Historical development of the Lithuanian repertoire of military songs and contemporary needs.

Straipsnyje pateikiama karinių-istorinių dainų žanro, kuris jau gali būti laikomas uždara sistema, apžvalga ir diachroninis pjūvis. Remiantis išsamiais kitų autorių tyrimais, aptariami pagrindiniai dainų struktūriniai elementai ir jų egzistavimo kontekstai, lėmę žanro raidą. Pastaroji sutampa su Lietuvos valstybingumo etapais, istorinių įvykių ir ideologijų kaita, sociokultūriniais pokyčiais, be to, rodo folkloristikos mokslo ir net konkrečių tyrėjų evoliuciją. Šiuolaikinėje Lietuvos kariuomenėje lietuviška dainuojamoji tautosaka yra tam tikra dalis viso ir gana įvairaus muzikinio repertuaro. Ji naudojama epizodiškai ir laikoma simboliniu lietuvybę reprezentuojančiu elementu.The existence of the Lithuanian military is directly connected to the existence of Lithuania as an autonomous and independent state, although the men of Lithuania over different historical periods have served in the militaries of other states besides Lithuania. Sing folklore on military-historical themes, when it was still being practiced naturally, did not depend directly upon Lithuanian statehood, and responded to a lesser or greater extent to historical events. Lithuanian military-historical songs comprise one of the most exhaustively Studied genres of singing folklore. This article attempts to provide a general overview and a diachronic segment of the development of the genre which may be considered a closed system. Based on extensive studies by other authors, this article discusses the basic Structural elements of the songs and the context for the existence of the songs which gave rise to the genre. The diachronic study of the military-historical song genre demonstrates a radical qualitative shift, from lyrical folk poetry and music without a focus on historical facts, to attributed or anonymous epic singing poetry verging on actual history texts. The concepts discovered in the semantic field of lyric folk poetry, it turns out, are universal and enduring. Besides their laconic content, they speak to the mentality of the nation (or at least to the female half of the nation). As real events and facts seep more and more into the songs, the sense of the epic increases in the singing folklore, along with the masculine principle. This Statement is, however, conditional. In mid-20th century “romancified” military-historical songs the male and female principles are almost undifferentiated. The ability to examine the genre historically means understanding the value of the subject. The ideas of the Enlightenment exalted the language of the people and their creations to such a level that later, at the end of the 19th century into the early 20th century, it allowed them to become the basis for the consolidation of nation-Slates. These are the ethno-cultural and linguistic values at the macro-level. At the micro-level, the value of folklore is determined by consideration of what is authentic/inauthentic, real/unreal and so on. This differentiation of folklore and singing folklore took place throughout the 20th century and had both positive and negative consequences. In the 21st century Statements by scholars about military-historical songs and their value have acquired a more objective form. The artistry of the songs, but also the complicated connections between value-systems, are now apparent. The determination of values and the elimination from public circulation of certain Strata of folklore make it impossible to speak about the subject objectively. There are clearly missing links in the entire genre of military-historical songs. What non-Lithuanian repertoire Lithuanian soldiers serving in foreign armies over different historical periods sang is simply a matter of speculation and the imagination. Even though it’s nearly impossible to recreate the situation at the beginning of the 20th century and earlier, the Soviet period could reveal some important continuities. The Lithuanian singing folklore in today’s Lithuanian military is a specific part of the whole rather diverse musical repertoire. It is used episodically and considered a symbolic element for representing the Lithuanian character and identity. Making classical folklore more topical or creating new works depends, as the history of the 20th century shows, on political will or threats arising