folktrax 788 THE WORLD ENCOMPASSED - 8 CDs - vol 8

THE LEVEL OF MELODIC VARIATION (16C) - Melodic variation is most strongly associated with complex productive systems, particularly with metal tools and animal husbandry, as if the juxtaposition of these resources in a certain setting suddenly increased the scope of man's ability to innovate.

01. Moderate. E. Africa, Kenya Highland Bantu. The Chagga are cattle herders and terrace farmers, organised into patrilineal clans (with bride price) and into age-set retinues serving powerful chiefs. Female leader and female group perform a topical dance song. (Tracey #2/ TR-155 B4) - 0'55"

02. Moderate. South America, Interior Amazonia. A Jivaro woman sings to the lover who must serve her father for a long period before he can marry her. Big intervals, melisma and glissando. (Luzuy, A8) - 1'27"

03. Great. S. Africa, S. Rhodesia. The Shona, organized in patrilineages with bride service, built a powerful cattle-herding kingdom like that of the Zulu. Their performance epitomises the African playful use of vocal timbre. Male solo, female solo with mbira. (Tracey #2/ TR-172, A7) - 1'27"

04. Moderate. South America, Guiana, Oyana Caribs. The women produce the bread (and beer) from manioc, the men fish and hunt in the game-scarce jungle; this is a song, close to one of their jungle cries, for luring monkeys within blow-gun shot. Male group. (Vianes, B7) - 1'47"

05. Great. E. Africa, Nilote Luo. A praise song by farmers and cattle-herders with patrilineal clans and bride price. Male solo with thum (eight-string lyre) and leg-bells. (Tracey #2/ TR-168, A4) - 2'06"

06. Moderate. E. Europe, Romania, Muntenia. A ritual song for a big three-day weddlng, accompanied by a gypsy-style orchestra from the homeland of the doina in the Danubian plain - for millennia, the entry-way for Oriental culture into Europe. (Alexandru #1, A8) - 1'36"

07. Great. S. Europe, Spain, Castile. The Song of the Twelve (a Spanish form of an ancient Hebrew religious song) is here performed to the accompaniment of the Moorish friction drum, as a Castilian Christmas carol. (Lomax #25, A13) - 1'31"

08. Moderate to Great. N. Europe, Norway. A cattle-call (kulokk) such as the dairymaids of the Norwegian hills employed for centuries to manage their herds. Cattle pastoralism enriched this zone of Europe before it knew intensive plough agriculture; it was customary here to sing to the cattle. Thus the cattle songs and calls of the American West are an ancient West European patrimony. (Norway #2, A2) - 2'17"

COMPLEX MELODIC FORMS (16B) - There has been no test of the canon form. The setting for complex litany seems to be the culture with a prevalence of stable work teams with a variable work load, and/or a high value placed on innovation.

09. Canonic. Africa, S. Ethiopiay Sidamo. are Western Cushites (the ancient Caucasoids of East Africa) who live by intensive terraced agriculture, with a variety of crops and animals. Their country is ruled by a divine king. has highways for rapid transportation and is surrounded by a palisade. Here a mixed chorus sings in the yodeling, hocketing style found in so many isolated cultural pockets of the world. These men are singing the way they play their panpipes (orchestras of single-noted horns). (Jenkins, B6) - 0'59"

10. Complex Litany. S. America, C. Brazil. Caraja, a riverine fishing tribe. Here masked male dancers entice the young women to follow them down the sand spit, singing in the low register common in this region. Male solo. (Schultz & Chiara, A1) - 1'05"

11. Complex Litany. E. Africa, Nilotes. Dinka, a semi-nomadic cattle people,half a million strong, where the youthful male age-grade is assigned to stay with the herds. Such complex litanies are most frequent in Black Africa. Female singer. (Carlisle #2, 3) - 1'05"

12. Complex Litany. E. Africa, Sudanic Mayogo. A topical song, voiced with wonderfully resonant nasality by a chief and his attendants. Basket rattle accompaniment. (Tracey #2/ TR-119, A2) - 1'47"

13. Complex Strophe. N. America, Southern Plains,.Kiowa. Complex strophes with much textual repetition are commonest among game producers. Note terraced melodic shape and glottal shake - other frequent North Amerindian traits. Male solo. (Rhodes #2, A2) - 2'22"

14. Complex Strophe. Central Europe, N. Spain, Santander. Girls of a shepherd village, accompanied by castanets and tambourine, sing a carol of the shepherds on the way to Bethlehem. (Lomax #24, B6) - 1'28"

MELODIC SHAPE (15) -

15. Introduction. Europe, Spain, Aragon. A schooled jota, recorded at a jota concert, by a trained jota singer from the jota school in jota-mad Zaragossa. (Lomax #27, B6a) - 0'46"

16. Arched. S. Asia, S. India. A male leader and chorus of the Kuravan tribe of snake catchers and basket makers. (Levy # 1, B 7) - 0'43"

17. Terraced. C. Asia, Tibet. A--pretty Tibetan girl sings sentimentally about her absent lover, using the terraced shape, frequent in Central Asia and among North American Indians. (Bourguignon, A4) 0'59"

18. Undulating. S. Asia, S. India, Kerala. An abjurgation to embrace spiritual and philosophical Vedantic truths, in a wave-like shape. Male solo. (Levy #1, A 5) - 0'44"

19. Descending. S. Africa, Ndau. Descending cadences like these are more frequent in black African tradition than elsewhere. Male accompanying himself on mbira (See also line 11, Test #4) (Tracey #2/ TR205, B 5) - 1'03"

20. Test #1.1. E. Europe, E. Spain, Castile. One of the myriad charming Spanish Christmas carols ( villancicos). is one tells how black Balthasar found the Holy Child. Female solo. Lomax #25, A12) - 0'42"

21. Test #1.2. S. America, Orinoco Delta. A woman of these semi-nomadic, riverine Guarauno gatherers sings a modern song. (Preloran, 2) - 0'24"

22. Test #1.3. C. Asia, Russia. Turkmen herders and irrigationists, dwelling east of the Caspian, here perform so that the voices of singer and bowed lute soar like eagles over the steppes. Male solo. (Russia. #7, 1) - 0'53"

23. Test #1.4. 5. America. Lola Keipja, the last of the Ona - a Patagonian hunting tribe exterminated by Europeans - performs a spirit possession song in the widespread ululating style of the Circum-Pacific cultural tradition. (Chapman, 1) - 0'39"

24. Test #1.5. N. Europe. A Lapp male chants in the guttural-voiced, repetitive style, typical of Siberian nomads. (Laade & Christensen, A24) - 0'28"

25. Test #1.6. N. America, Pueblo. Cantometrics finds Plains influence in the high-pitched, embellished, tense-voiced, tremulous and terraced singing of Taos. (McAllester & Brown, A3) - 0'42"

26. Test #1.7. C. Europe, W. Germany, Emsland. A lullaby sung in the 'covered' (wide, softened) voice so frequent in Central Europe. (Wiora, B 16) - 0'38"

27. Test #1.8. Africa, C. Sudan, Mombutu. These jungle cultivators, who have lost animal husbandry, nonetheless retain major black African patterns - overlap, half repeats, descending cadences, polyrhythmic orchestras. Male solo with mixed chorus and three thumb pianos. (Tracey #2/ TR-119, B 7) - 1'12"

28. Arched + Undulating. C. Asia, Mongolia. East Mountain Buryat, a nomadic herding culture with the soaring, gliding, embellished, tremulous style typical of this zone. Male solo. (Russia. #7, 1) - 0'53"

29. Terraced + Undulating. C. Europe, Hungary, Transylvania. An 'old style' Magyar piece, unornamented, in strict, simple meter and quick tempo. Male solo. (Hungary #1, A 3) - 0'35"

30. Descending E. Europe, Slovakia, Hrcava village. A wide-voiced male loudly declaims through-composei, free-rhythm, wordy song. (Czechoslovakia #4, A3) - 0'46"

31. Test #2.1. C. Asia, Tadjikistan. This state-supported national ensemble could be a modern embodiment of the ancient Iranian civilisation of the Middle East. Female solo and chorus with strings. (Russia. #7, 3) - 0'37"

32. Test #2.2. C. Europe, N. Hungary. An old style Hungarian lyric for dancing, in unison and in irregular meter. Female group. (Hungary #1, A5). - 0'28"

33. Test #2..3. N. Europe, S. Karelia. The precisely enunciated, syllabic, minor-keyed cadences of this song are "typically" Finnish. (Finland, 3b) - 0'42"

34. Test #2..4. N. America. The Plateau Flat head (with Plains connections evident in the high register style) perform an Owl Dance, where couples move around a circle in a shuffling step. Two males. (Merriam #Z, A 8) - 1'13"

35. Test #2.5. E. Europe, N.C. Russia, Volgoda Region. A woman keens a ritual lament for her dead father in a style with parallels all over Europe. (Russia. #6, 2) - 0'27"

36. Test #2.6. S. Asia, S. India, Kerala. The Kuravan Tribe sings to Ganapate, god of wisdom, in a wordy, ornamented, free-rhythm style. The male leader is answered by a unified chorus, gliding through parallel thirds. (Levy #1, B7) - 2'22"

TESTS - 1. Undulating/ 2. Arched/ 3. Terraced/ 4. Descending/ 5. Undulating/ 6. Terraced/ 7. Arched/ 8 Descending - 1. Descending (+ und)/ 2. Terraced (+ und)/ 3 Arched (+ und)/ 4. Arched (+ und)/ 5. Descending (+ und)/ 6. Arched (+ und)

THE MELODIC RANGE (20) - We have found no significant societal associations for melodic Range.

37. An Octave. C. Europe, Hungary. A group of peasant girls sing an old dancing song with superb ensemble effect. (Hungary #1, A5) - 1'06"

38. A Fifth. W. Europe, Norway. A cattle-herding song from the Norwegian mountains, where herding preceded field agriculture, as in much of W. Europe. Male solo. (Norway 02, B2) - 1'22"

39. Within a Fifth. New Guinea, Sepik River, Iatmul. One side of a ceremonial duet (tsgai) , a celebration of a set of related names. Male solo with hourglass drum. (Metraux, 1) - 1'09"

40. Within the Octave. Afro-America, West Indies, Tobago. (See Line 18, #6) - 0'57"

41. Within the Octave. E. Asia, Okinawa. A traditional lullaby performed as an art song. Male solo with sanshin (three-string lute). (Masu, B2) - 1'14"

42. Beyond the Octave. W. Europe, Norway. Mouth music for dancing, a N.W. European trait with Siberian connections. (See Lapp songs) (Norway #1, A1) - 1'05"

43. Beyond the Octave. C. Asia, Buryat Mongol art song, with the wide leaps and big range frequent in Central Asia. Female solo with lute accompaniment. (Russia.#7, 2) (The fifth and the octave re-illustrated) - 1'35"

44. Test #1. Melanesia, Admiralties, Manus. A fishing, trading people, most of whose songs are laments, this one concerning an inter-village battle. Male duet (Schwartz, 1) - 0'30"

45. Test #2. Afro-America, Southern U.S., Alabama. One root of the blues lies in songs such as this; its theme is that both the boll weevil and the unemployed, landless black man were looking for a home. Female solo. (Lomax #11, A4) - 0'42"

46. Test #3. N. America, Eastern Woodlands, Choctaw, heritors of the Mississippi Valley gardening culture and of a richt often polyp onic song tradition. Male solo. (Hand, A4) - 0'40"

47. Test #4. N. America, Plateau, Flathead. formerly hunter-gatherers, linked to Plains horse culture. A sweat-house song for curing. Female solo. (Merriam #2, A9) - 0'34"

48. Test #5. E. Africa, N. Rhodesia, Nsenge, maize gardeners. A song for a boy's initiation. Masked dancer, chorus of men with leg-bells and five drums. (Blacking & Apthorpe, B5) - 0'28"

49. Test #6. Afro-America, Southern U.S. A commercial recording of Bessie Smith singing the 'Mean Old Bed Bug Blues' with piano and guitar. (Ramsey #1, B5) - 1'24"

TESTS - 1. Within a fifth/ 2. Beyond the octave/ 3. Within the octave/ 4. Beyond the octave/ 5. Within a fifth/ 6. Beyond the octave

POLYPHONIC TYPE (22) - Polyphonic types have no clearcut societal associations that we have discovered.

50. Introduction. C. Africa. Mbuti Pygmies, gatherers of the rainforest, sing in their hocketing, yodeling, interlocked style in a joyful celebration of a girl's first menarche. (Turnbull and Chapman, B3) - 0'53"

51a. Drone illustration, two females - 057"

52a Drone. E. Europe, Caucasus, Georgia, Kakhete, Shilda Region. A lullaby melody performed by a chorus of twenty women. (Russia. #9, 7) & 52b. Drone illustration by two shawms - 1'35".

53. Drone. The Balkans, E. Yugoslavia, Serbia. Work song with clashing seconds in a style imitative of bagpipes. Four females. (Yugoslavia #1, A2) - 1'32"

54a. Isolated Chords illustration, two males & 54b. E. Africa, Somaliland. Desert camel herders have many songs for managing their prized, but temperamental animals. This one is to make them drink. Male chorus. (Schaeffner & Rouget, A7) - 0'51"

55a. Isolated Chords illustration, two females & 55b. E. Europe, Bulgaria, Sofia District. Four young girls go house to house round the village ritually singing in the spring. (Lloyd # 1, A2) - 1'29"

56a. Parallel Chords illustrations, two females & 56b. C. America, Mexico, Michoacan, Zamora. A mananitas, or morning serenade, sung by two village girls. (Hellmer, 1) - 0'56"

(Note: As above, many items are preceded by illustrative examples.)

57. Parallel Chords. S. Asia, India, Kerala. The Kuravans are a wandering non-Hindu tribe of basket makers, snake catchers and day laborers. Male chorus. (Levy #1, B7) - 1'29"

58. Harmony. C. Europe, Germany. Ballad of a love encounter set to a common German tune and in the polyphony that may be native to Central Europe. Male chorus. (Wiora, D3) - 1'07"

59. Harmony. The Balkans, Yugoslavia. Istria harbors an ancient "diaphony' of untempered thirds and sixths, alternating with unison and octaves. Epic.song. Two males. (Yugoslavia #?, A2) - 1'31"

60. Counterpoint. S. Africa. The Shona are cattle herders and grain cultivators. (See Line 21) (Tracey #2/ TR-175, B8) - 0'56"

61. Counterpoint. E. Europe, Caucasus, Georgia, where mountain valley irrigation nourished an early high culture and whose hocketing, yodeling style might be one source of European counterpoint. Male chorus. (Russia. #10, B5) - 1'08"

62. Test #1. C. Africa, Kenya Masai. These age-graded warriors, lion-hunters and pastoralists, who live on the mixed blood and milk of their cattle, sing an epic narrative. Male leader with mixed chorus. Drone polyphony. (Gaisseau #1, 1) - 0'57"

63. Test #2. S. America, E. Brazil. The Kraho are complementary gardeners who dwell in big.segmented villages and stage daily rehearsals of ritual dance and song. Mixed chorus and rattle in parallel polyphony. (Schultz & Chiara, A3) - 1'09"

64. Test #3. E. Europe. Lithuania is a Baltic enclave of ancient traditions where the oldest Aryan language is spoken and a contrapuntal style, like that of Georgia, is retained. Mixed group. (Russia. #11, B1) - 0'59"

65. Test #4. Melanesia, Admiralties Baluan Island. Three women performing in harmony amazingly close to Balkan examples. (Schwartz, 20) - 0'49"

66. Test #5 . C. Congo, Mbuti Pygmies. Three women sing after a fishing trip. (Isolated) (Tracey #2 /TR-205, A 77) - 1'05"

67. Test #6. AfroAmerica, Bahamas Andros Island funeral anthem as sung in parts an the sponge-fishing fleet. Three men. (Harmony) (Charters, A1) - 1'07"

68. Test #7. Micronesia, Palau. A complementary and cohesive culture devoted to fishing and horticulture. A female leader chants a theme that is repeated and then elaborated by others. Drone polyphony comparable to Balkan examples. Three females. (Hendricks, 2) - 1'26"

69. Test #8. Europe, N. Spain, Basque. Heritors of a big-family, complementary, cohesive way of life, Basques are polyphonic choralizers, viz. this local male choir. (Harmony) (Lomax #21, A3) - 1'14"

70. Test #9. Melanesia, Admiralties. Usiai root and pig gardeners sing in their habitual, plaintive, backwoods, Melanesian way about an orphaned child. (Parallel polyphony) (Schwartz, 15) - 0'45"

7l. Test #10. Afro-America. Trinidad where virile games and licentious pastimes, like this lewd bongo dance, are performed at wakes for the dead. (Lomax #36, 1) - 0'45

TESTS: 1. Drone/ 2. Parallel chords/ 3. Counterpoint/ 4. Harmony/ 5. Isolated chords/ 6. Harmony and counterpoint/ 7. Drone polyphony/ 8. Harmony/ 9. Parallel chords/ 10. Isolated chords or harmony