ON THE ISSUE OF POLIYMODALITY AND COMPLEMENTARY RHYTMS IN THE VOCAL SUTARTINĖS PLAYED ON THE PSALTERY KANKLĖS

Abstract

The most exotic phenomenon in Baltic traditional music is undoubtedly the Lithuanian sutartinės polyphony. Most of the songs that are named sutartinės, are characterized by the following features: 1) equal importance of parts, 2) predominance of seconds in the harmony, 3) polymodality, 4) complementary rhythms, 5) crossing of parts, 6) simultaneous performance of different texts. For several decades this style has been a thing of the past. Already in the 1930s, when most documentation of the sutartinės was made, they existed mainly in postfunctional form. But in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, their area comprised a large territory in northeastern Lithuania.