Although Chopin’s music is continually analysed within the context of its affinities with traditional folk music, no one has any doubt that these are two separate musical worlds, functioning in different contexts and with different participants, although similarly alien to the aesthetic of mass culture. For a present-day listener, used to the global beat, music from beyond popular circulation must be “translated” into a language he/she can understand; this applies to both authentic folk music and the music of the great composer. In the early nineties, when folk music was flourishing in Poland (I extend the term “folk” to all contemporary phenomena of popular music that refer to traditional music), one could hardly have predicted that it would help to revive seemingly doomed authentic traditional music, and especially that it would also turn to Chopin. It is mainly the mazurkas that are arranged. Their performance in a manner stylised on traditional performance practice is intended to prove their essentially “folk” character. The primary factor facilitating their relatively unproblematic transformation is their descendental triple-time rhythms. The celebrations of the bicentenary of the birth of Fryderyk Chopin, with its scholarly and cultural events of various weight geared towards the whole of society, gave rise to further attempts at transferring the great composer’s music from the domain of elite culture to popular culture, which brings one to reflect on the role that folk music might play in the transmission and assimilation of artistic and traditional genres.
Music has accompanied people for thousands of years. It is sometimes necessary partner at work, at play, at rest. With its help the people most fully and most beautifully able to express their feelings. Is folk music still alive or what was left of the old tradition of music-making can still grab us and amaze? Is it possible to develop creative Polish folk? In recent years, there are clear relapse intotraditional music, you can even talk about the Renaissance.
The long-term research of the characteristics of Czech folk dance melodies reveald that the songs and instrumental melodies from the collections from the 19th and 20th centuries be divided into several distinct musical groups. Besides the already described types of triple meter, “round and round”, „ländler“, „mazurka“ or polonaise-like rytmical.melodical structures there is also a distinctive musical type, minet or folk minuet. The present study aims to confi rm the subjectively perceived musical quality of Czech minets through the method of computer structural analysis and to present them in the context of so far published historical researches and musicological analyses
In the 1990’s a new term pärimusmuusika (~‘traditional music’, literally ‘inheritance music’) has emerged in Estonia. The term was invented to stand for English traditional music, but its content is also close to world music, ethnic music, roots music and of course, to an older term rahvamuusika (‘folk music’). In the present study the development of the term pärimusmuusika will be analysed on the basis scholarly writings, journalese and memories of the authors. The theoretical basis for this analyse constitutes an idea that a term reflects a conception, so the changing terms indicate changes in music and its conceptualising. The older term rahvamuusika ‘folk music’ emerged in the early 1900’s and stood for rural music texts developed in oral tradition. In the 1960–70’s under the influence of Anglo-American folk music revival started a “new folk music” style (called folkmuusika) in Estonia, it meant mainly songs with profound lyrics accompanied on acoustical instruments, firstly guitar. As there was lack of Estonian term for that music style, and also for English traditional, an Estonian composer and musicologist Valter Ojakäär offered the term pärimuslaul, -viis (~‘traditional song, melody’) in 1986. The term pärimusmuusika put into circulation firstly as the title of the Viljandi Folk Music Festival in 1994 Viljandi Pärimusmuusika Festival and spread with the growing popularity of the Festival. The term pärimusmuusika stands for both old rural music styles and their adaptations (folk-rock, art choir music, etc.) in Estonia, to emphasise the continuity of local ethnic music tradition. Those ethnic styles are not referred to as ‘popular music’ (populaarmuusika), because this term refers to the Western influences; nor as ‘folk music (adaptations)’ in order to distinguish them from oldfashioned styles of secondary folklore, including clichés of staged folklore performances, folklore as low vulgar pastime, ideological adaptations made according to Soviet ideology, etc. So the conception of ‘inheritance music’ reflects a little bit opposite tendency freshly to revive the old Estonian ethnic music tradition and to mix it with contemporary music styles. Instead of ‘external authenticity’, i.e. punctual imitation of old sound recordings (or transcriptions), musicians try to catch ‘internal authenticity’, i.e. intuitive (re)creation of ethnic music.
Kandle-Juss, a simple, almost illiterate folk musician, was important for his own generation. With the disappearance of these people, Juss with his music also disappeared from the scene. Eduard Tubin is a worldwide known composer. His Kandle polka (zither polka) stands on its own when compared to his widely acknowledged piano works. Leida Idla has not considered herself as a composer, nor has anyone else. Her short pieces have purposeful characteristics and are only known by a small circle of enthusiasts of Ernst Idla’s methods. When comparing the three versions of polka tune, it can be seen that all of them – Eduard Tubin’s Kandle polka, Leida Idla’s Ringliikumine (circle move), and Kandle-Juss’s Vana polka Saaremaalt (old polka from Saaremaa) – are each a shining example of their genre. It might be questionable if we should compare a folk musician with a skilful improviser, and even more so with a famous composer. Kandle-Juss was not skilled enough to do much else than create a harmonic accompaniment to a melody. On the other hand, we have to admit that both Leida Idla and Eduard Tubin did exactly the same with that very same piece. They all had a specific purpose: one used the kannel (zither), the others – the piano, to enrich the melody. Kandle-Juss’s natural talent is in no way inferior as compared to that of professionals.
In the second half of the 19th century, when Oskar Kolberg conducted his folkloristic and ethnographic work, folk song and music were still alive and, to a great extent, functioned in their natural culture context. However, already at that time, and especially in the last decades of the century, gradual changes were taking place within folk tradition. Those changes were brought about by industrialization and factors in the development of urban civilization, which varied in intensity depending on the region. Folk music was also influenced by those changes and they themselves were further fuelled by the final (third) Partition of Poland by Austria, Prussia and Russia, declared in 1795 and lasting till the end of World War I. Oskar Kolberg noticed and described changes in the musical landscape of villages and little towns of the former Polish Republic in the 19th century, as well as in the choice of instruments. To be quite precise, musical instruments are not featured as a separate subject of his research, but various references, though scattered, are quite numerous, and are presented against a social, cultural and musical background, which provides an opportunity to draw certain conclusions concerning folk music instrumental practice. However, changes in the makeup of folk music ensembles resulted in the disappearance of traditional instruments, which were being replaced by the newer, factory-produced ones. This process worried Kolberg and he noticed its symptoms also in a wider, European context, where bagpipes or dulcimers were being supplanted not only by “itinerant orchestras” but also by barrel organs or even violins. Writing about our country, Poland, he combined a positive opinion on the subject of improvised and expressive performance of folk violinists with a negative one on clarinet players and mechanical instruments. Summing up, the musical landscape of Polish villages and both small and larger towns was definitely influenced in the 19th century by the symptoms of phenomena which much later acquired a wider dimension and were defined as globalization and commercialization. Sensing them, Oskar Kolberg viewed the well-being of the traditional culture heritage with apprehension.
The study is a probe into the world of contemporary folklore creation in the Czech lands – quite a young stage genre focused on stage adaptation of folk songs, instrumental compositions and dance, and their transition to the language of the theatre setting. The study is based on the assessment of a series of six biennial shows of folklore ensembles. This series was assessed by means of an analysis of video-records and programme brochures from the perspective of a participant and assessor of the particular years. We were interested in which directions the artistic creation of ensembles, inspired by folklore, is going, which transformations can be observed within this period of twelve years altogether and which issues have remained unchanged from the first attempts to demonstrate folk musical and dance culture on stage. The study is not aimed at an unequivocal classification of all these ways of stage work and topics. In contrast, the author tries to point out the overlaps of diverse views of the same matter, the combination of more approaches which can intersect within a single creative efforts. She tries to capture the tendencies that are safeguarded, transformed or newly discovered within this creative environment. The role of an appropriated institution (the National Information and Consulting Centre for Culture NIPOS-ARTAMA) is emphasized here. This institution provides the participants with an environment perceptive to their utterance, offers various feedback and motivates the participants for their further deeds.
This study is devoted to the phenomenon of the contemporary revival of folk music, to questions of the approach to its various forms, and to relationships with the organized folklore revival movement. It employs the theoretical concepts of Christopher Small and Thomas Turino, which allow the linking of music with the context in which it is performed. Three examples of the present-day revival of folk music in the Czech Republic are used to show how the same music can be employed for very different goals. Besides these difference, it also draws attention to the role of the organized folklore movement, i.e. a network of ensembles, festivals, and other institutions. The influence of this movement can be found in most forms of the revival of folk music, where it manifests itself both as a source of music education for the participants and as a regulatory instrument for evaluation of what elements are or are not understood as permissible.
CS
Studie Matěje Kratochvíla je věnována fenoménu současného návratu folklorní hudby. Na základě teoretického konceptu Christophera Smalla a Thomase Turina se autor zabývá problematikou propojením hudby s kontextem, v němž je provozována. Ilustruje to na třech příkladech ze současné folklorní scény v České republice, na nichž dokládá, jak rozdílný výsledek má způsob a kontext použité téže hudby.
Aesthetic education and formation of artistic and aesthetic taste is important for personal development and for strengthening the role of the aesthetic values of the cultural heritage of carriers. The acquisition by the younger generation of social experience of human existence with the development of the spiritual, highly moral, aesthetic values of culture involves the mastery of the world and folk art, and the development of a sense of beauty, the ability to understand and appreciate the work of art is regarded as one of the objectives of the national educational system. Approaches to aesthetic education and formation of artistic and aesthetic taste need such forms and methods that are the most actively attracted to sources of regional culture. The most effective basis, in our opinion, is a study of the intangible cultural heritage, because it combines artistic heritage, folk art, family and the whole people traditions, folklore, folk treasure, poetic creativity, choreographic art, etc. Cultural and historical heritage of the region that accumulates a huge historical, spiritual, aesthetic experience, is extremely important for the development of artistic and aesthetic culture, education of the senses, formation of the artistic and aesthetic taste, culture, life, work, human relationships. Thus the values inherent in it, is a unique, proven age-old wisdom. Intangible cultural and historical heritage of the region is an effective form of artistic and aesthetic taste of children of primary school age. For intangible heritage include the language, folklore, folk music, folk choreographic art. Only enriching spirituality, learning language, folklore, art and values of cultural and historical traditions of his people, the child can appreciate human values and spiritual achievements of other nations. Therefore, in the school system in the educational process there should be implemented a series of effective forms and methods of the study of the regional cultural heritage for the formation of artistic and aesthetic taste of pupils at folk traditions, art, cultural and historical achievements of the region as the most valuable thing for centuries formed wisdom and culture of the people, should be part of the system of upbringing and education of the modern school.
The following paper constitutes a part of my master thesis on the consequences of the 1979 Iranian Revolution on Kurdish folk music. The strong identity claimed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and particularly by Ruhollah Khomeini led to an obscuration of the Iranian cultural plurality, dominated by the Persian culture. Iranian music is often understood as Persian music while regional genres were confined to small areas. The domination of folk and regional identities by institutional, more-erudite identities is not limited to Iran but can be observed worldwide; however, the restricted access to music and research in the years following the Iranian Revolution enhanced this tendency in the country. In other words, vernacular genres including Kurdish folk music were denied a global presence and are still overshadowed by the dominance of classical music. Academic works made shortly after the revolution by important figures such as Jean During highlights a confusion between what was intended as folk music by the Kurdish population and what was perceived as such by foreign researchers. For this reason, the distinction between vernacular and classical music is still enforced nowadays, leading to an increasing gap between Persian culture and that of Iranian minorities. Furthermore, with Kurdish folk music being a regional genre and as political conflicts arouse between Iranian Kurds the Islamic Republic of Iran after 1979, Kurdish music is often perceived through a political lens only, denying the variety of reasons a genre may become popular and reducing music to a mean towards an objective. Through the perception of Kurdish folk music, this paper interrogates how political conflicts and cultural hegemony in music affects the representation of vernacular identities and seeks to explore how this participates in the discrimination of minorities.
This study presents a proposed dance-music typology of Czech folksong melodies on the basis of the structural analysis of the musical material in Nápěvy prostonárodních písní českých (Melodies of Czech Folk Songs, 1862) by Karel Jaromír Erben, taking into consideration earlier studies on songs and instrumental melodies from Czech collections of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It presents the results of comprehensive musical analysis of Erben’s notations with respect to melody and rhythm, musical form, meter, tempo, text structure, and declamation.
CS
Studie Zdeňka Vejvody je věnována české lidové taneční hudbě. Autor se zaměřuje na strukturální analýzu hudebního materiálu ve sbírce " Nápěvy prostonárodních písní českých", kterou v roce 1862 publikoval Karel Jaromír Erben. Analyticky se zabývá způsobem Erbenovy notace ve vztahu k melodii a rytmu, hudební formě, metru, tempu, textové struktuře a deklamaci.
The article considers of the relations between nature and culture in reference to the traditional (folk) musician (‘muzykant’). His functions went beyond the strictly musical. Historical and ethnographical sources mention his supernatural abilities, his sacred and magical activities. He has been ascribed magical power, allowing him to influence the forces of nature and people’s health. The powers of him were believed to derive from his metaphysical practices and connection to nature. Some times he was accused of having links with demonic creatures. His ritual function, possibly taken over from the priests or shamans of pagan cults, endured in folk rites. In the rites of passage (during some family and annual ceremonies), in times of transition, places of crossing, traditional (folk) musician can take part in making a ritual din, believed as an effective manner against to demonic powers. It was a music awry, parody of music, eyen its inversion - a sort of ‘anti-music’, performed on ‘antiinstruments’, or on simple instruments.
This article focuses mainly on the language of folk musicians and the vocabulary they use in relation to their own music (performance practice, musical instruments, folk musicians,repertoire, musical education, etc.). This text represents a survey of the principal thematic areas and the vocabulary most often appearing in interviews with folk musicians, including terms for the criteria of correctness in musical practice, as well as properties regarded as positive or negative. There is also a wide range of terms that are crucial to reflection on traditional folk music (incl. ‘weeping’, ‘taste’ and ‘accent’). I will also look at the life of a folk violinist, illustrated by an autograph manuscript of the life story of the Rawa violinist Stanisław Skiba (1932–2015). This articlewas based on the author’s interviews with twenty three folk violinists from central Poland, mostly from Łódź voivodeship, born in the years 1921–1954. Taking account of musicians’ comments, opinions and vocabulary provides insight into their way of thinking and their worldviews, and it also enhances our knowledge of the musical culture of central Poland.
PL
Głównym tematem artykułu jest język muzyków ludowych i używane przez nich słownictwo w odniesieniu do muzyki tradycyjnej (praktyki muzycznej, instrumentów, wykonawcówmuzyki ludowej, repertuaru, edukacji muzycznej itp.). Uwzględnianie komentarzy, opinii i określeń muzyków pozwala poznać ich sposób myślenia i światopogląd, a także wzbogaca wiedzę o kulturze muzycznej środkowej Polski. Tekst jest przeglądem głównych zakresów tematycznych i wyrażeń pojawiających się najczęściej w wypowiedziach muzykantów. Są to np. określenia definiujące kryteria poprawności w praktyce muzycznej, właściwości uznawane za walory bądź defekty, ponadto różnego rodzaju pojęcia istotne w refleksji o muzyce ludowej (m.in. płacz, smak, akcent). W artykule został też przedstawiony życiorys skrzypka ludowego Stanisława Skiby (1932–2015). Artykuł powstał na podstawie wywiadów autorki z 23 skrzypkami ludowymi środkowej Polski, głównie z województwa łódzkiego, urodzonymi w latach 1921–1954.
The author discusses the issue of extreme socuio-cultural attitudes observable in the city milieus associated with traditional and folk music in Poland. He presents them in the context of two categories: those of “homeliness” and “multiculturalism”, pointing to the signs of a hermetic stance towards some universal values derived from the musical heritage, as well as to the ideologization of those values and an instrumental approach to them. He also discusses the problem of the superficial nature of the knowledge concerning the sources of both native and foreign musical traditions that constitute the inspiration and the basis for artistic practices. He also gives examples of “good practice” in the area of intercultural dialogue in the areas of traditional music and music inspired by it.
PL
Autorka podnosi problem skrajnych postaw społeczno-kulturowych obserwowanych w środowiskach miejskich związanych z muzyką tradycyjną i folkową w Polsce. Ukazuje je w kontekście dwóch kategorii: „swojskości” i „międzykulturowości”. Wskazuje na przejawy hermetyzacjipewnych wartości uniwersalnych, płynących z muzycznego dziedzictwa kulturowego, jak również na ideologizację oraz instrumentalne ich traktowanie. Porusza także problem powierzchowności wiedzy w zakresie źródeł tradycji muzycznych (rodzimych i obcych), stanowiących inspiracje i podstawy działalności artystycznej. Autor również przykłady „dobrych praktyk” w zakresie międzykulturowego dialogu w sferze muzyki tradycyjnej i nią inspirowanej.
Apart from sonic manifestations belonging to the sphere of music as broadly conceived, the musical tradition transmitted orally through the generations from master to pupil, without the agency of writing (and music notation in particular), also comprises a phenomenon referred to as anti-music, usually performed during various rites of passage. Anti-music is part of the wider notion of ritual noise, conceived as acoustic activity initiated for apotropaic purposes. It is poles apart from those sonic phenomena conventionally regarded as music. In traditional culture, anti-music is associated with ritual time, which constitutes a reversal of ‘ordinary’ non-ritual time. For centuries, in Polish and European culture (and also that of other continents), there was a conviction that various loud sonic manifestations belonged to the broad spectrum of means for protecting people against evil forces, which were supposedly more active in places and times which cultural ethnology and anthropology interpret as borderline or transitional, distinguished by the suspension of the previously existing order, a return to primaeval chaos and an opening-up of contact with the otherworld. Ritual noise could also be a part of various customs and rites belonging to the annual cycle, such as carolling, Mardi Gras, mid-Lent, Easter and spring celebrations, Midsummer Night, harvest festivals and All Souls’ Day. Within the cycle of human life, rites of passage were associated with birth, sexual initiation, marriage and death. The places considered as points of transition included local boundaries and crossroads, but also wildernesses, graveyards, hills and big trees. Ritual noise or anti-music can take vocal, instrumental or, more frequently, quasi-instrumental forms, using various sound-producing tools or even random objects, as well as anti-instruments, which are a parody and a contradiction of ‘normal’ instruments. Such anti-instruments include, first and foremost, the so-called devil’s fiddle and the Kashubian friction drum called the burczybas.
PL
W tradycji muzycznej należącej do jej niepisanego nurtu, przekazywanego międzypokoleniowo, w relacji mistrz – uczeń, bez pośrednictwa pisma (zwłaszcza nutowego), oprócz manifestacji dźwiękowych mieszczących się w szeroko pojętym zakresie muzyki, istniało zjawisko określane mianem antymuzyki, rozbrzmiewającej zazwyczaj podczas różnego rodzaju rytuałów przejścia. Antymuzyka zawiera się w szerszym pojęciu wrzawy obrzędowej, rozumianej jako aktywność akustyczna inicjowana w celu apotropaicznym. Stanowi ona odwrotny biegun zjawisk dźwiękowych, które konwencjonalnie przyjęło się uważać za muzykę, stanowiąc wobec niej swego rodzaju opozycję. Antymuzyka związana jest w kulturze tradycyjnej z czasem obrzędowym, będącym odwróceniem czasu „normalnego”, nieobrzędowego. W kulturze polskiej i europejskiej (ale też innych kontynentów) od wieków utrzymywało się przekonanie, że różnego rodzaju głośne manifestacje akustyczne należą do szerokiego spektrum zabiegów ochronnych przeciwko złym mocom, które, jak wierzono, miały wykazywać wzmożoną aktywność w czasie i miejscach interpretowanych w etnologii i antropologii kulturowej jako graniczne, przejściowe, znamienne zawieszeniem dotychczasowego porządku, powrotem do pierwotnego chaosu i otwarciem kontaktu z zaświatami. Obrzędowa wrzawa mogła też być wzniecana podczas sprawowania różnych zwyczajów i obrzędów cyklu rocznego, m.in. kolędowania, rytuałów zapustnych, śródpościa, wielkopostnych, wielkanocnych, wiosennych, sobótkowych, dożynkowych czy zaduszkowych. W cyklu ludzkiego życia przejściowe były: czas narodzin, inicjacja seksualna, ślub, zgon. Za miejsca przejścia uważano lokalne granice, rozstaje dróg, ale też pustkowia, cmentarze, wzgórza czy duże drzewa. Wrzawa obrzędowa, antymuzyka może mieć postać wokalną lub instrumentalną, a częściej quasiinstrumentalną, z użyciem narzędzi dźwiękowych czy nawet różnych przypadkowych przedmiotów antyinstrumentów, a także antyinstrumentów, będących parodią czy zaprzeczeniem „normalnych” instrumentów. Należały do nich przede wszystkim diabelskie skrzypce i burczybas.
In the article, I studied the notations from Oskar Kolberg’s collection of folk tunes (their names, locations, and rhythmical features). The observations were confronted with various theses (coming from ethnographical literature) about conditions of 19th century raftsmen cultural transmission and differentiation.
PL
W artykule przeanalizowano zapisy melodii flisackich ze zbiorów Oskara Kolberga: ich opisy, noty lokalizacyjne i własności rytmiczne. Obserwacje skonfrontowano z opisywanymi w literaturze etnograficznej potencjalnymi uwarunkowaniami obiegu i różnicowania się folkloru muzycznego flisaków w XIX w.
The aesthetic of socialist realism, which was imposed on Polish composers after the conference in Łagów Lubuski (1949), has never been precisely defined. One of the recommended elements of creative activity—apart from intelligibility of musical language—was folk inspiration. Paradoxically, the way the folklore was seized could mean both the compromise with the ideological pressure and confirmation of the artist’s sovereignty (when the artist creatively continued national tradition). Polish composers chose this neutral source of inspiration willingly. Therefore, the turn of the 40s and 50s was the time of multitudinous folkloristic stylizations in Polish music. The purpose of this paper is to recapitulate the attitude of chosen Polish composers to folk music as the source of inspiration, as well as to a general socio-political situation during the Polish socialist realism. Resuming briefly the subject matter of folklore in the Polish socialist realism four categories might be distinguished: it could be a phase of evolution of musical language (in the works of W. Lutosławski, A. Panufnik and G. Bacewicz), a continuation of pre-war idea of popularization of national music (S. Wiechowicz or B. Woytowicz) or a sort of compromise and a factor which was able to withdraw the accusations of formalism, as in the case of Perkowski, Serocki and all the 49’Group. Finally, in its most barest form, folklore was just an instrument of propaganda, quickly and willingly forgotten after the arrival of new artistic trends in 1956.
PL
Estetyka socrealizmu, narzucona polskim kompozytorom po konferencji w Łagowie Lubuskim (1949 r.), nigdy nie została precyzyjnie zdefiniowana. Jednym z promowanych elementów twórczości artystycznej, obok prostoty wypowiedzi, była inspiracja ludowa. Paradoksalnie, sposób ujęcia folkloru mógł oznaczać zarówno kompromis wobec presji ideologicznej, jak i potwierdzenie suwerenności artysty, który odwołując się do narodowej tradycji, twórczo ją kontynuował. Polscy kompozytorzy, wśród których przeważała postawa unikowa, chętnie z owego neutralnego źródła inspiracji korzystali, ze względów politycznych przełom lat 40. i 50. był więc w polskiej muzyce czasem licznych stylizacji folklorystycznych. W artykule podjęto próbę podsumowania stosunku wybranych kompozytorów do muzyki ludowej jako źródła inspiracji oraz do ogólnej sytuacji społeczno-politycznej czasów polskiego socrealizmu. Wyróżniono cztery podstawowe kategorie obecności nurtu folklorystycznego: jako etapu twórczości (u W. Lutosławskiego, A. Panufnika i G. Bacewicz), jako kontynuacji międzywojennej idei upowszechnienia muzyki narodowej (jak to miało miejsce w twórczości S. Wiechowicza czy B. Woytowicza), jako rodzaju kompromisu, czynnika odsuwającego groźbę oskarżenia o formalizm, jak w przypadku P. Perkowskiego, K. Serockiego i całej „Grupy 49” oraz – w najbardziej ogołoconej formie – jako narzędzia propagandy, szybko i chętnie zapomnianego wraz z nadejściem nowych prądów artystycznych.
Artykuł dotyczy realizowanego od dziesięciu lat przez niezależną organizację Circolo Gianni Bosio projektu „Roma Forestiera”, poświęconego badaniu pamięci popularnej, pieśni ludowej i historii mówionej w Rzymie. Autor opisuje doświadczenia zebrane podczas nagrywania świadków historii na ulicach i w ośrodkach migracyjnych.
EN
This article concerns the “Roma Forestiera” project that has been carried out for the last ten years by the independent Circolo Gianni Bosio organization, which is devoted to the study of popular memory, folk song, and oral history. The author describes the experiences gathered while recording witnesses to history on the streets and in the migrant centres.
Béla Bartók’s correlations with Slovakia had several aspects. His mother was born into a German family settled in what was then Pozsony county (Prešpurská župa). After the father’s premature death, Bartók and his mother moved temporarily to Bratislava (Pozsony/Pressburg), where Bartók studied at the Poor Clares Hungarian Catholic Gymnasium; his schoolmates there included Franz Schmidt, Ernö Dohnányi, and Alexander Albrecht. It was also on Slovak territory that he became first acquainted, in 1904, with the archaic stratum of what has been known as “peasant folklore”. Bartók happens to be the compiler of the most extensive ever compendium of Slovak folklore material, Slovenské ľudové piesne (Slovak Folk Songs), containing 3,409 songs and 4,000 song texts – a volume whose monumental size made possible its publication only after his death (between 1959 and 2022). Most relevantly though, eastern European archaic folklore had an essential influence on the genesis of Bartók’s compositional style. It was instrumental in his emancipation from stereotyped metro-rhythmic schemes and the major-minor tonality, enabling him to freely manipulate with each note of the chromatic system. In a lecture “On the Influence of Peasant Music on Music of Our Time”, from 1931 (which has so far remained unpublished in either Czech or Slovak), Bartók defines the concept “peasant music”, pointing to three options of using its impulses in compositional practice, ranging from stylizations to the complete absorption of its inspirations in a composer’s individual idiom. One of the present article’s aims is an introduction of Bartók’s concepts into the Czecho-Slovak context. A major influence on Bartók’s employment of inspiring impulses from peasant music in piano composition was exerted by Edvard Grieg and his stylizations of Norwegian folklore in his Opp. 17, 66, and 72. Analytical studies comparing Grieg’s artistic devices employed there with Bartók’s stylizations of Slovak folk songs in his cycle For Children II, BB 53, Sz. 42, document these influences as well as Bartók’s radical departure from the aesthetic ideals musical Romanticism. Bartók’s concept of a “national” art, which was originaly carried on the crest of Hungarian nationalism, went through radical transformation under the influence of his study of “peasant music”. His goal came to be the revival and enrichment of European artistic music in the first half of the 20th century by drawing on eastern European folk music styles, something he eventually achieved in a most original, indeed unique way.
CS
Béla Bartók byl se Slovenskem propojen několika způsoby. Jeho matka pocházela z německé rodiny, která se usídlila v Prešpurské župě. Po předčasné smrti otce se spolu s matkou načas usídlili v Bratislavě, kde Bartók absolvoval studium na maďarském katolickém gymnáziu v Klariskách společně s Franzem Schmidtem, Ernö Dohnányim a Alexandrem Albrechtem. Na území Slovenska se v roce 1904 poprvé setkal s archaickou vrstvou tzv. „sedláckého folkloru“. Bartók je autorem vůbec nejrozsáhlejší sbírky slovenského folklorního materiálu Slovenské ľudové piesne zahrnující 3409 písní a 4000 písňových textů, která vzhledem ke své monumentálnosti mohla být vydána až po jeho smrti (v rozmezí 1959–2022). Východoevropský archaický folklor měl však především zásadní vliv na Bartókovu skladatelskou genezi. Umožnil mu osvobodit se od stereotypních metro-rytmických schémat a dur-molové tonality a disponovat svobodně každým tónem chromatického systému. V přednášce O vlivu sedlácké hudby na hudbu našich časů z roku 1931, která dosud nebyla publikovaná ani v českém ani ve slovenském jazyce, Bartók definuje pojem „sedlácká hudba“ a poukazuje na tři možné způsoby využití jejích podnětů ve skladatelské praxi od stylizací až po úplnou absorpci jejích podnětů v individuálním kompozičním jazyku skladatele. Jedním z cílů tohoto článku je transfer Bartókových idejí do česko-slovenského prostředí. Významný vliv při zpracování podnětů sedlácké hudby v oblasti klavírní hudby měl na Bartóka Edvard Grieg a jeho stylizace norského folkloru v op. 17, 66 a 72. Porovnávací analýzy Griegových uměleckých zpracování s Bartókovými stylizacemi slovenských lidových písní v cyklu Pro děti II, BB 53, Sz. 42 dokumentují tyto vlivy, jakož i Bartókův radikální rozchod s estetickými ideály hudebního romantismu. Bartókův koncept „národního“ umění, který se původně nesl v duchu maďarského nacionalismu, se pod vlivem studia „sedlácké hudby“ radikálně transformoval. Jeho záměrem byla obroda a obohacení evropské umělecké hudby 1. poloviny 20. století na základě využití východoevropských stylů lidové hudby, což se mu podařilo originálním a jedinečným způsobem.
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