ABSTRACT
Lithuania harbors a remarkable legacy of vocal repertoires. Because the economy remained largely agricultural until after World War II, thousands of work and calendric songs, with historical ballads and political songs from earlier in the century, remained in use in oral tradition to that time. The most general characteristics of prewar Lithuanian traditional song texts are that they are more often lyrical than narrative, and are not extremely dramatic, and that nature and associated imagery loom large, as do mythological and metaphorical references. Folk melodies have fueled a nationalist school of art-music composition, which, though little known outside the country, has produced a substantial body of learned and vigorous works. Lithuania is rich in indigenous and imported musical instruments. The best-known stringed instrument is the kankles, a native plucked zither in a family of zithers found in each neighboring country.
