It is a polyphonic form of music performed by female singers in north-east Lithuania. It is derived from the word sutarti, which means to be in harmony.
Several sutartines were recorded in the 19th and 20th centuries, but sources from the 16th century demonstrate their significance along with monophonic songs. 'Sutartines', or multipart songs (from Lithuanian sutarti - to be in concord with, to agree, singular sutartine), are uniquely composed folk songs. Polyphony is an ancient form of two and three-voiced vocal music based on the oldest principles of numerous voices: heterophony, parallelism, canon, and free imitation.
Generally, the songs are composed with the main text and a refrain. There are roughly forty styles and methods of performing Sutartinės. The primary way in which they are performed are by two singers in parallel seconds; by three singers in strict canon, each singer performing both phrases at staggered intervals; or by two groups of singers, each lead singer alternating between the main text and the refrain, before the second pair repeats.
It is usually sung by women, but men also play instruments such as pan-pipes, horns, long wood trumpets, fipple flutes, and plucked zithers to accompany their singing. Sutartines rarely have complex melodies, containing two to five pitches. The melodies often have two parts of equal length; one of those parts is sometimes syncopated, creating rhythmic counterpoint when sung in one round.
A rich and diverse poetic tradition of the sutartines reflects their role in the social fabric. Most liturgical folk song genres are covered in sutartines, including work, calendar cycle rituals, rites of marriage, family, wartime, and historical events. It features uncomplicated choreography and moderate movements, such as walking as a circle or star with arms linked and feet stamped. Despite the fact that the movements of the dance are quite reserved and slow, the rhythms are clear and accented.
The dance sutartines are humorous and spirited. This variety of lexical vocables is one of the most interesting characteristics of the sutartines (sodauto, lylio, ratilio, tonarilio, dauno, kadujo, čiūto, etc.). Sutartin's are usually sung at a festival, a gathering, a wedding, or when performing everyday tasks. The language is fairly simple but very expressive and sonorous. Through their performance, cultural values are shared and a sense of cultural identity, continuity, and self-esteem is fostered.
Although the genre has almost disappeared among the population, however, many Lithuanian folklore ensembles keep the tradition alive by performing sutartines.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/sutartins-lithuanian-multipart-songs-00433) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_songs_of_Lithuania#Sutartin%C4%97s) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_folk_music#Sutartin%C4%97s_(multipart_songs))