Nuo Dainų dienos iki tautos šventės

LTMonografijoje Dainų šventės vertinamos kaip ypatinga lietuvių tautos meninės ir kultūrinės įtaigos, jos dvasinių galių raiškos priemonė. Autorius aptaria su švenčių organizavimu susijusius dokumentus, gvildena repertuarą, analizuoja gausius dalyvių ir žiūrovų apklausų duomenis, pristato istorinį kontekstą ir pateikia argumentuotą atsaką į švenčių kritiką. Didelis dėmesys skiriamas chorų menui ir jungtinio choro fenomenui, bene pirmąkart Dainų švenčių tyrimų istorijoje pateikiama išsami dirigentų veiklos analizė. Monografijoje išdėstyta ir apibendrinta medžiaga yra reikšminga mūsų tautos kultūros istorijai, todėl darbas bus naudingas ir mokslininkams, ir šia tema besidomintiems skaitytojams-autorius pateikia daugybą įdomių, prasmingų, verčiančių susimąstyti klausimų ne tik akademinei bendruomenei, bet ir mūsų ateities kartoms, nuo kurių priklauso švenčių likimas. [Anotacija knygoje]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Dainų diena; Dainų ir šokių šventė; Song Day; Song and Dance Celebration.

ENThe monograph "From a Song Day to a National Celebration" analyses the notional vision of the Lithuanian Song and Dance Celebration, the historic process of its formation and development. The publication is written following the principles of the scientific research and taking use of methods of musicology, choir-mastering and sociology. It is a continuous research work of the author Regimantas Gudelis. The song celebrations were born in Switzerland and Germany in the epoque of the national revival, when the feudal order was decaying and the capitalist order was developing. The epoque was also marked by the processes of unification of nations, sharing the same language, seeking statehood and democracy. The first celebrations in Zurich in 1843 and in Wurzburg in 1845 were yet gatherings of singers (Sängerfest) with a ready-set repertoire and a joint choir performance. The song celebrations spread to the Baltic States - Estonia (the first national celebration was held in 1859), Latvia (1873) and Finland (1924) - via German colonies and their choirs. The first song celebration in Lithuania was held in 1924. Lithuania was the only Catholic state hosting song celebrations; therefore the incipient choral movement (from the end of 19th century till the beginning of the 20th century) and later - the Song and Dance Celebration - were hardly influenced by the German Lutheran tradition. Its breath is in the folk singing and chanting tradition. Due to the Russian Tsarist Oppression over the 19th century and the Lithuanian press ban for forty years (1864-1904) the practical conditions to hold the first Song and Dance Celebration in Lithuania had aroused only after the regaining of the Independence.The first one (1924), which was initiated and organised by the composer J. Žilevičius, made an implication to the existence of the Lithuanian choral school and turned into a historic celebration of the revival of the Lithuanian nation. The two subsequent Song Celebrations (1928 and 1930) were badly organised bringing disappointment to its participants and spectators. The organisational responsibility was then taken over by the Lithuanian Association of Musicians and its chairman N. Martinonis, who lost the meaning of a Song Celebration as a celebration of singers and only concentrated his attention to one single goal - the artistic mastery of choirs... The choral potential was dispersed; towns and public organisations started organising local celebrations, and the organisation of the fourth national celebration before the Second World War became impossible. The artistic and political meaning of the Song and Dance Celebration had been differently conceived by the ideologists of the soviet occupation and cultural workers, who organised the first post-war celebration already in 1946. The objective of the celebration was to salute the soviet occupation. The state system of cultural education activity was implemented and nine song celebrations were held during the period of soviet occupation. Although celebrations were strongly ideological then, however some space was left for the expression of traditional art phenomena, the manifestation of spiritual unity and cohesion of the nation, keeping the collective memory alive. Therefore the Song and Dance Celebrations became a breakthrough of the national resistance and drew closer the liberation from the soviet occupation.After the restoration of the Lithuanian Independence in 1990 the official vision of the Song and Dance Celebration has changed, the shared public confidence that the Song and Dance Celebration was something much bigger - the National Celebration - has consolidated. The active factors of inspiration were two World Lithuanians' Song and Dance Celebrations (1994, 1998), the Song and Dance Celebration of Lithuania's Millennium (2009), political events: the Russia's war against Ukraine and recent waves of increasing political pressure in Europe and in relation to this - an arising breakthrough of national consciousness in the Baltic States. The 2014 Song and Dance Celebration "Here Is My Home" has sensitively responded to these global transformations; an event has received artistic success and has been welcome by the audience with delight. The historic time, those mentioned and other circumstances have brought about the interpretation of the Song and Dance celebration not only as an engaging art festival, but as a symbol of spiritual power and unity of the nation - the National Celebration. After the Second World War the idea and organisational practices of the Song and Dance Celebration in North America had been implemented by the Lithuanian community in exile. Eminent composer and music reviewer V. Jakubėnas had raised and implemented his idea of the national Song and Dance Celebration: its primary objective was the national unity, but its realisation was only possible through the choral art of the highest artistic level. The eight, ninth and tenth celebrations complemented with compositions by national authors represented a continuous tradition of the Lithuanian Song and Dance Celebration. [...]. [From the publication]