Page 162 - 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. 162
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
In his article, Čiurlionis aptly summarized the situation of the time:
Scandinavian, Russian and Polish music […] began to develop in
the second half of the 19th century. Lithuanian music, it can be
said boldly, has a future in itself, but it is not yet the case today.
We stayed away from everything. [...] Our culture is just starting
to ‘want to be’. We slept for a long time, under political conditions,
and today, at the time of rebirth, our own laziness prevents us from
working effectively. We are exhausted in a mixture of all kinds of
work, and to those who want to act, the prevailing mistrust often
clips their wings.3
Secondly, Čiurlionis tried to name the essential features of Lithuanian
music: “The most important features of Nordic music are sadness, nostalgia,
melancholy, simple and serious rhythm.”4
Thirdly, the composer has answered, almost prophetically, many prob-
lematic questions, which would be constantly addressed later, throughout
the twentieth century. The main one was the fear of losing one’s national
identity in the face of external influences.
The music of each nation, while developing and growing, does not
lose its individual characteristics because it is produced by com-
posers who, as sons of their homeland, receive from their parents
by blood the love of their songs and often, without realizing it, love
their character and peculiarities.5
The composer also named the most important music source for con-
temporary creation, namely the traditional songs:
Remembering that we have our old songs, we must not cease hop-
ing. And the time will come when our composers will open this en-
chanted kingdom and, by drawing from this treasure their inspi-
rations, will find in their hearts strings that have not been touched
for a long time, then we will understand each other better, because
this will be the true music of the Lithuanian nation. Will it happen
soon? In one hundred, two or even three hundred years, if we do not
3 Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Apie muziką ir dailę [About music and art] (Vil-
nius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1960), 297.
4 Ibid., 296.
5 Ibid., 295.
160
In his article, Čiurlionis aptly summarized the situation of the time:
Scandinavian, Russian and Polish music […] began to develop in
the second half of the 19th century. Lithuanian music, it can be
said boldly, has a future in itself, but it is not yet the case today.
We stayed away from everything. [...] Our culture is just starting
to ‘want to be’. We slept for a long time, under political conditions,
and today, at the time of rebirth, our own laziness prevents us from
working effectively. We are exhausted in a mixture of all kinds of
work, and to those who want to act, the prevailing mistrust often
clips their wings.3
Secondly, Čiurlionis tried to name the essential features of Lithuanian
music: “The most important features of Nordic music are sadness, nostalgia,
melancholy, simple and serious rhythm.”4
Thirdly, the composer has answered, almost prophetically, many prob-
lematic questions, which would be constantly addressed later, throughout
the twentieth century. The main one was the fear of losing one’s national
identity in the face of external influences.
The music of each nation, while developing and growing, does not
lose its individual characteristics because it is produced by com-
posers who, as sons of their homeland, receive from their parents
by blood the love of their songs and often, without realizing it, love
their character and peculiarities.5
The composer also named the most important music source for con-
temporary creation, namely the traditional songs:
Remembering that we have our old songs, we must not cease hop-
ing. And the time will come when our composers will open this en-
chanted kingdom and, by drawing from this treasure their inspi-
rations, will find in their hearts strings that have not been touched
for a long time, then we will understand each other better, because
this will be the true music of the Lithuanian nation. Will it happen
soon? In one hundred, two or even three hundred years, if we do not
3 Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Apie muziką ir dailę [About music and art] (Vil-
nius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1960), 297.
4 Ibid., 296.
5 Ibid., 295.
160
