LAMENTS AND FAREWELL HYMNS AS TWO TRADITIONAL GENRES OF THE FUNERAL SINGING

• Authors: Hana Urbancová
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Funeral laments and farewell hymns represent two genetically and typologically distinct genres of the funeral singing, now at the stage of expiry or with their historical evolution already closed. The farewell hymns were derived from the European literary tradition of valedictions, which can be mapped back to the baroque period. The funeral laments are a component of the archaic layers of orally transmitted culture, with written records and sound recordings made predominantly during the 20th century. The song material from the territory of Slovakia and from the milieu of Slovak enclaves abroad (sound records of laments from oral tradition in the second half of the 20th century, manuscript records of farewell hymns from 19th century historical sources) became the starting-point for a comparison of these two genres of funeral singing, with the aim of identifying their common and distinguishing features. Using selected genre elements (attitude to death, lyrical subject, category of time, composition of the text, tunes) it was possible to identify their typological differences and to define their functions in the funeral ceremony.

Keywords

EN

FUNERAL SINGING; SONG GENRE; LAMENT; FAREWELL HYMN; POETICS; MUSICAL STYLE; SLOVAKIA

• Publisher: Institute of Ethnology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 62
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 209 – 220

Contributors

author

Hana Urbancová

• Ústav hudobnej vedy SAV, Dúbravská cesta 9, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovak Republic