Neither a Song nor a Poem – Sung Poetry

Brightly lit large stages, spectacular costumes and plenty of musical instruments are an inseparable part of pop music concerts. The rhythm, loud sound and the show are much more important than the song lyrics when listening to such performers. This is exactly why sung poetry, which focuses on the lyrics of songs, is often called the opposite of popular music. The godfather of sung poetry in Lithuania Vytautas Kernagis once said, ‘Sung poetry is really a counterweight to the cheap, worn-out words of our pop songs.’

The performers of sung poetry are called bards. Their songs are usually based on works by famous Lithuanian poets or poems written by the bards themselves. Musical instruments (most often a guitar, less often a violin or a piano) support and create the right mood, so that the listener can focus on the words. The bards combine singing and recitation in their performances. The most famous artists in this genre are actors or musicians with acting skills: Vytautas Kernagis, Kostas Smoriginas, Gediminas Storpirštis, Alina Orlova.

The story of bards goes back to the Middle Ages – these traveling musicians recited poetry accompanied by musical instruments in manors and town squares. Sung poetry was born in Lithuania in the 1960s. The country was under the Soviet rule at the time. By performing Lithuanian poetry and folklore, the bards reminded their listeners of how beautiful the Lithuanian language, the foundation of our identity, is. Vytautas Kernagis is considered to be the pioneer of sung poetry in Lithuania. In 1966, he recorded a song based on the poem Margi Sakalai (‘Multicoloured Falcons’) by the symbolist poet Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (1893–1967). This poem also talks indirectly about resistance to the Soviets: the falcons leave the darkened earth to bring new hope, symbolised by the lily of heaven, to humanity. Kernagis wrote about two hundred songs based on his own poems and of the works of poets such as Sigitas Geda, Marcelijus Martinaitis, and Juozas Erlickas. He popularised Kukučio Baladės (‘The Ballads of Kukutis’): strange and funny poems about Kukutis who was neither a human nor a bird. 

Today, sung poetry no longer seeks to resist the authorities. Its most important aim is to make the listener feel the power of poetry and music. Sung poetry is also performed by various bands: Aktorių Trio [Eng. Actors’ Trio], Liūdni Slibinai [Eng. Sad Dragons], Baltos Varnos [Eng. White Crows], Kamanių Šilelis [Eng. Bumblebee Pinewood]. Sung poetry festivals take place every year. The biggest ones are Akacijų Alėja [Eng. Acacia Alley] in Kulautuva, Purpurinis Vakaras [Eng. Purple Evening] in Anykščiai, and Tai Aš [Eng. That’s Me] in various Lithuanian cities. Bards create music for kids as well. For example, Gediminas Storpirštis has recorded songs with his son Ainis Storpirštis. The most popular of these is Aš Labai Bijau Varlės (‘I'm Very Scared of Frogs’).