November 17 / 2010
Sutartinės inscribed on the UNESCO list
The 5th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which took place in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on 15-19 November, has inscribed “Sutartinės, Lithuanian multipart songs”, on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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Apart from the nomination submitted by Lithuania, the Committee has evaluated 46 nominations for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
“Sutartinės, Lithuanian multipart songs”, is a third Lithuanian Intangible Cultural Heritage Value to be inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, alongside “Cross Crafting and its Symbolism” (2001) and “the Baltic Song and Dance Celebrations” (2003).
The primary aim of the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is to ensure visibility and awareness of the significance of the intangible cultural heritage, and to encourage intercultural dialogue and respect to cultural diversity.
The nomination file for “Sutartinės, Lithuanian multipart songs” has been drafted by ethno-musicologist Dr Daiva Vyčinienė, the Lithuanian Folk Culture Centre, and the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO.
Sutartinės (from the verb sutarti – to be in concordance) is a unique phenomenon of the Lithuanian traditional music performed in an ancient form of polyphony. Sutartinės is a syncretic art reflecting a relation between music, text, and movement. Sutartinės are usually sung by women, but men perform instrumental versions on pan-pipes, long wood trumpets, plucked zithers, and other instruments. The texts contain archaic refrains with abundant onomatopoeic words, the meaning of which can only be presumed now. Simultaneous chime of different melodies and different texts (poetic and onomatopoeic) marks a prominent feature of Sutartinės.
The European music theory describes Sutartinės as a paradox: harmony is created by consonances of dissonant intervals of seconds. Sutartinės have become one of the brightest symbols of the Lithuanian cultural identity from the beginning of the 20 c.
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