (by Germany) or as the Far West (by Russia). This particular geo-
graphical situation very precisely defines the problem that the Lithuanians
faced in 1918, after the proclamation of their independence. This swaying
between East and West, not only geographically, but also culturally, consid-
erably complicated the question of national identity, which was at the same
time urgently needed to be defined. According to historian Tomas Balke-
lis, “during the post-war conflicts, the Lithuanian identity was created in op-
position to various ‘enemies of the state’ — Poles, Bolsheviks, Germans.”1 In
other words, the construction of identity had to begin with rejection.
Beginnings of a musical awareness
The cultural rise of the Lithuanians began at the very end of the 19th cen-
tury. In his article About Music (in 1910), the first professional composer
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911) prefigured the future paths
of Lithuanian music. He also mentioned the rejection of foreign influences,
namely Polish and German music. As in Central Europe and Russia, Lith-
uanian musical nationalism was above all “a weapon against the supremacy
of foreign musical culture.”2
1 Tomas Balkelis, Lemtingi metai [The Crucial Years] (Vilnius: Tyto Alba, 2019), 19.
2 Bojan Bujic, “Nationalismes et traditions nationales,” in Musiques-1. Musiques du
XXe siècle, ed. Jean-Jacques Nattiez (Paris: Actes Sud, 2003), 176.
159
