Music
The musical traditions of Suvalkija are distinctive. The kanklės, possibly the most archaic Lithuanian instrument, took on distinguishable characteristics in the region; more heavily ornamented than elsewhere, its end is narrow, spreading out into a rounded shape. Recordings made in the 1930s, and reissued in the 21st century by the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, contain waltzes, marches, schottisches, and krakowiaks. Popular polkas performed on the fiddle were a significant part of the local musicians' repertoire. The recordings from this era are monodic; there is usually one singer, and the music relies on variable modal structures, changes of tempo, and subtle ornamentation of the melody for interest.
The composition of the musical ensembles in the region changed during the middle 19th century. Earlier versions featured between one and three kanklės, a fiddle, and a būgnas (drum). Later ensembles often included one or two fiddles, a German or Viennese harmonica, a būgnas, and at times a cymbal, a clarinet, a coronet, or a besetle (a stringed bass). Ensembles featuring the fiddle and the būgnas were also popular.
Read more about this topic: Suvalkija, Folk Culture
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“But listen, up the road, something gulps, the church spire
Opens its eight bells out, skulls’ mouths which will not tire
To tell how there is no music or movement which secures
Escape from the weekday time. Which deadens and endures.”
—Louis MacNeice (1907–1963)
“I used to be angry all the time and I’d sit there weaving my anger. Now I’m not angry. I sit there hearing the sounds outside, the sounds in the room, the sounds of the treadles and heddles—a music of my own making.”
—Bhakti Ziek (b. c. 1946)
“If I could believe the Quakers banned music because church music is so damn bad, I should view them with approval.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)