Folk songs of Lithuania
There are three ancient styles of singing in Lithuania that are connected with ethnographical regions: monophony, multi-voiced homophony, heterophony and polyphony.
The tradition of mass Song Festivals was inscribed in the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.
They are an ancient form of two and three voiced polyphony, based on the oldest principles of multi-voiced vocal music: heterophony, parallelism, canon and free imitation.
Recognizing their uniqueness and value, UNESCO inscribed sutartinės into the representative list of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2010.
The topics and functions of sutartinės encompass almost all known Lithuanian folk song genres—work, calendar cycle ritual, wedding, family, wartime, historic, etc.
They were sung by women, but men performed instrumental versions on the kanklės (Baltic psaltery), on horns, and on the skudučiai, a form of panpipes usually played by a group, as well as wooden trumpets (ragai and dandytės).
One of the most important characteristics of the sutartinės is the wide variety of lexical vocables used in the refrains ("sodauto, lylio, ratilio, tonarilio, dauno, kadujo, čiūto", etc.).
Sutartinės have almost become extinct as a genre among the population, but the tradition is fostered by many Lithuanian folklore ensembles, who take great pleasure in keeping them alive.
The development of laments is no different from that of other genres: emerging as part the phenomena of everyday life, they evolve and endure until they vanish when circumstances change.
"Professional" lamenters, hired to sing at funerals, displayed great skill in impelling their listeners to tears.
Weddings were major celebrations, lasting a week or longer, attended by the relatives, friends of both families, and included the entire village.
The great variety of wedding customs gave rise to a wide array of folk poetry and musical forms.
Different vocal and instrumental forms developed, such as lyrical, satirical, drinking and banqueting songs, musical dialogues, wedding laments, games, dances and marches.
Humorous-satirical wedding songs often poke fun at "the foreign party"—the groom and his groomsmen, brothers, friends and relatives.
The wittiest and most biting humor is reserved for the svotas and svočia, who are invited by the bride and groom to be the hosts or masters of ceremony at the wedding.
In Dzūkija, for example, the songs mocking the groom and his party take on the tonal characteristics of laments and lullabies, which augment the intended effect.
Traditional drinking and banqueting songs often sing of the hops, which cause trouble by making the barrels burst at the seams.
Chronicles and historical documents of the 13th through 16th centuries contain the first sources about songs relating the heroics of those fallen in battle against the Teutonic Knights.
Numerous song variant texts found in publications and archives point to events of the early 17th century.
Christmas songs are usually thematically related to upcoming weddings, relationships between young people and family members.
There are several typical melodic characteristics associated with Christmas ritual songs, such as a narrow range, three-measure phrases, dance rhythms, a controlled slow tempo, and a tonal structure based on phrygian, mixolydian or aeolian tetrachords.
Some of them reflect ancient beliefs in the magical power of words, such as the special incantation urging to pick up the keys, unlock the earth and release the grass.
As farm implements improved and the management of labor changed, many work songs were no longer suitable for accompanying the tasks and began to disappear.
The raliavimai or warbles are also recitative type melodies, distinguished by the vocable ralio, which is meant to calm the animals.
In humorous songs specific villages are mentioned, mocking the young residents, the poor harvest, the inept masters, the surly mowers, etc.
The most important element of rye harvesting songs is their unique melodic style, determined by the close connection to ritual and the function of the work.
Others songs do mention the work process, naming almost every step: sowing, harrowing, cultivating, reaping, binding, stacking, transporting, threshing, milling, and even eating.
The songs often hyperbolyze images of the mother-in-law's outlandish demands, such as using the sea instead of a beetle, and the sky in place of a mangle, and the treetops for drying.
But the daughter-in-law protests, that she is not a fish who swims in the sea, a bird who flits among the trees, and she is not the Moon, which whirls through the sky.
Fishing songs are about the sea, the bay, the fisherman, his boat, the net, and they often mention seaside place names, such as Klaipėda or Rusnė.
