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There is considerable material available about Lithuanian wedding customs. The first written sources are from the 16th and 17th centuries. The greatest amount of material can be found in 19th century academic periodicals and other publications on ethnography and folklore. A classic tome on the subject is A. Juðka's comprehensive description of wedding rites, Svodbinë reda. Weddings were major celebrations, lasting a week or longer, attended by the relatives, friends of both families, and included the entire village. The great variety of wedding customs gave rise to a wide array of folk poetry and musical forms. Different vocal and instrumental forms developed, such as lyrical, satirical, drinking and banqueting songs, musical dialogues, wedding laments, games, dances and marches. From an artistic standpoint the lyric songs are the most interesting. They reflect the entirety of the bride's life: her touching farewells to loved ones as she departs for the wedding ceremony or her husband's home, premonitions about the future, age-old questions about relationships between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and the innermost thoughts and emotions of the would-be bride. The rich repertoire of prenuptial lyric love songs is also often ascribed to the category of wedding songs, since the lyrics often have to do with upcoming weddings. During the actual wedding, the lyric songs were sung by the women and girls in chorus, often in the name of the bride. The bride herself usually did not sing. Ar jau visi sugula [mp3] Humorous-satirical wedding songs often poke fun at "the foreign party"—the groom and his groomsmen, brothers, friends and relatives. The wittiest and most biting humor is reserved for the svotas and svoèia, who are invited by the bride and groom to be the hosts or masters of ceremony at the wedding. These are usually sung by girls and women who don't play any other role in the wedding. The melodic style varies from region to region, depending on the area's traditions. In Dzûkija, for example, the songs mocking the groom and his party take on the tonal characteristics of laments and lullabies, which augment the intended effect. Traditional drinking and banqueting songs often sing of the hops, which cause trouble by making the barrels burst at the seams. These songs are also related to various wedding rituals, melodically they are similar to other songs in the wedding repertoire, and they are often lyrical in nature. Rygas kupèiai baranuoti [mp3] The bride's verkavimai (from the word verkti—to weep or sob) were an important part of the wedding ritual. They could be heard throughout the wedding celebration up until the bride's departure for the husband's home. Once she arrived there, her weeping was to cease. Verkavimai were free improvisations, although the imagery was quite standardized and did not vary. As young girls prepared for marriage they tried to commit the texts of these laments to memory by learning them from their mothers or "professional" village lamenters. Oi, þydëk, þydëk sausa obelële [mp3]
Compiled by Skirmantë Valiulytë
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