Read Telemann's autobio apropos his stay in Sorau/Zary and his description of folk music there. RT ______________ Roman M. Turovsky http://turovsky.org http://polyhymnion.org
>>> characteristics of this music. i imagine that country music in one >>> country sounded pretty much like country music in another. keeping in >>> mind the simple types of instruments that country people in europe had >>> at the time and the unsophisticated melodies they usually produce, it >>> was probably as true then as it is today. >> Europe is not Nashville, national musics were/are extremely distinct in >> character and the melodies they produce are far from unsophisticated, > spiced >> with local intervals, often in unusual meters. >> RT > I think it's true that in the realm of 'folk' music, there is a lot more > sophistication than some of the instruments would seem to offer. There are, > and I speak from some experience, a lot of unsophisticated melodies too, > with little more than a drone and the patter of tiny clogs to accompany > them. > > One way or the other, I feel that the idea of "national" musics as early as > Brueghel is a bit unlikely. We only think of any idea of a "national" > spirit from about 1420 in Western Europe, and for that to translate to music > in the form of some cultural flag of the realm in 150 years would have > required some pretty serious manipulation. > > I think it is more helpful to think in terms of "local" musical idioms, but > even these would have crossed borders (and did). We could ask "How German > is an Allemande?" and later still "How Scottish is a Schottische?". When > LeRoy published a "Branle de Poictou", was he introducing his buyers to > something "exotic" - when that dance was played in Burgundy, would it have > lost its Poitou-ness and become more Burgundian? > > Kapsberger did a couple of sets of pieces called Ballo Francese and Ballo > Todescho - the most outstanding difference is that the first are in 3/4, the > second in 4/4. Of a fair number of Hume pieces called 'A Pol(l)ish > whatever' only one has a sound that my poorly informed ear would associate > with Eastern European music. The only piece of Dlugoraj I've got does, > however, conform to my probably toatally unjustified stereotype. > > An awful lot of the collections published in the Renaissance seem to have an > international dimension. I'd be interested to know if there are any out > there who reckon that they could listen to a piece they didn't know before > and place it geographically, and if so from about what period - a bit like > wine tasting? > > Yours, > > Tony > > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > $0 Bannerless Web Hosting, 10 POP and Web Email Accounts, & more > Get It Now At www.doteasy.com > > >