British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Review: [untitled]
Author(s): Tina Ramnarine
Reviewed work(s):
A History of European Folk Music by Jan Ling
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 7 (1998), pp. 156-158
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060716
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156 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.7 1998 156 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.7 1998
"model" version
against
which others are
measured, the
emphasis
on
transcriptions
(rather
than
giving
us the chance to hear
the music on
CD),
and the use of
oppositions
such as
Gypsy/non-Gypsy
and
Gypsies/Rom
-
even
though
the
author
points
out that these are activated
in different contexts.
Why
do
they
have
to be
polarities
rather than
multiple
choices? I would have been
happier
to
see less of
Blacking's
structuralist
phase
echoed in this
publication
and more of his
work on the
anthropology
of the
body.
But don't be deterred. It is a slim but
interesting
volume and contains some
fascinating insights
and information.
References
Behague,
Gerard
(ed.) (1984) Performance
practice: ethnomusicological
perspectives.
London: Greenwood Press.
Blacking,
John
(1981) "Ethnography
of
musical
performance."
In D. Heartz
and B. Wade
(eds) Report
of
the
twelfth congress, Berkeley
1977.
Kassel: Barenreiter, pp.
383-401.
(1995)
Music, culture and
experience.
Selected
papers of
John
Blacking, Reginald Byron (ed.).
Chicago
and London:
Chicago
University
Press.
Feld,
Steven
(1982)
Sound and sentiment.
Philadelphia: University
of
Pensylvania
Press.
McLeod,
Norma and Marcia Herndon
(1980)
The
ethnography
of
musical
performance. Norwood,
Penn.:
Norwood Editions.
Qureshi, Regula
Buckhardt
(1986)
Sufi
music
of
India and Pakistan.
Cambridge:
Cambridge University
Press.
Schieffelin,
Edward L.
(1976),
The sorrow
of
the
lonely
and the
burning of
the
dancers. New York: St. Martin's Press.
(1993)
"Performance and the
cultural construction of
reality:
a New
"model" version
against
which others are
measured, the
emphasis
on
transcriptions
(rather
than
giving
us the chance to hear
the music on
CD),
and the use of
oppositions
such as
Gypsy/non-Gypsy
and
Gypsies/Rom
-
even
though
the
author
points
out that these are activated
in different contexts.
Why
do
they
have
to be
polarities
rather than
multiple
choices? I would have been
happier
to
see less of
Blacking's
structuralist
phase
echoed in this
publication
and more of his
work on the
anthropology
of the
body.
But don't be deterred. It is a slim but
interesting
volume and contains some
fascinating insights
and information.
References
Behague,
Gerard
(ed.) (1984) Performance
practice: ethnomusicological
perspectives.
London: Greenwood Press.
Blacking,
John
(1981) "Ethnography
of
musical
performance."
In D. Heartz
and B. Wade
(eds) Report
of
the
twelfth congress, Berkeley
1977.
Kassel: Barenreiter, pp.
383-401.
(1995)
Music, culture and
experience.
Selected
papers of
John
Blacking, Reginald Byron (ed.).
Chicago
and London:
Chicago
University
Press.
Feld,
Steven
(1982)
Sound and sentiment.
Philadelphia: University
of
Pensylvania
Press.
McLeod,
Norma and Marcia Herndon
(1980)
The
ethnography
of
musical
performance. Norwood,
Penn.:
Norwood Editions.
Qureshi, Regula
Buckhardt
(1986)
Sufi
music
of
India and Pakistan.
Cambridge:
Cambridge University
Press.
Schieffelin,
Edward L.
(1976),
The sorrow
of
the
lonely
and the
burning of
the
dancers. New York: St. Martin's Press.
(1993)
"Performance and the
cultural construction of
reality:
a New
Guinea
example."
In S. Lavie, K.
Narayan
and R. Rosaldo
(eds)
Creativity/Anthropology,
pp.
270-95.
Ithaca and London: Comell
University
Press.
(1998) "Problematizing
performance."
In Felicia
Hughes-
Freeland
(ed.) Ritual, performance,
media, pp.
194-207. London and New
York:
Routledge.
Seeger, Anthony.
1987.
Why Szuya sing:
a
musical
anthropology of
an
Amazonian
people. Cambridge:
Cambridge University
Press.
CAROLE PEGG
Department of
Social
Anthropology
University of Cambridge
c.pegg@newgrove.co.uk
Guinea
example."
In S. Lavie, K.
Narayan
and R. Rosaldo
(eds)
Creativity/Anthropology,
pp.
270-95.
Ithaca and London: Comell
University
Press.
(1998) "Problematizing
performance."
In Felicia
Hughes-
Freeland
(ed.) Ritual, performance,
media, pp.
194-207. London and New
York:
Routledge.
Seeger, Anthony.
1987.
Why Szuya sing:
a
musical
anthropology of
an
Amazonian
people. Cambridge:
Cambridge University
Press.
CAROLE PEGG
Department of
Social
Anthropology
University of Cambridge
c.pegg@newgrove.co.uk
JAN LING, A
history of European folk
music. Rochester:
University
of
Rochester Press, 1997. ISBN 1-
878822-77-2.
This is an ambitious
survey
of various
European
folk musics. Six recurrent
themes in folk music
scholarship
are
raised in the twelve
chapters.
These are
the collection of folk music,
folk music in
the contexts of
everyday
life
(work,
the
life-cycle
and
seasons), song forms,
instruments,
the folk ensemble and folk
music in town as well as rural centres.
Ling begins
with that familiar
problem
of
defining
"folk" music and considers the
discovery
and collection of folk material
from the
mid-eighteenth century
onwards. The collectors introduced
include travellers who described
performances
in "musical
travelogues",
composers
who transcribed and
incorporated
folk
examples
into their
own
compositions,
and those who
collected for
posterity,
often as
part
of
nationalist
enterprises. Contemporary
revival
groups
are identified as the latest
JAN LING, A
history of European folk
music. Rochester:
University
of
Rochester Press, 1997. ISBN 1-
878822-77-2.
This is an ambitious
survey
of various
European
folk musics. Six recurrent
themes in folk music
scholarship
are
raised in the twelve
chapters.
These are
the collection of folk music,
folk music in
the contexts of
everyday
life
(work,
the
life-cycle
and
seasons), song forms,
instruments,
the folk ensemble and folk
music in town as well as rural centres.
Ling begins
with that familiar
problem
of
defining
"folk" music and considers the
discovery
and collection of folk material
from the
mid-eighteenth century
onwards. The collectors introduced
include travellers who described
performances
in "musical
travelogues",
composers
who transcribed and
incorporated
folk
examples
into their
own
compositions,
and those who
collected for
posterity,
often as
part
of
nationalist
enterprises. Contemporary
revival
groups
are identified as the latest
REVIEWS: BOOKS
to rediscover folk music.
The
body
of the text examines the folk
traditions themselves. Music at work
deals with
herding calls, harvest
songs,
songs
of domestic labour and sea
shanties. Music
marking
both the life-
cycle (children's songs, wedding songs,
laments)
and the seasons
(calendar songs)
are
surveyed. Chapters
4 and 5 focus on
song
forms: the Saami
joik,
narrative
song, ballads, lyric song
and
hymns.
The
following
three
chapters
look at
instruments and instrumental music.
Because
they
are
widespread,
instruments such as the
bagpipe emerge
as
symbols
of a
"European"
folk music.
In fact, the
presence
of
bagpipes
in
different
places, including Britain,
Russia, the Italian peninsula and
Scandinavia, lend
support
to
Ling's
view
of folk music in
Europe
as
presenting
us
with "a uniform
diversity".
A fifth theme is the folk ensemble
ranging
from
early
duos such as the
pipe
and tabor
(usually
a three-hole duct flute
and a snare drum
played together by
one
person
to
provide
music for
dancing)
to
Scandinavian fiddlers and state-
sponsored
ensembles in Russia.
Including
the
folk-style
rock ensemble
leads
Ling
to muse on the
relationship
between folk-rock and tradition. He
suggests
that "it is
probably
valid to
generalize
that eastern
Europe
has been
dominated
by
tradition and western
Europe by
folk-rock"
(176).
This is a
rather
surprising
statement
given
the
debates between those
adopting
a
"purist" and
"progressive"
view of
tradition as in the
Norwegian
gammaldans example (revolving
around
whether newer dance
repertoires
could be
regarded
as
part
of "folk
music").
In East
European contexts, reinterpretations
of
folk traditions such as
Hungarian
lakodalmas rock and
Bulgarian
svatbarska
(wedding traditions,
the most
well-known
performer
of which is that
"world music
star", Ivo
Papazov),
have
been
very popular.
While this is a
survey
of
European
folk
music, Scandinavia, Russia, the
Balkans and Britain are
generally
better
represented
than other areas. As a
study
of
European
folk music,
Ling
himself
points
to the limitations of the work
lying
in too few and
randomly
selected
examples (223)
and in
problems
of
interpretation
which arise in
turning
to
sources that
span
three centuries. Given
that this is a
study
full of
detail, it is
frustrating
that there are
only
hints of
many
current
reconceptualisations of
folk music. This
may partly
be due to
Ling's
historical
perspective.
When
using
the term "folk music",
Ling
"primarily mean[s]
rural music
taught,
without
being
written
down, by
one
generation
to the next"
(1).
He
distinguishes
this
type
of music from
urban
practice
which he labels
"city
music folklore". This does not mean,
however, that he does not consider
musical
changes.
While his aim is to
interest the reader in folk music, it is also
"to
keep
it alive as a
dynamic, changing
art form"
(3).
The
rural, oral
transmission model retains its
tenacity
but is at odds with trends that he
describes such as the
contemporary
sounds heard in Dublin.
Ling's
assessments of these trends are
inconsistent and leave a somewhat
confusing
view of folk music. For him,
the
"melting pot"
of "Irish national
music is a true
sign
of a
living
musical
culture"
(118).
As in the
"internationalization of ensemble" that
combines folk, jazz,
rock and
pop
(176),
these
changes
are
proof
of a
dynamic
form. In other
cases, such
changes
seem
to stretch the boundaries of folk music
too far. Thus the Greek bouzouki
played
with electric
amplification
introduced in
the 1970s to Swedish folk music has
"succeeded in
transcending
most of the
157
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.7 1998 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.7 1998
rigid
boundaries in folk music"
(139),
but the
syntheziser
and electric
guitar
cannot
properly
be
regarded
as folk
music instruments for
they
have not been
around for
long enough
and are not
"associated with a certain folk
repertoire,
style,
and environment"
(124).
One of the
strengths
of the text is that
lots of
fascinating
anecdotes are
included, such as the first
public
performance
in 1840s of what was to
become the Swedish national anthem.
Useful illustrations, transcriptions
and
photographs
are
provided.
This
study
draws
together
a
huge body
of material,
and
suggestions
for further
reading
are
given
at the end of most
chapters.
If
some details are lost in
adopting
a macro
perspective, Ling's
text is nevertheless a
valuable introduction both to
European
folk music and to folk music
scholarship.
TINA RAMNARINE
The
Queen
i
University, Belfast
rigid
boundaries in folk music"
(139),
but the
syntheziser
and electric
guitar
cannot
properly
be
regarded
as folk
music instruments for
they
have not been
around for
long enough
and are not
"associated with a certain folk
repertoire,
style,
and environment"
(124).
One of the
strengths
of the text is that
lots of
fascinating
anecdotes are
included, such as the first
public
performance
in 1840s of what was to
become the Swedish national anthem.
Useful illustrations, transcriptions
and
photographs
are
provided.
This
study
draws
together
a
huge body
of material,
and
suggestions
for further
reading
are
given
at the end of most
chapters.
If
some details are lost in
adopting
a macro
perspective, Ling's
text is nevertheless a
valuable introduction both to
European
folk music and to folk music
scholarship.
TINA RAMNARINE
The
Queen
i
University, Belfast
HELEN MYERS,
Music
of
Hindu Trinidad:
songs from
the Indian diaspora.
Chicago: University
of
Chicago
Press,
1998. xxxii +
510pp.,
50
plates,
1
map,
9
tables,
35 musical
exx., song texts, glossary, notes,
index, bibliography, discography.
ISBN 0-226-55453-8
(pb).
As a
study
of the music of Hindu
Trinidad this is a detailed and
illuminating work, drawing
on over 20
years
of fieldwork and research.
Felicity,
the
village
at the centre of the text, has
been
extensively
studied
by
other
scholars,
whom
Myers
credits with
aiding
her own work there
(50).
The
book in
part
seeks to trace the historical
passage
of
songs
from "homeland" to
"diaspora" using
the device of the
author's search for the "Number One
Song" (the
first
song
she learnt in
HELEN MYERS,
Music
of
Hindu Trinidad:
songs from
the Indian diaspora.
Chicago: University
of
Chicago
Press,
1998. xxxii +
510pp.,
50
plates,
1
map,
9
tables,
35 musical
exx., song texts, glossary, notes,
index, bibliography, discography.
ISBN 0-226-55453-8
(pb).
As a
study
of the music of Hindu
Trinidad this is a detailed and
illuminating work, drawing
on over 20
years
of fieldwork and research.
Felicity,
the
village
at the centre of the text, has
been
extensively
studied
by
other
scholars,
whom
Myers
credits with
aiding
her own work there
(50).
The
book in
part
seeks to trace the historical
passage
of
songs
from "homeland" to
"diaspora" using
the device of the
author's search for the "Number One
Song" (the
first
song
she learnt in
Trinidad),
which she
puts
forward as a
"powerful" example
of
marginal
survival
(258). Although history
is a
major
concern of the text much of the
writing
is
presented
in the
(writer's)
present through
the use of a reflexive
style (Myers
is self-identified as a
"storyteller"
in her list of "narrators" at
the
beginning
of the book
(xxxi)).
The usual, and often
wearying,
trawl
through existing
sources of other
authors has been transformed
by Myers
into a
very
readable
history
of colonial
indentured
labourship, immigration
and
settlement
(7-50),
and "local
musicology" (111-50). Having
outlined
in some detail the
community's
histories
the book deals with its musics in
chapters
which follow a
pattern
common
among
scholars
dealing
with South
Asian communities, or, as in this case,
communities of South Asian
origin.
Chapter
5
("Seasons")
takes us
through
the calendrical festivals of the
village,
from DivalT to the time of the Ramlrla;
Chapters
8
("Wedding Day"),
9
("Wedding Songs")
and 16
("The
Death
of
Rani") go
over the music of
life-cycle
rituals
-
marriages
and funerals; Chapter
13
("The Ramayan Tradition")
details
the importance of the
Ramayana
to the
villagers; Chapters
14
("Morning
at the
Temple")
and 15 ("Music and
Miracles")
outline the
villagers' bhajan
repertory
and the
growth
of Sai Baba
worship respectively;
and
Chapter
17
("Chutney")
deals with
popular
forms.
Many
of the
types
of music discussed in
these
chapters
are illustrated on the
accompanying
CD and
through
numerous textual and musical
transcriptions (some
of which
might
usefully
have been
placed
in an
appendix
as their
length
and number
tends to
disrupt
the narrative
flow).
This main
body
of the
text,
based
largely
on
Myers'
1984 dissertation, is
sympathetically
written and informative.
Trinidad),
which she
puts
forward as a
"powerful" example
of
marginal
survival
(258). Although history
is a
major
concern of the text much of the
writing
is
presented
in the
(writer's)
present through
the use of a reflexive
style (Myers
is self-identified as a
"storyteller"
in her list of "narrators" at
the
beginning
of the book
(xxxi)).
The usual, and often
wearying,
trawl
through existing
sources of other
authors has been transformed
by Myers
into a
very
readable
history
of colonial
indentured
labourship, immigration
and
settlement
(7-50),
and "local
musicology" (111-50). Having
outlined
in some detail the
community's
histories
the book deals with its musics in
chapters
which follow a
pattern
common
among
scholars
dealing
with South
Asian communities, or, as in this case,
communities of South Asian
origin.
Chapter
5
("Seasons")
takes us
through
the calendrical festivals of the
village,
from DivalT to the time of the Ramlrla;
Chapters
8
("Wedding Day"),
9
("Wedding Songs")
and 16
("The
Death
of
Rani") go
over the music of
life-cycle
rituals
-
marriages
and funerals; Chapter
13
("The Ramayan Tradition")
details
the importance of the
Ramayana
to the
villagers; Chapters
14
("Morning
at the
Temple")
and 15 ("Music and
Miracles")
outline the
villagers' bhajan
repertory
and the
growth
of Sai Baba
worship respectively;
and
Chapter
17
("Chutney")
deals with
popular
forms.
Many
of the
types
of music discussed in
these
chapters
are illustrated on the
accompanying
CD and
through
numerous textual and musical
transcriptions (some
of which
might
usefully
have been
placed
in an
appendix
as their
length
and number
tends to
disrupt
the narrative
flow).
This main
body
of the
text,
based
largely
on
Myers'
1984 dissertation, is
sympathetically
written and informative.
158 158