Archetypal symbols in the symphonic poem The Sea by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis

Abstract

We find many symbolic legacies in the creative and musical work of Lithuanian music composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875-1911). He processed cosmological, religious, national Lithuanian and natural motifs. The symphonic poem titled Jura (The Sea) from 1907 is saturated with archetypal symbols of the natural elements with a philosophical overlap. The study focuses on the analysis and interpretation of selected musical symbols in the structure of the work. The initially onomatopoeia effects of the composition get new significance and contexts during archetypal performance. The archetypal symbols of the composition refer to the patterns of the life cycle on the background of the ambivalent water element. The study has the objective to newly interpret the symphonic poem Jura in the context of archetypal symbolism.