Problems of reconstruction and using ethnic musical instruments in Lithuania.

Process of reconstruction of the ethnic musical instruments in Lithuania has begun in the end of the 19th century and it has been connected to the national liberation movement of the Lithuanians. It was the first attempt to use the ethnic musical instruments as the tools of public performing. According to the new purpose the constructions of these instruments were developed using the elements of European musical instruments. Also it has been done strongly preserving the national traditions of the authentic outside of these instruments and the features of sound and mode of playing. The first modification of the string instrument kanklÎs was made in 1928, and later models were constructed in 1932, 1933 and 1954. These instruments were of the shape of traditional kanklÎs from Suvalkija region of southeastern Lithuania and the number of its strings developed from 12 to 15, 22 and 29. Latest modification of 1964 was based not on the typical example of kanklÎs which used to be played by one of the leaders of Lithuanian national liberation movement of the 19th century doctor Vincas Kudirka. The shape of the frame of kanklÎs has the features of other European musical instruments, especially the harp. KanklÎs of all the models were the diatonic instruments but starting from the year 1933, when the mechanism of changing separately the tuning of each string was applied, there appeared the possibility to play chromatic sounds as well. The family of the kanklÎs consisting of the bass and double-bass simultaneously was constructed. The development of the wind instrument birbynÎ (reed pipe) into regular musical instrument since 1940 has been traced. The appearance of the first diatonic instruments goes back to the year 1940 and that of the soprano type to 1950, tenor one in 1953 (latest model in 1960), the double-bass instrument was made in 1956. These instruments preserved authentic outside of folk instruments but have a very complicated form of its sound channel which has possibility to play not only diatonic but as well chromatic sounds. These three types of birbynÎ formally are the family of these instruments, but unlike the kanklÎs family, where all instruments are uniform in the point of view of its constructions, each instrument of birbynÎ family is uniform and differs mainly from each other. The wind instrument lumzdelis (flute) developed into regular chromatic instrument in 1950. The conclusion can be made that the process of developing Lithuanian ethnic musical instruments into regular concert instruments has been connected to the requirements of the national culture and all types of these instruments more or less preserved main features of the authentic ethnic instruments