Baltiška muzika – naujas vardas muzikos scenoje

LTBaltiška muzika dar yra naujas terminas, kuris gali būti suprantamas dvejopai. Jis gali būti traktuojamas kaip baltiškai kalbėjusių ir tebekalbančių tautų tradicijas tęsianti muzika bei moderniųjų baltų praeitį ir dabartį atspindinti kūryba, kuri gimė Baltijos šalyse. Remiantis asmeniniais stebėjimais, garso įrašais bei publikacijomis internete (straipsniais, interviu, video medžiaga, skelbimais), straipsnyje aprašoma šiuolaikinio folkloro stilistikos ir estetikos kristalizacija, alternatyvios kultūrinės bendruomenės bei jų narių kūrybiškumo apraiškos. Visuomeniniai pokyčiai ir šiuolaikinės technologijos lemia folkloro transformacijas Lietuvoje ir kitose Baltijos šalyse. Alternatyvios kultūrinės bendruomenės narius traukia ne tik mitiniai įvaizdžiai, archajiška poetika ir melodika, kas yra folkloro kultūrinės gelmės išraiška, bet ir stipresnis tautiškumo, vyriškumo ir moteriškumo, kūrybiškumo pajautimas. Subkultūroms prijaučiantys vadybininkai užsiima baltiškosios muzikos, kuri yra pateikiama kaip eksperimentinė, leidyba. Kitų kultūros organizatorių paramos sulaukia tik jau pripažintos folkloro grupės, kurių muzika tikimasi sudominti užsienio klausytojus. Šiuo metu baltiška muzika neapriboja savęs vien nacionalinių valstybių ribomis. Ji yra pasirengusi nuskambėti pasaulio muzikos scenoje.

ENThe Baltic music is still hardly a popular name; it can not yet be noted while picking CDs at the musical records shops. In terms of linguistics, the Balts are peoples inhabiting the Eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, speaking the two surviving Baltic languages, i.e. Lithuanian and Latvian, and an extinct one - Prussian. Yet politicians and journalists use the same term to define the three nations that regained their independence in 1990 and joined the EU in 2004, i.e. Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians. The modern Balts are united by their modern history and the experiences lived out by the contemporary generations, rather than by their origins. Therefore the term Baltic music can be understood similarly to the Celtic music, used to describe both archaic and modern compositions. At present, the culture managers work to make the Baltic music known amongst the listeners across the globe, while its performers struggle to create its original aesthetics, its peculiar stylistic variety and system of signs and symbols. The stylistics and aesthetics of the modernized folklore is crystallized by communities fostering alternative forms of cultural expression; the folk melodies form the prime subject of interest for the jazz musicians, practitioners of the pagan religion, representatives of the Gothic culture, and descendants of the extinct Prussian people. Leaving aside a rather well-known life style of the jazz musicians, this article attempts at considerably more detailed elucidating of world views and attitudes of other alternative communities.The findings of the new pagan groups, the revivers of the Gothic and Prussian cultures can hardly stay property of these communities alone; instead, the ties between folklore and modernity discovered by them and their favourite symbols are quickly noticed by organizers of various events and publishers of musical records. Modernizing folklore of the Baltic countries seems kind of an attractive game to its performers and managers, not unlike a certain computer game. This is particularly evident when observing the shaping of the Baltic cultural image on internet. The desired things are presented as real ones in the virtual space: the long extinct traditions are revived, while modern compositions seem incredibly ingenious and varied. The popular mass culture keeps searching for new values in the alternative culture. Still, the image of the modern Baltic culture created by the alternative communities is much more interesting than the official one, because the image ordered by official institutions is usually a standard one: it aims at emphasizing the modern character of the state and enhancing its attractiveness to businessmen and tourists, while its creation involves forgetting the historical grievances and nostalgias of the past. The underground searching for the Baltic spirit is a rather more conservative process, but also a much more deep and controversial one, thus attracting interest of the folklore researchers. [From the publication]