Folk Music

Back in 2017 I had the chance to have a very inspiring meeting with Arman Valesyan, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Project Manager and UNDP Project Assistant Ruzanna Hayrapetyan, in Yerevan, Armenia.
After 2 years they shared with me the remarkable results of their work. What was at the time mostly a series of smart ideas on paper, is now a new reality on the ground. And this means: new promotion of territory, culture, tradition, countryside; new jobs, a refreshed involvement of local communities and of well-educated young professionals.

This essay examines the use of proverbs and proverbial language in the music and life of Bob Dylan. Through the lens of peremiology, it explores current Dylan scholarship including: biographies, literary studies, Dylan interviews, and his extensive catalogue of music in order to understand the way that proverbs and proverbial language influence his work and audiences. It also explores the extent that they also reflect his life experiences and philosophical viewpoints.

A controversial interpretation of a text could ask textual critics of texts relatively ancient to choose between preserve and correct. Preserving, in a critical way, could be the right choice in textual restoration, but often textual critics choose to unduly emend according to modern language. It happens more often in rising philologies as the one applied to Sardinian poetic texts, where a philological school has missed and the period of Sardinian linguistic history from the 15th to 18th century is scarcely known. Through examples from the Sardinian poetic tradition (Antonio Cano, Francesco Ignazio Mannu, Pisurzi) the paper describes cases where the corrections are made not because of errors (assumed) but because of lectiones difficiliores under the linguistic angle, or becoming of such nature according to the modern perception. The process through which the textual critics make this kind of corrections is similar to the process that underlies to the transmission of texts where misreading and recoding confirm the concept of diasystem applied to textual criticism (Cesare SEGRE); in Sardinian case (as in others cases of bilingualism or various degrees of diglossia) the concept can be complicated by the stratification of different linguistic diasystems, consisting in the interference between Sardinian language and prestige varieties which it had been interacting with over ages.


L’alternativa fra conservare e correggere può presentarsi all’editore di testi relativamente antichi davanti a un passo di lettura controversa. Conservare, criticamente, può essere la scelta giusta nella restituzione testuale, mentre può accadere che gli editori emendino inopportunamente secondo usi linguistici moderni. Ciò avviene più di frequente in filologie nascenti come quella applicata ai testi poetici in sardo, dove è mancata una scuola specifica e si ha una conoscenza ancora vaga di un’epoca della storia linguistica sarda che va dal XV al XVIII secolo. Con esempi tratti dalla tradizione poetica sarda (Antonio Cano, Francesco Ignazio Mannu, Pisurzi) si mostrano casi in cui le correzioni editoriali agiscono non su errori (supposti) ma su lezioni difficiliores sotto il profilo linguistico, o divenute tali per la sensibilità moderna. Il processo che porta l’editore a correzioni di questo genere è sovrapponibile a quello della tradizione dei testi in cui travisamenti e ricodifiche confermano la nozione di diasistema applicata alla critica testuale (Cesare SEGRE); nella situazione sarda (come in altre situazioni di bilinguismo o diglossia a vari gradi) la nozione può complicarsi nel senso di uno stratificarsi di differenti diasistemi linguistici, costituiti dall’interferenza fra lingua sarda e lingue di prestigio con cui essa nel tempo è venuta in contatto.

По мере угасания фольклорных традиций возрастает роль фондов фольклорно-этнографических материалов как хранилищ нематериального культурного наследия России. В течение ХХ столетия в них были сосредоточены результаты собирательской и исследовательской деятельности нескольких поколений российских ученых; это сотни тысяч звукозаписей и громадный объем рукописных материалов (полевых тетрадей и дневников собирателей, нотных транскрипций, стенограмм устных выступлений ведущих ученых и др.). Абсолютное их большинство по сей день не опубликовано. Необходимо подчеркнуть, что эти материалы не только являются памятниками истории и культуры нашего отечества, но также представляют собой ценнейший источник, как для дальнейшего развития народоведческих наук, так и для деятельности практиков – руководителей и участников профессиональных и самодеятельных фольклорных коллективов.

В статье рассматриваются основные проблемы, связанные с состоянием фондов фольклорно-этнографических материалов и работой по координации деятельности направленной на их сохранение.

The article deals with the main problems associated with the state of the funds of folklore and ethnographic materials and work on the coordination of activities aimed at their preservation.

A partir de uma etnografia extensiva e intensiva realizada na raia do Baixo Alentejo, entrelaçada com fontes documentais e bibliográficas trago ao debate a "cultura popular" como construção social em permanente atualização, para questionar os processos que atribuem visibilidade e invisibilidade a práticas musicais, tomando por eixo central a ação das mulheres na preservação do cante alentejano.

Ανάμεσα σε άλλους παράγοντες, η μουσική εκπαίδευση των πρώτων δεκαετιών του 20ού αιώνα είχε κανονιστικό χαρακτήρα στη διαμόρφωση του ρεπερτορίου και του αισθητικού κριτηρίου που σχετίζονται με τη δημοτική μουσική. Οι μέθοδοι και οι πρακτικές με τις οποίες εκπαιδεύτηκαν οι τότε μελλοντικοί δάσκαλοι πολλές φορές δεν συμβαδίζουν ή δεν αποτυπώνονται στα εγχειρίδια και τα αναλυτικά προγράμματα της εποχής. Η μελέτη των διαφορετικών προσεγγίσεων των παιδαγωγών της εποχής  εκείνης σε συνάρτηση με τις αντίστοιχες πρακτικές των εκπαιδευτικών ιδρυμάτων συνεισφέρει στη διακρίβωση των νοοτροπιών και αισθητικών αντιλήψεων, προσφέροντας ταυτόχρονα στοιχεία για τη μελέτη του βαθμού διάχυσης συγκεκριμένων μουσικοπαιδαγωγικών πρακτικών, αισθητικών προτύπων και ρεπερτορίου. Στην παρούσα μελέτη παρουσιάζονται θεωρητικές προσεγγίσεις του Μίλτου Κουντουρά που αφορούν στη λαϊκή παράδοση και τη δημοτική μουσική, καθώς και γενικές και ειδικές μουσικοπαιδαγωγικές πρακτικές που συστηματοποιήθηκαν κατά τη συνεργασία του με τον Ευάγγελο Καραηλία, καθηγητή μουσικής στο Διδασκαλείο Θηλέων Θεσσαλονίκης. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, εξετάζεται ο γενικός προσανατολισμός και επιμέρους επιλογές στο διδακτικό υλικό, στη συνάφειά τους με τις προτάσεις διάφορων εκπροσώπων του εκπαιδευτικού δημοτικισμού και αναλύονται μουσικά τεκμήρια που ανήκουν στις επιλογές του Κουντουρά όσο και υλικό διαμορφωμένο από τον Καραηλία. Για τις ανάγκες της παρούσας μελέτης αξιοποιήθηκε υλικό από το Αρχείο Ελληνικής Μουσικής του Γιώργου Κωνστάντζου και το Αρχείο Ευάγγελου Καραηλία, τμήμα του Αρχείου Ελληνικής Μουσικής της Μουσικής Βιβλιοθήκης Λίλιαν Βουδούρη.

The "cantores" are male performers who in Sardinia sing (and intoned) the traditional polyvocal religious songs in churches and confraternities, to musically enrich the functions and religious processions. The polyvocality of Sardinian music, in general, is usually composed by four voices: “su bassu” (basso), “sa contra” (or cronta, controvoce), “sa voche” (voce) e sa mesuvoche (mezza voce). The “cantores de cresia” (church singers) were specialists in the liturgical repertoire, “cantores de sas corfarias” (singers of the brotherhoods) of paraliturgical chants. In Sardinia, religious polyvocality is often (but not always) indicated by expression "a cuncordu". The essay (2001) is dedicated to the memory of  Giovanni Dore (organologist, 1930-2009).

W tradycyjnej kulturze ludowej, muzyka stanowi niewątpliwie znaczący element. Jest
twórczym, ekspresyjnym wyrazem pojmowania świata przez społeczność wiejską, towarzyszy jej
zarówno w najważniejszych momentach życia, takich jak obrzędy, rytuały, święta, jak i w tych
powszednich, codziennych. To muzyka służy człowiekowi, stanowi jego narzędzie, którym
posługuje się z zamiłowaniem. W kulturze tradycyjnej muzyka wyłania się z przestrzeni
wypełnionej ciszą – tak pojmowana, jest dla współczesnego człowieka czymś mistycznym,
niezwykłym, zaś dla mieszkańca wsi polskiej XVII, XIX czy XX wieku była prawdopodobnie
naturalnym i nieodłącznym składnikiem otoczenia.
W swojej pracy postaram się ukazać, w jaki sposób we współczesnej, zurbanizowanej
rzeczywistości, muzyka, zwana tradycyjną, może wyłaniać się już nie spośród ciszy, lecz z hałasu
miast, a przede wszystkim spośród dźwięków innych gatunków muzyki.

Geyve is a county that is within the borders of Sakarya. Geyve is a transition point that has combined the history with geographical importance. Being close  to some locations such as Bursa-İznik-Bolu-İstanbul increases the significance culturally. There are 7 folk songs being registered from Sakarya in the Turkish Folk Music Repertoire of Turkish Radio and Television Association (TRT). The fact of being registered 5 of these 7 folk songs from Geyve reveals its importance in terms of music culture. We compiled 20 folk songs as a result of field studies done in different dates. Compiled folk songs were analyzed in varied aspects. We aimed to show the musical structure of Geyve and compare them with other regions in consequence of our studies. Personal interviews, field studies and literature review are used methods in this study.

Faces of Tradition in Chinese Performing Arts examines the key role of the individual in the development of traditional Chinese performing arts such as music and dance. These artists and their artistic works—the “faces of tradition”—come to represent and reconfigure broader fields of cultural production in China today. The contributors to this volume explore the ways in which performances and recordings, including singing competitions, textual anthologies, ethnographic videos, and CD albums, serve as discursive spaces where individuals engage with and redefine larger traditions and themselves. By focusing on the performance, scholarship, collection, and teaching of instrumental music, folksong, and classical dance from a variety of disciplines—including ethnomusicology, folklore studies, and dance ethnology—these case studies highlight the importance of the individual in determining how traditions have been and are represented, maintained, and cultivated.

Contributors: Charlotte D'Evelyn, Emily Wilcox, Sue Tuohy, Helen Rees, and Levi S. Gibbs.

ISBN: 978-0-253-04586-7
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?cPath=1037_3130_8852&products_id=809862

The traditional Manx song Marrinys yn Tiger (The Voyage of the Tiger) tells how a group of Manxmen in 1778 bought a ship, the Tiger, with the intent to make some profit as privateers. They captured a Dutch ship. Apart from the song, the adventure left traces in Dutch newspapers of the time.

En el año 1889 se comercializaron en EEUU los primeros cilindros de cera que contenían grabaciones musicales. Estas grabaciones podían escucharse con auriculares de tubo mediante el fonógrafo de Edison en salones fonográficos y otros espacios urbanos ubicados en las zonas de ocio de numerosas ciudades del país. Sin embargo, fue a partir de 1896 cuando estos reproductores musicales comenzaron a tener un uso doméstico. Aprovechando la presencia de artistas españoles en el continente americano, la National Phonograph Company y la Columbia Phonograph Company realizaron numerosas grabaciones que contienen música extraída de la zarzuela, el género chico,  la canción de salón y el folclore regional.
Con el título De cera y Goma Laca. La producción de música española en la industria fonográfica estadounidense (1896-1914), Kiko Mora, profesor de semiótica audiovisual de la Universidad de Alicante, elabora un estudio preliminar, con entronque cuantitativo e historiográfico, de la producción musical española de carácter comercial en la primera mitad de su etapa acústica en los Estados Unidos de América.
¿Cuál fue el volumen total de producción musical y cuáles fueron los años más relevantes? ¿En qué ciudades se grabaron las piezas musicales y cuáles fueron sus contextos de producción? ¿Quiénes fueron los artistas y los compositores españoles más prolíficos? ¿Qué géneros y piezas musicales fueron los predominantes? Este libro ofrece respuestas a estas preguntas y abre un nuevo itinerario para otros estudios relacionados con la presencia de la música española y su interacción con otras músicas en los inicios de la industria discográfica más más influyente del siglo XX.

The fate of reality in medievalist fantasy fiction: Harry Potter and the Christian Right


J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis wrote, in different ways, the Christian reality they desired; their writing upheld that reality in the face of its threatened demise. Both men made worlds which were medievalised in various ways the setting for enticing glimpses of what Lewis called ‘the only real “other world” we know, that of the spirit’ (On Stories 12). Lewis’ ‘medieval model’ provided the security of an orderly, meaningful, abiding reality. Their writing upheld that central reality of the spirit in the face of its threatened demise in a materialistic world.

As Tolkien and Lewis feared, the spiritual reality they sought to maintain has been further undermined since their time. In fact, trust in an abiding reality of any kind, Christian or otherwise, has been severely undermined since they were writing it in the mid-20th century.
This undermining is nowhere more apparent than in fantasy fiction. I have taken the furore around the Harry Potter series and the threat it has posed for conservative Christian communities in North America as a case study to address in a small way the large question of how reality is forged and maintained and how it is eroded. I am more concerned in this essay with the medievalism of the Christian Right response, based on their own beliefs and their (sometimes critical) readings of Tolkien’s and Lewis’s medievalism than with the medievalism of the books themselves. I base my argument on the psychoanalytic (Lacanian) notion that reality is itself a fantasy. In this light the reality we provide for ourselves and our children is a roughly consensual fantasy narrative which works well enough for us to get by together most of the time.

The difficulty arises when parents disagree about reality. The consensual reality of the mainstream West excludes another set of parents of an evangelical or fundamentalist persuasion, like the three who contacted Canadian Catholic author Michael D. O’Brien in a state of  acute anxiety over Harry Potter. O’Brien was persuaded to take up the cudgels against Harry and so wrote, inter alia, Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture. He claims that ‘we are living […] in a vast multi-dimensional war zone, a great deal of which is invisible to our eyes’ (15). Harry Potter is just one instance of ‘new strategies being brought to bear against mankind’ (15).

The cosmic scale of the battle is constantly asserted by conservative Christians on both sides of the debate. This is a multi-dimensional war in which Christians must take up arms. The anxious repetition of the call to arms makes me wonder if, in the minds of conservative Christians, God Himself is threatened and might need the assistance of humanity in the battle against His old Adversary. What would be lost if Christians lost the battle? Could reality itself be changed and if so, how?

What these Christians have to say suggests that the power to make or change reality resides in words. My essay reflects on the kinds of relationship postulated between words and reality which could produce such effects.

Helen Dell
University of Melbourne

This work is dedicated to Pietro Sassu's  memory , died in 2001. “Canto a tenore” is called the traditional profane vocal polyphony in Sardinia, performed by four voices: “boche”, “bassu”, “contra”, “mesuvoche”. Paolo Mercurio has studied the repertoire of Sardinian music since early '80s, with Giuseppe Mercurio, Roberto Leydi, Sandra Mantovani and Pietro Sassu. The work is a basic text Sardinian's musical literature. Structured in dialogue's form, it is the result of passionate researchs, developed in direct contact with the main exponents Sardinian's vocal and instrumental tradition. As for monographic works written by author on Sardinian music, you can see the biographical notes.

For the beginning student of folklore, an answer to the question “Who are the folk?” can provide both a fascinating and informative background on the subject of folklore. Who are the Folk? Written by Alan Dundes is one of the best descriptions available. This article elaborates folklore science and weight of folk perspective in study of folklore. Dundes’ discussion on the history of folklore study and concept of folk will take the readers to a confirm pronouncement that every human commune constituted of individuals possessing common cultural characteristics and behavioral patterns regardless of their socio-economic class in any context are folk. Folk may have unity of geographic boundary or beyond any physical boundary – unity of religion, belief, occupation, and even institution etc. Folk must not mean illiterate or rural or underclass. The group of Atomic Scientists has their own folklore and they are a folk group of course. Mass use of computer has created new folk. In fact, folklore is eternal, so is the folk. Every individual belongs to a group or community or a number of groups or communities. Everyone may claim that we are the folk.

The socialist and feminist novelist Angela Carter (1940-1992) is one of the most acclaimed late-Twentieth Century English writers, famous for short stories such as The Bloody Chamber and novels such as Nights at the Circus and Wise Children.  This book investigates Angela Carter’s life and work in the West Country, where she lived in Clifton, Bristol (1961-1969) and Walcot, Bath (1973-1976).

The purpose of this book is two-fold. First, it is to discover and reveal some of Angela Carter’s non-literary influences during her formative years as a writer in the West Country. Second, its primary intention is to take her location in 1960’s Clifton, Bristol and 1970’s Walcot, Bath as a point of departure to explore the broader artistic, radical and experimental communities that flourished in those years.

Based on new oral-history interviews and primary sources, Angela Carter’s ‘Provincial Bohemia’ offers new perspectives on Angela Carter’s experience of alternative Bristol with its radical politics and creative arts scene, exploring its influence on the three novels set in the city Shadow Dance (1966), Several Perspectives (1968) and Love (1971).

This article examines the ways in which Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis is constructed ‘authentic’ in the media. Two narratives that I call ‘narrative of origins’ and ‘narrative of professionalism’ construct her authenticity as a representative of the folk music scene. Fowlis represents the new Gaelic speaker, but is presented in terms of stereotypical imagery connected to Scotland, which portrays tradition as stagnant, quaint and in need of preservation. However, she is also presented as a professional artist, remaking and reinterpreting the tradition of a living culture that she represents. Thus, here authenticity ascribed on the artist is viewed as a cultural memory device, built on the interaction of individual collective levels of remembering and the process of premediation with it. The material analysed consists of printed and electronic articles, concert and album reviews, and interviews written about Fowlis. The theoretical framework is based on the discussion on the concept of authenticity and on memory studies.