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Modernism As Europeanism in Lithuanian Music. Algirdas Martinaitis Case

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Modernism As Europeanism in Lithuanian Music. Algirdas Martinaitis Case new sense as the starting point and no one can contradict that painting and sense are two inseparable words*. The musicality in the manifestos of futurist painting emerges as one of the synaesthetic conditions of creating and experiencing the art. The futurists note this difference between synaesthesia as the attitude of the creator and the task of the experience of the perceiver. In the above manifesto, the authors state: “We do not draw sounds, but their vibrating intervals”, and name the music the mathematical-emotional amplifier for the perceiver. Therefore, this brief excursus to the important futurist period of the devel- opment of synaesthetic theory and art, which often ends-up in the periphery of academic science, and the naked new tendencies and prospects of modernist art emerging in Futurism indicate that starting from the period of the rise of early Modernism trends, the meaning of synaesthesia, which had already emerged dur- ing the rise of romanticist and symbolist movements, has been continuously grow- ing and getting stronger, and a special plane of synaesthetic aesthetics has been crystallising, which has not only taken root, but has also revealed the inconsisten- cies, contradictions, conservatism, and inertia of Western aesthetics. Therefore, the futurist movement noisily exalting the importance of novelty and dynamism and its new, feverish search in the field of synaesthesia could be considered one of the most radical modernist criticisms of previous Western synaesthetic theory and practice of art, expressed by the Italian creators of modernist art, who tore down the boundaries for the dissemination of creativity drawn by epigenous aesthetics and art practice prevalent in the country. JŪRATĖ LANDSBERGYTĖ-BECHER Lithuania, Vilnius Lithuanian Culture Research Institute Modernism As Europeanism In Lithuanian Music. Algirdas Martinaitis Case Lithuanian composers in their works emphasize an idea of Europeanism or European integration from various points of view. Algirdas Martinaitis takes a leading role with series of his works, provoking the question of degraded con- cept of Europeanism and modernism. Martinaitis’s “European” works began with farewells to romanticism known as Franz Schubert’s adoration memory of golden ages and “waiting for barbarians”, and grew into Euro-criticism and irony, moni- toring historical turns of European culture, their infantilism and crises. However * Ibid., p. 76. 313 national psyche and European mentality for Martinaitis is related to each other through structure, architecture and archetypes. Therefore in his series of works this type of discourse is declared, as a dialogue of Lithuania with Europe, with critically oppositioned poetics, which brings in even more levels of art and politics. Key words: Martinaitis, Lithuania, soul of Europe, integration, crises, modernism European integration after the collapse of the Soviet Union became one of the leading motives for Lithuanian cultural progress, which led towards the hu- manistic structure of the world after long decades of darkness. The high culture of European music, voluminous with its universality and rational structures has become an unquestionable value which was longed and pursued by Lithuanian composers who tried to modernise the destiny of nation of the entire XX century in their own way. Their mission was to develop the Lithuanian modernism which before WWII likely could become a local model of Scandinavian modernism being capable to ensure Lithuania’s place in the civilization of the world. With these values and ideas saved in the context of the Soviet occupation Lithuanian composers managed to remain on this path using meta-language of music and adapting it to cultural accession to the Western world. For example, in the case of artistic and theoretical works of Julius Juzeliūnas it was possible to integrate intonational cells of folklore into the Second Viennese School musical techniques of dodeca- phony (Juzeliūnas 1972). The task has changed after the collapse of the Soviet empire: European inte- gration and globalization became the most important paradigm of the Lithuanian culture after the 1990’s. Here it is possible to extract the manifold context of European integration in the modern works of Lithuanian composers and it can be noted that one of them – Algirdas Martinaitis, distinguishes himself with particu- larly critical points of view, focusing on the realms marked with crises, associated with universal codes of national consciousness as the most powerfull source. This power point is rising from Lithuanian archetypes concealed in nature. Context of European integration in current Lithuanian music It is worth mentioning a wide field of European integration of the Baltic States culture as a creativity of the Self – the identity project, which particularly contributed to the implementation of a policy of return, and where the priceless 314 expression of freedom was delivered by musical modernism. The modernism as progressions used high specification sound modelling technology (audio-visual, electronic, spectralism, sonoristic and aleatoric techniques). However, the way to European conquest of hearts or “the soul of Europe” according to philosopher Leonidas Donskis (Donskis 2016), at first was paved by minimalism which had started in the late Soviet era as a metaphor for spiritual purity. It was developed by so-called generation of new romantics: Mindaugas Urbaitis, Algirdas Marti- naitis, Vidmantas Bartulis, and Onutė Narbutaitė. Namely these authors became the most prominent guides for intensive European integration of the drama- turgical road to a humanistic connection with Europe and enlightenment. They are adepts of a clear and silent modernization project which was named by Latvian dissident Jazeps Kukulis as “Europe plus Baltics”. Their creations began in Baltic style “monotony of rhythm”, which was mentioned by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (Čiurlionis 1960: 299) as an essential national feature. “The Road to Silence” (O. Narbutaitė), “Awakening of Night Flowers” (A. Marti- naitis), “The Prophet” (V.Bartulis) transformed themselves into the real drama of longing for European soul and the cradle of love, which opened up after the col- lapse of the Iron Curtain and when paths of Lithuanian musicians spread across the very missed European homeland. It can be said that Baltic archetypes as the “Resurrection of Nations”, which were hiding in the depths of sub-consciousness filled with the monotony of rhythm, began their eternal pilgrimage around Europe and beyond its modernist boundaries, which before appeared only in dreams and were inaccessible, looking for left out symbols and call signs of European soul. This silent yearning marked with the humanism of historical linked nations (as it is perceived by the Eastern European countries which were affected by the history of losses) took hold over Lithuanian musical works with specific dramaturgy of Self filled with religious traits of incarnation: movement of awakened archetypes from darkness to light, their transformation and enlightenment. This is why many of these composers’ works are close to prayers, integrated with elements of a church song, psalm and musical dramaturgy of a concept of Self (O. Narbutaitė “The Road to Silence” 1981, Teisutis Makačinas “Prayer for Lithuania” 1980, Vidmantas Bartulis “The Prophet”, 1982, Gracijus Sakalauskas “Domine” 1984, Bronius Kutavičius “Last Pagan Rites” 1978, Jonas Tamulionis “Prayer” 2000, and others.). However, af- ter the 1990’s breakthrough the Baltic prayer was replaced by the archetype of European soul which was more concrete, expressing the magnificent cultural cre- ativity. It was basically impossible to resist this concept of adoration. It became an all reconstructing paradigm, the sphere of spiritual heights, where art merges with religion. Essentially it matched the unquestionable mission of European 315 soul starting with the universe or “the ocean of music”, Johann Sebastian Bach (1689-1750). Also there were Viennese classics – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and the XIX century romantics; their creations remain to be an eternal queen of mankind’s hearts. Lithuanian composers, led by the works of symbolist in art and music M.K. Čiurlionis (1875-1911), found the niche of an infinite faith in eternal time, the universality of music by Federyk Chopin, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Anton Bruckner and others. This was an essential motivation of creativity for the new romantics whom Algirdas Martinaitis belonged to: integration with the Soul of Europe under the influence of suggestions of its geniuses and art visionaries of the XIX century. The context of European integration took a few directions. One of them is recomposition losely merged with ideas of J.S. Bach, Bruckner, Wagner, M.K Čiurlionis, then are the works of Mindaugas Urbaitis (b. 1952), the pioneer of minimalism in Lithuania, who radicalised a method of monotony of rhythm. Mindaugas Urbaitis developed his own musical style of reinvention and recom- position in his musical works. The motifs are taken and woven together into a new palette, which is intended for monitoring, admiration, adoration, meditation, and existing “in own particular space”. This is “Bachvariationen”, “Bruckner Gemäl- de”, “Der Fall Wagner”, as well as Čiurlionis’s “Tranquillity” (Landsbergytė 2011: 243-256). Here the Wagnerian principle of leitmotif of hovering in space where it operates “the world”,
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