A music-filled vacation
Yikes, it's ArmadilloCon time, but still I have several vacation posts to write! I'll squeeze in one more posts before I head off to 'Dillocon writers' workshop.
While I was in Lithuania, I went to quite a few concerts. They weren't mainstream rock or pop concerts -- that kind of music i
s way too modern for me. Like, at least 400-500 years too modern. :-) I am a fan of early music, which is a very broad term that covers any music written up to 1700s or 1800s, but not all of it appeals to me. I'm partial to medieval music. So this year I was in luck: it was the millennium of Lithuania. Specifically, it was 1000 years since Lithuania was mentioned in historical records. This fact was marked by big public celebrations, including concerts, all summer long. Some of them were early music concerts. I was delighted to find out that there is some of it in Vilnius (the capital of Lithuania). I saw a Renaissance dance troupe called Festa Cortese not once but twice. Some of their dances were more folksy than courtly, but I like both kinds and anything in between. They don't just dance, but act out pantomimes of courtship and intrigue:
the ladies gossip, the men vie for their attention -- all expressed through dance. I also saw Lyrum, a vocal ensemble of high school girls, that's based in a music school that I attended in my teenage years. Most of my time here was spent singing in a chorus, which I loved, but as I got older, I got bored with their repertoire. If only the school had an early music ensemble back then, I would have never left!
The opening sequence of the Festival of Song. More pictures from various musical events I went to in Lithuania are in my photo gallery.
The biggest musical event by far was the Lithuanian Festival of Song. It's a series of concerts in which amateur choirs and dance troupes from all over the country come together in a joint performance. It takes place every four years. The concert I went to started out promisingly. It opened with a vaguely medieval / fantasy song and dance sequence. The music was a bit like Enya, only more skewed towards folk. It was right up my alley. The dancers were dressed as warriors, and they brandished their swords and shields in an artistic interpretation of a battle scene, and then a black winged bat-like figure came down the stairs and danced around in a very fantasy manner. Then came a bunch of female dancers dressed as sexy nuns. Well, it was a G-rated kind of sexy, not like strippers. :-) They danced around the warrior-guys in a seductive manner.
If I had to guess, this dance was a symbolic interpretation of the bloody, violent history of Lithuania (the violence was usually inflicted ON us, not by us). The black bat might have been a symbol of wars that ravaged Lithuania for a big part of the second millennium, and the nuns must have represented Christianity that seduced Lithuania and made it abandon its ancient religion and culture. At least that's my simple-minded interpretation.
Unfortunately, the fantasy sequence all too soon transitioned into a series of folk dances, and by that I mean, polkas. I can tolerate watching polka for maybe 5 minutes, but an hour and a half of them is an hour and a half too long. :-)
While I was in Lithuania, I went to quite a few concerts. They weren't mainstream rock or pop concerts -- that kind of music i
s way too modern for me. Like, at least 400-500 years too modern. :-) I am a fan of early music, which is a very broad term that covers any music written up to 1700s or 1800s, but not all of it appeals to me. I'm partial to medieval music. So this year I was in luck: it was the millennium of Lithuania. Specifically, it was 1000 years since Lithuania was mentioned in historical records. This fact was marked by big public celebrations, including concerts, all summer long. Some of them were early music concerts. I was delighted to find out that there is some of it in Vilnius (the capital of Lithuania). I saw a Renaissance dance troupe called Festa Cortese not once but twice. Some of their dances were more folksy than courtly, but I like both kinds and anything in between. They don't just dance, but act out pantomimes of courtship and intrigue:
the ladies gossip, the men vie for their attention -- all expressed through dance. I also saw Lyrum, a vocal ensemble of high school girls, that's based in a music school that I attended in my teenage years. Most of my time here was spent singing in a chorus, which I loved, but as I got older, I got bored with their repertoire. If only the school had an early music ensemble back then, I would have never left!
The opening sequence of the Festival of Song. More pictures from various musical events I went to in Lithuania are in my photo gallery.
The biggest musical event by far was the Lithuanian Festival of Song. It's a series of concerts in which amateur choirs and dance troupes from all over the country come together in a joint performance. It takes place every four years. The concert I went to started out promisingly. It opened with a vaguely medieval / fantasy song and dance sequence. The music was a bit like Enya, only more skewed towards folk. It was right up my alley. The dancers were dressed as warriors, and they brandished their swords and shields in an artistic interpretation of a battle scene, and then a black winged bat-like figure came down the stairs and danced around in a very fantasy manner. Then came a bunch of female dancers dressed as sexy nuns. Well, it was a G-rated kind of sexy, not like strippers. :-) They danced around the warrior-guys in a seductive manner.
If I had to guess, this dance was a symbolic interpretation of the bloody, violent history of Lithuania (the violence was usually inflicted ON us, not by us). The black bat might have been a symbol of wars that ravaged Lithuania for a big part of the second millennium, and the nuns must have represented Christianity that seduced Lithuania and made it abandon its ancient religion and culture. At least that's my simple-minded interpretation.
Unfortunately, the fantasy sequence all too soon transitioned into a series of folk dances, and by that I mean, polkas. I can tolerate watching polka for maybe 5 minutes, but an hour and a half of them is an hour and a half too long. :-)