Jono Dambrausko tautiškoji draminė muzika
National dramatic music by Jonas Dambrauskas

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of national dramatic music by the Lithuanian composer, organist and choir-master Jonas Dambrauskas (1892-1982), which was produced during the interwar years. It focuses on Dambrauskas' musico-dramatic pieces of non-traditional genres verging sometimes on Lithuanian folk theatre (Lietuviškos vestuvės, Lithuanian Wedding) and in other cases on oratorio or cantata (e.g., musical mysteries on national themes Nuvainikuotoji vaidilutė (Uncrowned Virgin of the Fire), Amžių karžygys (Hero of the Ages), Amžių šešėliai (Shadows of the Ages), Mūsų aukuras (Our Altar), Gedimino sapnas (Gediminas' Dream). The music of these genres clearly demonstrates the national and patriotic position of the composer. The ideas promoted mean respect to the historical past of Lithuania, concern with the future of the motherland, exhibition of Lithuanian individuality to Europe, and they reflect the characteristic attitudes of interwar Lithuanian society. The choirs in the musical mysteries are treated by Dambrauskas primarily as a device of theatrical communication. They are interwoven with the texts rendered. Like in ancient Greek tragedies, the choirs serve to express the ideas of a character or the crowd; they appear in a specific stage action or take the spectator back to the idea of a previous act; they make comments or communicate the ultimate message. Innovative in terms of genre and ideas declared, Dambrauskas' national music constitutes an interesting stage in Lithuanian dramatic music and marks a significant phenomenon in Lithuanian musical culture of the interwar period.

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