Sutartinės: Archaic Minimalism
Many features of modern music today are repetitions of the oldest archetypal structures. Pre-war 20th-century modernist composers saw connections between sutartinės (a form of Lithuanian polyphonic singing based on seconds) and contemporary European music, predicting that sutartinės would become the foundation of future Lithuanian music. Their dissonances “were centuries ahead of European music modernists” (Kazimieras Viktoras Banaitis), as if they “anticipated the atonal artistic movement of the 20th century” (Edwin Geist). Thus, the era itself seems less important—the same meanings resurface, taking on different or similar significance.
Today, sound and visual arts are increasingly intertwined, as if absorbing each other’s essential elements: music embraces the space of visual art (graphic notation, filling musical space with microtones, etc.), while fine art incorporates time (optical and kinetic art). This connection between the worlds of sound and vision may be considered very old, linked to the original syncretism of art, to an all-encompassing worldview and perception, and to the cyclical concept of time characteristic of many ancient cultures. These ideas may have led to certain shared creative principles. For example, the raster principle (an image composed of small identical elements—dots), common in traditional textile ornaments, is similar to the works of optical art creators. Looking at an artwork, much like traditional woven fabrics, the viewer gradually immerses into an infinite three-dimensional space, almost dissolving within it. The same can be said of sutartinės and skudučiai (a type of Lithuanian panpipe) polyphonic music—through the constant repetition of short structures and the shimmering, rippling effect of individual sounds (akin to dots or spots in visual art), the listener is drawn into an infinite temporal space, immersed in a boundless soundscape, where unique musical perception visions and illusions emerge. With prolonged listening to skudučiai compositions, the rhythm patterns of individual parts begin to disappear—they seem to “dissolve,” merging into a single whole, a kind of “resonating space.” This creates an illusion of continuous motion and flickering, similar to the aesthetics of optical art. The geometric patterns of Lithuanian textiles can be seen as an indirect “visualization” of this music.
It is no surprise that listeners of sutartinės and other forms of archaic polyphony experience relaxation, entering a kind of “trance” state. This is partly due to the steady rhythmic pulsation. It is well known that repetitive rhythmic and melodic structures have a hypnotic effect. The constantly recurring refrains—sadauto, gedula, titity tatato, tūto, sadūto—also play a crucial role.
Although the sutartinės singing group “Trys Keturiose” has participated in many interdisciplinary projects combining different music styles and visual arts (Waft, Ancestors, Sutartinės Party, E-Sutartinės, Rasų Ratas, Mugham and Sutartinės: Dialogues, etc.), today, you will hear purely a cappella singing—without any “additions.” This singing is a repetition, a re-actualization of “that time.” Repetition allows one to perceive the creative act both as the preservation of something and as a pursuit of something new. For the group’s members, who seek to understand the language of archaic tradition of chanting, it is particularly important to concentrate, to immerse themselves in the chanting itself, to create a common “vibe”, a special musical and spiritual harmony. Each time the singing is different, depending on the environment, the audience and many other objective and subjective things. The same sutartinės come back after a while with a completely different experience and perception.
In the singing of the sutartinės – in their creation in the here and now – one singer alone means nothing. A sutartinė is born only through the common agreement of all the singers. The experience of the “creation” of the sutartinės in the here and now is crucial – the consensus may or may not happen. Hence, the convention itself may or may not be “born” (created) during the singing.
Daina Norvaišytė (voice, skudučiai ‘Pan-flutes’), Eglė Sereičiikienė (voice, skudučiai ‘Pan-flutes’), Rima Visackienė (voice, skudučiai ‘Pan-flutes’, lumzdeliai ‘a longitudinal flutes’), Audronė Žilinskienė (voice, skudučiai ‘Pan-flutes’). Leader – Daiva Vyčinienė (voice, skudučiai ‘Pan-flutes’, lumzdeliai ‘a longitudinal flutes’).
Sutartinės of various genres: sung, danced, played on skudučiai ‘Pan-flutes’, on lumzdeliai ‘a longitudinal flutes’, as well as polyphonic music related to sutartinės.
