Lithuanian Rock

Lithuanian Rock

During this period, the Communist government of the Lithuanian SSR confronted rock music, which was considered a decadent and corrupting cultural invasion from the West. The younger post-World War II Lithuanian generation under Soviet rule had few means to get acquainted with popular Western music. One was Radio Luxembourg, the only radio station available on Soviet frequencies that played current, popular rock. Another means was to smuggle LPs of popular Western bands into Lithuania and copy them onto magnetic tape.

The Beatles were one of the first influences on Lithuanian rock musicians. The first local rock bands started to emerge around 1965 and included Kertukai, Aitvarai and Nuogi ant slenksčio in Kaunas, and Kęstutis Antanėlis, Vienuoliai, and Gėlių Vaikai in Vilnius, among others. Most of these bands did nothing more than play covers of The Beatles and Rolling Stones, sometimes adapting Lithuanian lyrics to these songs.

The dominance of covers bands started to change around 1968, when local artists started to explore original songwriting.

Such bands were popular at student parties, known as sessions. These parties were deemed illegal by the communist establishment, which considered them a corrupting influence. The most famous session of the time took place in Vilnius in 1971, when major local and Latvian bands performed before a crowd of several hundred - a huge number of people to attend such an event at that time. After the concert, its organizers were persecuted by the KGB.

In addition, a distinct genre of song formed during this period. Musicians like Vytautas Kernagis and Vytautas Babravičius created intimate acoustic ballads featuring their own lyrics and those of other Lithuanian poets.

Due to conditions imposed by the totalitarian regime, almost no records from this period survive to this day.

Despite the regime's stance against invasive Western culture, some musicals influenced by rock-and-roll managed to surface. For example, Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock-opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar' was staged by Lithuanian composer Kęstutis Antanėlis on December 25, 1971 at the Vilnius Academy of Art. It was the first staging of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' in Europe.

Lithuania's first and most popular movie musical 'Velnio nuotaka' ('The Devil's Bride'), written by Viačeslavas Ganelinas, was released in 1975. Its catchy melodies combine traditional folk motifs with a rock-and-roll rhythm. Spirited and emotional, The Devil's Bride tells the supernatural story of an impish devil who used to be an angel but got tired of singing Hosannah, and was thus condemned to live on Earth. From his home in a windmill, he pursued love and happiness in a hilarious and sometimes tragic tale of turmoil that affects the whole countryside.

Shortly afterwards, in 1976, another musical was staged. 'Ugnies medžioklė su varovais', with the music of composer Giedrius Kuprevičius and participation of Vytautas Kernagis and Gintarė Jautakaitė. This musical proved to be a huge success - during the period from 1976 to 1983 it was performed 185 times in cities and towns across Lithuania and the Soviet Union.