PORINGÉ FOLKLORO ANSAMBLIS
Melodiya, 1989, S30 28705 004
This album is largely dedicated to singing as side B shows. Female group singing (dainuoja mergaitès) is the most important, then male group singing (dainuoja visi) and finally mixed group singing. All these songs come from the area around Varèna.
On side A we can listen to some instrumental music with the skudučiai a set of tubes played individually by several people creating a kind of polyphony. Now one player might have up to three pipes tied together for himself but the playing is still the same.
Another typical instrument is the popular oboe called byrbiné with a single or a double reed once played by shepherds to control their herds.
But maybe the most popular instrument is the kanklès a zither related to the other Baltic zither and Russian gusli.
Some of the instrumental parts sound like European music from the 19th century but some seem pretty much older like sounds to accompany agricultural or forestry rituals. We must remember that the Baltic people were largely pagans as late as the 13th century which led to the invasion of the Teutonic Knights who had come to convert them by force.