Lietuvos Muzikologija 21.Indd

Lietuvos muzikologija, t. 21, 2020 Danutė PETRAUSKAITĖ Vytautas Laurušas’s Worldview as Reflected in His Activity and Letters to Jeronimas Kačinskas Vytauto Laurušo pasaulėžiūros atspindžiai jo veikloje ir laiškuose Jeronimui Kačinskui Lietuvos muzikos ir teatro akademija, Gedimino pr. 42, LT-01110, Vilnius, Lietuva [email protected] Abstract Vytautas Laurušas (1930–2019) was a composer, pedagogue, administrator, Communist Party activist, supporter of the restoration of Lithu- ania’s independence, and winner of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts. He lived and worked in two different epochs: in the Soviet era, that is, under totalitarian rule, and in independent Lithuania. The topic of this paper is Laurušas’s memoirs and epistolary legacy, and the aim is to explore his worldview, which allowed him to perform successfully in different times. The research is based on several methods: analysis of primary sources, the history of music, musicological literature, and periodicals, given the ideological context, as well as comparison and generalization of facts and interpretations. The paper does not claim to reveal the development of Laurušas’s mindset comprehensively and consistently, as it is based on only a minor part of his memoirs and letters; however, it is expected to be of use to those who want to study Laurušas’s artistic and social activities in depth. Keywords: Vytautas Laurušas, Jeronimas Kačinskas, Lithuania, the USA, music, Soviet era, Communist Party, national revival, diaspora, independence. Anotacija Vytautas Laurušas (1930–2019) – kompozitorius, pedagogas, administratorius, komunistų partijos veikėjas, Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo šalininkas, Lietuvos nacionalinės kultūros ir meno premijos laureatas. Jis gyveno ir kūrė dviejose skirtingose epochose – sovietmečiu, t. y. totalitarinio režimo sąlygomis, ir laisvoje Lietuvoje. Šio straipsnio objektas – Laurušo memuarai ir epistolinis palikimas, o tikslas – susipažinti su jo pasaulėžiūra, leidusia jam sėkmingai darbuotis skirtingais laikotarpiais. Tyrimas pagrįstas keliais metodais – pirminių šaltinių, muzikos istorijos, muzikologinės literatūros, periodinės spaudos analize, atsižvelgiant į ideologinį kontekstą, taip pat faktų bei interpretacijų lyginimu ir apibendrinimu. Straipsnis nepretenduoja išsamiai ir tolygiai atskleisti Laurušo mąstymo raidos, nes remiamasi tik nedidele jo atsiminimų ir laiškų dalimi, tačiau norisi tikėti, kad šis darbas padės tiems, kurie ateityje nutars labiau pasidomėti šio kompozitoriaus menine ir visuomenine veikla. Reikšminiai žodžiai: Vytautas Laurušas, Jeronimas Kačinskas, Lietuva, JAV, muzika, sovietmetis, komunistų partija, tautinis atgimimas, išeivija, nepriklausomybė. Introduction first letter was dated 26 April 1988 and the last one 8 De- cember 1995. We can only wonder how many letters were The spring of 2020 marked the 90th birth anniversary exchanged because when Kačinskas was ill and moved to a and one-year death anniversary of Vytautas Laurušas. He nursing home and later after his death when unauthorized still seems to be with us, and therefore it may be too early to persons were handling the composer’s epistolary legacy, the talk about his life path and beliefs; however, given the fact documents were moved from one place to another. About that, in 2020, the independent state of Lithuania celebrated 20 letters from Laurušas (some of them with a missing be- its 30th anniversary, and Laurušas, who was a member of ginning or end) found their way to Lithuania. As it turned the Lithuanian Communist Party (hereinafter: the LCP) out, more than one had been lost on the way to America. and held high administrative posts, also contributed to This is to be regretted, since letters as a genre help to reveal its restoration, it seemed interesting to try to understand the social, political, and cultural atmosphere of the time as his worldview and values. The biggest impetus for the well as provide information about the relationship between implementation of this idea was a bundle of Laurušas’s let- the recipient and the sender and the individuality of the lat- ters written to Lithuanian American composer Jeronimas ter. However, even from the surviving correspondence it is Kačinskas in the years of national revival. Kačinskas cor- possible to form a picture of how Laurušas lived and what responded with a number of people and stored a big part he felt during the historical turning point, the collapse of of his correspondence with them until his death. Laurušas’s the USSR, and the restoration of independent Lithuania. 54 Vytautas Laurušas’s Worldview as Reflected in His Activity and Letters to Jeronimas Kačinskas Not many written sources can be found about Laurušas’s life when he saw those soldiers, shabby and wearing tarpaulin and work, and that is mostly information about one of his boots, he was very disappointed. compositions or another, published in popular Lithuanian In 1949, Vytautas left the gymnasium. On the occasion newspapers and journals. The most impressive source is the of its centenary, the pupils staged the play Tadas Blinda book Vytautas Laurušas. Gyvenimo realybės ir kūrybos inter- by Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis, in which Vytautas pretacijos (Vytautas Laurušas: Interpretations of Life Realities was entrusted with the role of a revolutionary student. and Creative Work) (2009) by Rita Aleknaitė-Bieliauskienė. This choice was apparently determined not so much by Based merely on the narratives of the protagonist and his the young man’s worldview as by his artistic abilities. After contemporaries, it is not of a scientific nature and does not all, in the last years at school, Vytautas was already being contain any in-depth analysis or generalizations. Still, the called a composer. He proved it in the final concert at the book is valuable as a source of information coming directly gymnasium by playing his 15-minute Fantasy on the piano. from Laurušas. Regretfully, his friendship with Kačinskas Beyond family, school, and friends, others influenced has been only mentioned in passing. Therefore, the scientific the maturing personality. During his childhood and ado- novelty of the present paper lies in the revelation of those lescence, Vytautas kept close contacts with the Jesuits, who long-lasting relationships and in the emphasis on Laurušas’s had settled in Šiauliai in 1930, of about whom he later said: worldview as highlighted in his letters. It may be relevant to The Jesuit brothers particularly valued justice. My “spiritual those who are interested in the relationship between music father” was priest Pranciškus Masilionis. In his church, I daily and politics and are less familiar with the life of Lithuanian served at Mass. Influenced by the hymns of Julius Juzeliūnas, composers in the years of historical turning points. I decided to write a hymn, too. My first composition was the hymn To Jesus Christ the King, where both the music and lyrics were mine. Pranciškus Masilionis, my spiritual father, highly Vytautas Laurušas: personality formation and praised that piece of mine and said that, if I became a Jesuit, activity before 1988 I would be able to worship God with my new compositions. [...] it was a time of self-knowledge, of spiritual maturation. Laurušas grew up in Šiauliai in a family of hardwork- More than one sentiment had been instilled into my heart: ing craftspeople, excellent tailors, and loving and attentive to forgive everyone, not to blame anyone, and to suffer wrong parents. They instilled Christian values, diligence, honesty, as trials sent by God. I learned tolerance, learned to get on with people and help them in good faith, and not to suspect and a sense of responsibility in their children. The years of anyone because it was humiliating. (Aleknaitė-Bieliauskienė the Bolshevik occupation indirectly affected the Laurušas 2009: 86, 88) family, too; thus, Vytautas must have heard about the deportations, the prison in Pravieniškės, and Siberia. But The Jesuits were preparing Vytautas for a religion-related sad thoughts were overshadowed by school life, the daily future; they promised to send him to study in Innsbruck1 duties of the pupil, and music activity. Music was heard in and explained that he would be able to simultaneously study the boys’ gymnasium, at church, and the music school that composition because the laws of the Order did not forbid moved from Klaipėda to Šiauliai in 1939. Vytautas began it. The romantically minded young Vytautas wrote poems, his studies in it in 1944. At first, he attended piano and dreamed, and seemed not to have anything against a clergy- flute classes but quickly realized that it was much more man’s career. It is difficult to say what would have happened fun to extract sounds from and produce melodies on the with him if, in 1949, the Soviet government had not closed keyboard (Aleknaitė-Bieliauskienė 2009: 86). He was espe- the Jesuit residence and, even earlier, their church. It was cially fond of composer Julius Gaidelis, a teacher with long like an omen encouraging Vytautas to choose the path of and lush hair, who looked like a “genuine artist” to young music and to enroll at the Lithuanian State Conservatory. Laurušas. True, the pleasure of seeing him did not last long: Laurušas did not immediately get into the Department in the autumn of 1944, Gaidelis moved to the West. Thus, of Composition due to his poor knowledge of theoretical Laurušas saw how many Lithuanian intellectuals had fled subjects; he accepted the proposal to study

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