Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council, 7, 1975
B. N.
R. P. Elbourne
Walter Wiora
Abstract: English Summary. Our International Folk Music Council that includes so many nations is spreading further and further throughout the world. At the same time the subject with which it is concerned is extending to include music of all mankind. In these and other aspects, (such as the consideration of music in the context of life), its development leads to the topic "Musica humana." Thus we are dealing beyond the history of an ancient idea with a basic problem of the present day. I. The classical conception of Musica humana In an age-old view of the world, which originated in antiquity and remained alive well into modern times, the term Musica humana meant the harmony of the psychophysical organism which seemed to be related to the harmony of the cosmos as well as to the harmony of sonorous music (musica mundana et sonora). This provided an explanation for the fact that pulsating rhythms and harmonious interrelations of sound had such agreeable and vivid effects and that, on the other hand, dull and melancholy persons lacking inner harmony could not be reached by music (Shakespeare: "The man that hath no music in himself..."). -- In an extended sense of the term, "musica humana": is said to be innate in man's nature. There is nothing more characteristic of humanity than finding delight and stimulation in music. Thus, everywhere in the world laymen and children sing and dance. Since barbarians, however, are not human in the full sense of the word, music is said to contribute to a higher degree of humanity and to promote the "humanization of mankind." -- Such ideas had extremely practical significance, before and since the Renaissance. They became leading ideas in several movements of musical composition, musical societies and education, especially in philanthropy and Viennese classicism. II. The withdrawal from Musica humana in more recent times The conception of musica humana did not dominate exclusively in any period. It was confronted since an early stage with the reproduction in sound of beings outside human-kind, desensualization, tendencies in spiritualist religion, and with a higher degree of artificialization; the contempt of laymen reached to the accordance of equal status to layman and animal ("... diffinitur bestia"). In the age of industrialization many activities previously carried out by human beings are now carried out by apparatus. Music is withdrawing from the context of life and becoming autonomous. Making music oneself, creating proper styles and folk traditions have all decreased in significance. Thus music plays a part in the alienation of man from himself. New humanist movements, however, such as the revival of folk song, took music as a human counterbalance to industrialization, but in recent decades influential currents have turned away radically from musica humana, thinking its ideas trivial, amateurish or discredited by having been used for political purposes. It was denied that music had any power or any claim to form human character, and it was said that at school it should primarily contribute to the development of powers of rational analysis and reflection. Some types of composition strove to reach highly sophisticated structures and to express pain and shock. What was once thought to be innate ("musica nobis innata") now seemed to have been proved to be a mere listening habit, replaceable by other listening habits. This relativism in production corresponds to historicism in the world of learning and to the ethnomusicological supposition predominant since Ellis that there are not universal human qualities in the musical system or in rhythm and that the former belief was based on an illusory generalization of occidental norms. III. About recent conditions and towards new goals. Both a belief in those ancient ideas and a radical rejection of them are dogmatic. We may follow neither the authority of Adorno, nor that of Boethius. A critical anthropology of music, which goes beyond the limits of ethnology, should examine to what extent these ideas are correct. In general anthropology, in ethnology, in humanistic psychology, the assumption that everything in man, from culture to culture, from epoch to epoch, is different, is now considered obsolete. Man is less fixed than are other species of animals, but can vary only within the range of the relatively stable structure of his fundamental qualities. The International Folk Music Council is in a special position for participating in scholarly and practical tasks. A number of considerations in this line are discussed: 1) In contrast to other institutions, the Council does not regard the term "music" narrowly, but includes song, with its words, and dance. 2) The more folk music research develops its anthropological orientation, the more it will devote itself not only to the musical product but also to the study of man and his activities as they relate to music. 3) Mankind has not remained the same since its beginnings; and thus the proper approach to understanding mankind is a combination of systematic with historical investigation between extreme universalism and extreme relativism. 4) The subject of folk music research encompasses the social (and correspondingly psychological) bases of humanity. 5) Herder wished not only to collect the voices of peoples, but rather, to speak to the concept of humanity within which cultures differ; and he wished to struggle in behalf of the dignity and against the suppression of the world's peoples.
William P. Malm
Ljubica S. Jankovic, Ljubica S. Janković
B. C. Deva
Josef Kuckertz
Brian Bebbington
Laszlo Vikar, László Vikár
Abstract: English Summary. For more than a thousand years the Middle Volga region has been the meeting place of various peoples. From the north this territory was occupied by Finno-Ugrians, from the east by Turkic-speaking ethnic groups, and from the west by Slavic settlers. Although these peoples, arriving here from various directions and at various times, retained numerous elements of their ancient culture, they exerted, as a matter of course, influence on each other as well. In our day, the musical tradition of the peoples of the Middle Volga region contains a considerable number of Tatar elements. Here we have less in mind the taking over of melodies than the spread of a style of performance of improvisation and ornamentation. The influence of the Tatar music can be well traced in the folk music of the Bashkirs, the closest people to them, as well as in that of the Chuvash, Cheremis and Votyak peoples. Based upon original sound recordings made in past years in the middle Volga region, the paper introduces different types of improvisation occurring in the area. Laments, dance music with instrumental accompaniment, a number of melodies connected with certain customs and ceremonies, and in general songs of free rhythm provide a large scope for improvisation. Change is a sign of life. The more somebody or something changes or is capable of changing, the more vital he is. The same holds for music. Alteration, however, never extends over the whole melody. The constant and the changing elements exist side by side and will only slowly be substituted. Variation and improvisation are restrained by the immense force of tradition that safely preserves the basic sounds of a melody so that changes can occur only under definite circumstances.
Suzanne Youngerman
Irene Markoff
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Gary H. Gossen
Review Author[s]:
E. Thomas Stanford
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Balint Sarosi, Bálint Sárosi
Review Author[s]:
Robert Austerlitz
----------------, 154-156
John G. McCurry
Review Author[s]:
June Lord-Wood
----------------, 157-158
Harold E. Cook
Review Author[s]:
Doris J. Dyen
----------------, 158-159
R. Gordon Wasson
Review Author[s]:
Charles L. Boiles, Charles L. Boilés
----------------, 159-160
David W. Ames, Anthony V. King
Review Author[s]:
Charlotte J. Frisbie
----------------, 160-162
Josef Kuckertz
Review Author[s]:
Regula Qureshi
----------------, 162-164
Vmanrao H. Deshpande, S. H. Deshpande
Review Author[s]:
Elise B. Barnett
----------------, 164-165
Elise B. Barnett
Review Author[s]:
Josef Kuckertz
----------------, 165-166
Alphons Silbermann
Review Author[s]:
K. Peter Etzkorn
----------------, 166
Roderyck Lange
Review Author[s]:
Douglas N. Kennedy
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Otto Andersson, Greta Dahlstrom
Review Author[s]:
Pat Shuldan Shaw
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Maja Boskovic-Stulli, Maja Bosković-Stulli
Review Author[s]:
Barbara Krader
----------------, 168-171
Review Author[s]:
Monique Brandily
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Review Author[s]:
Monique Brandily
----------------, 173-174
Review Author[s]:
Tran Quang Hai, Trân Quang Hai
----------------, 174-176
Review Author[s]:
Monique Brandily
----------------, 176-178
Review Author[s]:
Monique Brandily
----------------, 178
Review Author[s]:
Andre-Marie Despringre
----------------, 179
Jacques Brunet
Review Author[s]:
Tran Quang Hai, Trân Quang Hai
----------------, 179-180
Jacques Brunet
Review Author[s]:
Tran Quang Hai, Trân Quang Hai
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John Levy
John Levy
Review Author[s]:
Mireille Helffer
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Devar Surya Sena
Review Author[s]:
Tran Quang Hai, Trân Quang Hai
----------------, 183
Review Author[s]:
Tran Quang Hai, Trân Quang Hai
----------------, 184
Review Author[s]:
Tran Quang Hai, Trân Quang Hai
----------------, 184-185
Review Author[s]:
Marie-Jeanne Raveneau
----------------, 185
Review Author[s]:
Marie-Jeanne Raveneau
----------------, 185
Review Author[s]:
Marie-Jeanne Raveneau
----------------, 185-186
Review Author[s]:
Marie-Jeanne Raveneau
----------------, 186
Review Author[s]:
Marie-Jeanne Raveneau
----------------, 186-187
Review Author[s]:
Marie-Jeanne Raveneau