Bagpipe in Lithuania

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Dūda; Dūdmaišis; Kulinė dūda; Kulinė su ūku; Kūlinė dūda; Kūlinė su ūku; Labanoro dūda; Liaudies/etninė kultūra; Lietuvių liaudies/etninė muzika; Bag with a drone; Bagpipe; Duda (pipe); Folk/ethnic culture; Kuline duda, pipe; Kuline su ūku (bag with a drone); Kūlinė pipe, Lithuanian folk/ethnic; Labanoras pipe; Labanoro duda (Labanoras pipe); Lithuanian folk/ethnic music; Music; Pipe.

ENThe bagpipe is a musical instrument that was especially prevalent in European countries in the late Middle Ages and during the Renaissance. Despite its disappearance between the end of the 18th and beginning of the 20th centuries, it has nevertheless left an indelible legacy in the folk cultures of this region. Since the 16th century, and perhaps even earlier, the bagpipe lorded over the musical world of Lithuania as well, yet up until now, it has unduly been ignored by researchers. The aim of this article is to analyze the influence of the bagpipe and its music on Lithuanian ethnic culture. According to historical-comparative and typological methods, the article provides an overview of written and sound-recorded historical sources, compares similar phenomena with neighboring peoples, and describes the uses of this instrument in village customs as well as its association with traveling musicians and bear-trainers. Additionally, the article analyzes the repertoires, specificities of the performance styles, and raises questions about the dissemination of the bagpipe in Lithuania. The research upon which the article is based shows that in Lithuania the bagpipe was one of the primary, and at times the only instrument played at weddings, christenings and at other important rituals and village festivals until the advent of the violin and other string or bellowed instruments. While the bagpipe had spread throughout the entire territory of Lithuania, by the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries it survived only along the eastern border of the country. The specific performance stylistic of this instrument, especially the complimentary drone has left vivid traces (as it has formed its own musical style) upon instrumental as well as vocal Lithuanian folk music. [From the publication]