Kauno kompozitorių ir muzikologų skyriaus aušra: arčiau liaudies, toliau nuo valdžios
LTPenkiasdešimt metų Kauno kompozitorių ir muzikologų skyriui – tai ir pusė amžiaus muzikinės miesto istorijos, kurioje įrašyta daugybė įvairios reikšmės muzikinio gyvenimo įvykių: nuo Kaune gyvenančių ir kuriančių kompozitorių naujų kūrinių premjerų, publikuotų muzikologų darbų, bendrų kultūros reikalų aktyvinimo ir įvairių problemų sprendimo iki socialiai svarbių renginių, kuriuose dalyvauja platūs miesto gyventojų sluoksniai. Pranešime, remiantis išlikusiais to meto užrašais, atskleidžiamos nežinomos, dažnai neįtikėtinos skyriaus kūrimosi detalės, santykis su miesto valdžiomis. Nedaug narių turintis skyrius kūrybinį ir pilietinį judrumą išsaugojo iki šiol. [Iš teksto, p. 7]
ENThe 50-year-old Kaunas Department of Composers and Musicologists runs many events of varied significance in the city’s musical life. These range from premieres of new works by composers living and creating in Kaunas, to publications of musicologists’ works, action around common cultural issues and solving various problems, and socially important events involving the participation of a wide cross-section of the city’s population. The unit comprising just a few members has kept creative and civic mobility equal to what it is now. The report was based on the facts concerning the establishment of the department and the activities of the first year recorded in my blogs. The idea to establish the Kaunas branch of the Lithuanian Composers’ Union in 1971 came from Eduardas Balsys. I was offered the role of first secretary of the department. There were many dramatic and comic ad ventures: the introduction of a telephone into premises that did not yet exist, a certain kind of relationship with the government of the time, the organization of controversial events. The first meeting of the department’s members took place at Kaunas Artists’ House on 6 September 1971. Musicologist Eugenija Ragulskienė, composers Jonas Dambrauskas, Vladas Švedas, Algimantas Kubiliūnas, my father Viktoras Kuprevičius, and Povilas Dikčius, a member of the Lithuanian Composers’ Union and instructor of the Culture Department of the LTSR Communist Party Central Committee, supervised the establishment process. An ambitious work plan for the department was approved. Musicologist Eugenija Ragulskienė, at that time a candidate for the member ship of the union, was assigned to curate the Kaunas Musicologists’ Section. On 1-6 December of the same year, Kaunas organized the first Kaunas Music Week. The annual festival presented new works by composers, amateur works, and public discussions.Throughout the past 50 years, the Kaunas branch of the Lithuanian Composers’ Union has been very active, participating in all facets of the city’s musical life, fostering a taste for quality, getting involved in solving various problems, and actively expressing its opinion – which has been heard. Recently, due to the changed government of Kaunas, the activities of the cultural policy department’s members have not been particularly influential. The year when it fell to me to head the Composers and Musicologists Department was interesting in every sense. It involved management experiences, many different contacts, testing out one’s own ideas and other people’s in a real environment, and the penetration of pro-Western moods and knowledge in the daily activities of the department. Such experiences have influenced both creativity and musical journalistic activities. We were together the whole time. We are together now. [From the publication]
