A book featuring sutartinės (Lithuanian multipart songs) penned by a professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre enters the prestigious Cambridge Scholars Publishing

The Lithuanian polyphonic songs sutartinės–– included in the list of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Lithuania–– are enjoying a renaissance and receiving increasing attention from researchers not only in Lithuania, but around the world. The prestigious academic publishing house Cambridge Scholars Publishing has printed a book titled “Past and Present Lithuanian Polyphonic Sutartinės Songs” by Daiva Vyčinienė, ethnomusicologist and professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Published at the end of February, the book delves into polyphonic sutartinės songs not as a merely Lithuanian phenomenon – their analogies are sought both in neighbouring countries and distant exotic cultures such as the Japanese subculture of the Ainu people. The book shares the findings of long-term research as well as the latest insights into the place the sutartinės songs occupy in today’s culture. This book is an ethnomusicological study significantly supported by the findings of research into ethnology, archaeology, and linguistics.

“I think, primarily, the very fact that the tradition of the Lithuanian sutartinės songs has been promoted in the cultural space worldwide is of the utmost importance. Yet, what is as important is that the book acknowledges the sutartinės songs not being merely a historical phenomenon that has left a lasting mark on culture: it sees sutartinės as today’s vigorous tradition with a myriad of different forms of expression. Sutartinės are revealed as a phenomenon combining the music of the Lithuanian agricultural culture of the past with today’s variety of artistic expressions. The sutartinės songs, which today have become one of the most prominent features of the Lithuanian identity, are evolving into somewhat of a “key” opening the door to the perception of the Lithuanian mentality,” unfolds the author.

Professor Daiva Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė heads the Department of Ethnomusicology at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Dr. Daiva Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė has a PhD in Humanities, is Chief Researcher at the Archive of Musical Folklore, and has received two major awards:  the Lithuanian State Jonas Basanavičius Award for research and social activities in the field of ethnic culture (2002) and the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts for promoting folkloristics (2021).

Professor Daiva Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė’s research dedicated to the sutartinės songs (more than 100 conference presentations, 150 academic papers, and 4 monographs) contributed to the fact that UNESCO included the sutartinės song into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

We hope that the book “Past and Present Lithuanian Polyphonic Sutartinės Songs” will not only help to gain a better understanding of the sutartinės songs but also inspire new research into the phenomenon.