''Broliai (Brothers)'' is an album by the Lithuanian band

Skylė SKYLĖ (Hole/Chasm) is a band formed in Vilnius in 1991. The main principles of the band is the spread of alternative music and poetic thoughts based on philosophy, mythology and history. To date, band released 14 albums. Band biography Skyl� ...

released in 2010. It is a concept album to commemorate the

Lithuanian partisans Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in E ...

who waged a

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...

in Lithuania against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1944–1953. The album was released in two formats – regular

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

CD and a special edition in a fabric case with the embroidered band logo.

History

The first concept was proposed to Rokas Radzevičius by Dalia Kuodytė, head of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania. She suggested covering songs of the

.Bernardinai.lt: Broliams, nugalėjusiems mirtį
/ref> The diary of the partisan Lionginas Baliukevičius-Dzūkas was the inspiration to record a concept album as a commemoration and a sign of respect for the partisans. A promotional limited edition publication containing two upcoming songs from the album – ''"Priesaika"'' and ''"Tėveli"'' – was released in 2009. The money received from the publication was used for the release of "Broliai". A vinyl version was released in 2018 to mark the centenary of the country's independence.

Concept

The song ''"Karingei augo"'' contains a fragment of a

sutartinė Lithuanian folk songs (in Lithuanian: ) are often noted for not only their mythological content but also their relating historical events. Lithuanian folk music includes romantic songs, wedding songs, as well as work songs and archaic war s ...

(''"Augo karutis, karingei augo"'') which was written down in 1849 in

Zarasai Zarasai () is a city in northeastern Lithuania, surrounded by many lakes and rivers: to the southwest of the city is Lake Zarasas, to the northLake Zarasaitis, to the southeastLake Baltas, and the eastLake Griežtas. Lakes Zarasaitis and Griežtas ...

region, the melody of which did not survive.from the album „Broliai" booklet. The songs "Nebelauki manęs" and "Neužmerk akių" contain authentic lyrics by two female partisans, Diana Glemžaitė and an unnamed partisan known as ''"Laukinukė"'' (wild girl). The lyrics of sutartinė used in ''"Tėveli"'' were written down in 1931 (sung by Antanas Sidabris from the village of Sidabrinė; the original melody did not survive). The first verse of ''"Dubysa"'' was taken from the poem ''"Laisvės ilgesys"'' by Aušrinė. The album reflects on a story of one man: his life, love, the tragedy of his nation, farewell, retreat into the forest, life in hiding, betrayal, fear of death, etc. The song ''"Aštuoni karžygiai"'' is dedicated to the eight partisan leaders who gathered in the Prisikėlimas district (village of

Minaičiai Minaičiai or Mėnaičiai is a village in Lithuania, located on the Šušvė River. It has a primary school. According to the 2011 census, it had 179 residents. History After World War II, the homestead of Stanislovas Miknius hid a bunker of Leon ...

) in February 1949 and established the

Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters or Movement for the Struggle for Lithuanian Freedom ( or LLKS) was a resistance organization of the Lithuanian partisans, waging a guerrilla war against the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II. The o ...

. The song ''"Klajūnė"'' is dedicated to all the women who joined or otherwise assisted the partisan movement. The song ''"Paskutinė kulka"'' is dedicated to Lionginas Baliukevičius-Dzūkas, while ''"Broliai aitvarai"'' was inspired by the insights found in his diary on his brothers-in-arms who no longer feared death (''"broliai, nugalėję mirtį"'', brothers who have defeated death).

Track listing

The album was composed by Rokas Radzevičius, track 16 was composed in collaboration with Gediminas Žilius.

Featured artists

Skylė: *

Aistė Smilgevičiūtė Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (born 29 October 1977) is a Lithuanian singer. She performs folk music, jazz, pop rock, and other kinds of alternative music. Since 1996, Smilgevičiūtė has been a member of the music band " Skylė". Smilgevičiūtė w ...

– vocals * Rokas Radzevičius – vocals, acoustic guitar * Mantvydas Kodis –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

* Kęstutis Drazdauskas – lumzdelis, backing vocals * Jonas Krivickas – electric guitar, backing vocals * Gediminas Žilys – bass guitar,

kanklės The ''kanklės'' () is a Lithuanian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery, along with the Latvian '' kokles'', Estonian '' kannel'', Finnish '' kantele'', and Russian '' ...

jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

, backing vocals * Salvijus Žeimys – drums Guest musicians: * Aurimas Maldūnas – backing vocals * Mindaugas Savičenko – backing vocals * Renuaras Krivelis – backing vocals * Vytautas Bazaras – backing vocals * Andrius Kulikauskas – arrangements for strings * Vytautas Mikeliūnas – violin * Ugnė Jauniškytė – violin * Tomas Savickas –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

* Onutė Švabauskaitė – cello

References

External links

CD "Broliai" on the ''Skylė'' e-store

DVD "Broliai" on the ''Skylė'' e-store

"Broliai" concert playlist on ''Youtube''

"Broliai" album on ''iTunes''

"Broliai" album on "Klicktrack Music Store" e-store

"Broliai" album on ''Pakartot.lt''

"Broliai" album on ''Spotify''

"Broliai" album on ''Deezer''
{{Authority control 2010 albums Skylė albums