Paper short abstract:

The presentation will analyse the state and fate of the musical folklore of the native inhabitants of the Klaipėda region during the Soviet era. Two aspects are analysed: the folklore field research carried out here during the Soviet period and the folklore revival practices.

Paper long abstract:

In 2023, Lithuania celebrates the centenary of the annexation of the Klaipėda Region (part of the former Lithuania Minor ethnographic region) to the Republic of Lithuania. Administrative control of this ethnographic region changed five times over one hundred years. During World War II the majority of native residents died or were evacuated, and later emigrated or were deported to Siberia. The entire territory of the former Lithuania Minor was resettled with new people by the Soviet government after the war. The presentation will analyse the state and fate of the musical folklore of the native inhabitants of the Klaipėda region during the Soviet era. Two aspects are examined: the folklore field research carried out here during the Soviet period and the folklore revival practices. Folklore collectors recorded a sparse but valuable collection of musical folklore from the native inhabitants of the Klaipėda region. However, at the end of the 20th century, the end of the existence of the old folklore layer was established. However, in the second half of the 20th century, a folklore revival movement emerged in Lithuania, as it did throughout Europe. The revitalization of folklore in the Klaipėda region was started and intensively developed by the first folklore ensemble "Vorusnė", founded in 1971.