Šiaurės Lietuvos etninė instrumentinė muzika XX a.: Joniškio ir Pakruojo rajonai

Abstract

The study showed that the oldest in Joniškis region were the string instruments and their ensembles. At that time the interviewed persons from the district of Pakruojis were able to remember very little about playing the string instruments, and there were no string ensembles. From the past numerous instrumental ensembles at the end of the 20th century were left just a few brass bands and ensembles of variable composition. Solo and ensemble music playing was fast disappearing with beginning of a new dance fashion. In that region the ethnic instrumental music playing traditions almost ended in the second half of the 20th century. Nobody has adopted the traditions of old musicians, and they are on the brink of extinction. Unfortunately, during the expeditions in Joniškis and Pakruojis districts we managed to get even less material about the ethnic instrumental music playing than in Mažeikiai and Akmenė districts. So we have only very scarce facts of our ethnic culture. At the beginning of the 20th century in Joniškis and Pakruojis districts continued the old ethnic instrumental music traditions. Around 1970, in these districts the traditional music playing was interrupted for various reasons: change of dancing fashions, appearance of electronic musical instruments and spread of sound recording equipments. Most of these factors influenced music playing traditions in the district of Pakruojis. Family traditions or local instrumentalists’ influence encouraged to adopt the art of old musicians. Old musicians played mostly factory-made instruments. In the districts of Joniškis and Pakruojis were also common the instruments made by the musicians themselves in imitation of the factory-made ones. Most of the interviewed musicians during the most intense period of playing usually played in instrumental ensembles. Music playing in the ensembles in Northern Lithuania was the most popular form of performance. Ensembles usually consisted of family members and their neighbours. There were three main types of ensembles in Joniškis and Pakruojis districts: string ensembles (played with a bow and friction instruments), brass bands and chamber ensembles (string, bellows and wind instruments).