Page 170 - 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. 170
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela

Nevertheless, later Bacevičius

opted for the music that would combine the atonal language with
the elements of tradition, an approach he himself described as ‘syn-
thetic style’.22
The transition from the classical teaching tradition to the learning of

modern musical languages, the change of mentalities, ranging from collec-
tive policies to the realization of individual visions, was the main achieve-
ment of the young Republic of Lithuania. The national conception of mu-
sic was born from the constant awareness of its own traditions, the needs of
its own culture, and the advances of Western music. If at the beginning of
independence, the latter were rejected for identity reasons, they were again
accepted towards the end of this short period, and partly adopted. It was a
sign of intellectual and cultural maturity. The paradigm conflict between
ethnicity (i.e. country culture) and modernity (i.e. urban culture) in Lith-
uania was no exception. It was felt in many countries of Central and East-
ern Europe. Unfortunately, the new occupation scared away the best musi-
cians: opera soloists, instrumentalists, pedagogues and the most innovative
composers.

The Soviet regime, as we know, has not only banned composers from
the use of modern musical languages, but also banned ecclesiastic music.
Despite this, the achievements of the first half of the 20th century have not
been forgotten by Lithuanians. They were considered both as a loss and a
hope. It is therefore quite natural for those two aspects of musical life to be-
come again a priority in the reconquest of the new Lithuanian independ-
ence in 1990,23 and of its new musical identity. But, like at the beginning of
the twentieth century, it was necessary once again to solve financial and
­institutional problems.

Bibliography

Ambrazas, Algirdas Jonas, ed. Juozas Gruodis, Straipsniai, laiškai, užrašai. Amžin-
inkų atsiminimai [Articles, letters, notes. Memories of contemporaries]. Vil-
nius: Vaga, 1965.

Balkelis, Tomas. Lemtingi metai [The Crucial Years]. Vilnius: Tyto Alba, 2019.

22 Ibid.
23 Viktoras Gerulaitis, “Pirmieji savarankiškos Lietuvos kompozitorių sąjungos me-

tai” [The first years of the Union of Composers of Independent Lithuania], Muzika,
no. 9–10 (1990): 5–10.

168
   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175