ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the perception of Lithuanian culture as a powerful form of resistance and as a potent expression of national consciousness within the context of the Nazi occupation (1941-1944). The principal focus is on the reception of music of the composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911) through the examination of relevant archival documents, newspaper and periodical articles, historical interviews and memoirs published by leading musicians of the period. All the evidence points to the fact that Čiurlionis’s works occupied a special place in the repertoire of both Lithuanian and German performers at that time and was mainly represented by the Symphonic Poem Miške (In the Forest). However, evaluation of his music in the 1940s rarely focused on analytical or interpretative issues and was mostly related to the issue of nationalism, which seemed to play a vital role in the propagandist background to the Nazi occupation. Thus Čiurlionis’s creative heritage was primarily regarded as a noble symbol of the past and manifestation of permanent cultural values regained after the first Soviet occupation of 1940-1941, as well as an expression of resistance against occupation and an instrument of struggle in safeguarding national identity.
