Psalmu mūzikas identitāte latviešu un lietuviešu katoļu bēru rituālos: kā mantojums tas ir?
ENThe object of the research ñ the ritual Psalm music in Lithuanian and Latvian Catholic funerals. The aim of the research ñ to reveal the origin of ritual Psalm music in Lithuanian and Latvian Catholic funerals. The tasks of the research: to identify the sort of the sacred music in Lithuanian and Latvian Catholic funerals; to show its similarities and differences; to state the origin of this music and give reasons for Lithuanian and Latvian choice. In order to reach these goals, a lot of materials gathered during the summer expeditions of 1992-2003 at the frontiers of Lithuania (Žagarė district) and Latvia (Dobele district) were analyzed. The research leads to such conclusions: Latvian Catholic singers at funeral usually sing thirty four Psalms, and Lithuanian - fifteen. Only five psalms are common to both Latvians and Lithuanians; Latvian Catholic tradition of singing psalms at funeral goes back to the 16th century while in Lithuania and Poland it is the inheritance of counter-reformation when Jesuit colleges had been opened in Riga and Vilnius, and they started their tridentine ñ counter-reformist mission in Curonia - in Semigallia, Samogitia and later in Latgallia; the practice of singing Psalms was the form of fighting against the tsarist Russia and for the independence (political and religious) both by Latvians and Lithuanians; the research of the melodies of the Psalms show that neither Latvians nor Lithuanians followed the melodies of the neighboring countries, and each of them is of local origin. The given conclusions prove the hypothesis that Catholic funeral Psalm music among Latvians and Lithuanians is identical. This identity is the result of intermingled religious cultures of the 17th-19th centuries between Latvian and Lithuanian Lutheran and Reformed Churches together with Catholics, especially Jesuits.
