Laima Budzinauskienė (PDF)
https://doi.org/10.53631/MIS/2025.17.8
The various markings and inscriptions captured when a manuscript is exposed to the social field of a community can provide valuable information about the general musical life of the period or place under study, the relationship of the individual to his or her surroundings, and the historical context of when and where the document was created and preserved. Provenance mark – the stamps – provides particularly important information about the origin of the manuscript. This is illustrated by one musical manuscript found by the author in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Unit of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania (LNMMB RKRS), which belonged to the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Educational Cultural Society, which was active in Lithuania during the interwar period. Another provenance mark – the stamps – provides particularly important information about the origin of the manuscript. This modest witness of musical life, hiding in a folder of copies of other sheet music, prompted the author to look into the cultural activities and concert life of the Lithuanian-Ukrainian societies that were active in Kaunas between the wars. The research revealed that the manuscript contains a transcription of a Ukrainian folk song За Неман iду, harmonised by the litterateur, musician and folklorist of Ukrainian origin Vladimiras Stepanovišius Aleksandrovas (1825–1894), scored for two soloists and a piano, which was probably performed at one of the events organised by the societies.
The idea of the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Society took a physical form on 27 November 1927 with the drafting of their statutes, which were approved on 20 January 1928. The founding congress was held in Kaunas in the hall of the Riflemen’s Union on 28 January 1928. One of the society’s activities was organising concerts, staging plays, raffles and radio broadcasts. In the period 1932–1935, the Society published an information bulletin “News of the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Society”. The musical emphasis was very important: the Society had a choir and an acting troupe. Over time, several more Lithuanian-Ukrainian societies were established: in 1928 – the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Amateur Stage and Song Society (since 1936 – the Lithuanian Ukrainian Educational Cultural Society), in 1933 – the Ukrainian National Society.
Towards the end of the 1930s, the cultural life of Kaunas was marked by a growing sense of war. When the Soviet army entered Lithuania in July 1940, what had been nurtured and flourishing in interwar Lithuania was drastically discarded. On the initiative of the so-called People’s Government, all Lithuanian-Ukrainian societies were banned along with other national organisations. It is hoped that a comprehensive review and organisation of the funds of LNMMB RKRS will lead to the discovery of more manuscripts testifying to the musical activities of the Lithuanian-Ukrainian societies, and that future research will add to the knowledge of the kind of music that was played during their cultural events.
Keywords: Lithuanian-Ukrainian Society, Lithuanian Ukrainian Educational Cultural Society, “News of the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Society”, concerts, repertoire, musical manuscript