THE FASCINATION OF FOLK SONGS

Evening Star, Issue 19298, 10 July 1926, Page 15

THE FASCINATION OF FOLK SONGS

TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF MANY LANDS A CULT OF TO-DAY ("Written by V. C. Lesi.p.v House, for the ‘Evening Star.’]

With the arrival of the Don Cossacks Russian Male Choir to onr southern isle lovers of music have the opportunity of hearing and appreciating the very beautiful Russian folk songs which grace a large proportion of thoir repertoire. The folk songs of Russia possess intrinsic worth from both an educational and musical standpoint. They are, to say the least, costhetic aim! artistic, and the beauty of the haunting melodics is remarkable when sung by those thirty-sis officers of the Tsar’s army. The folk songs of the Russian people are nearly all written within a very restricted compass, and they rarely ever move beyond the interval of a filth or a sixth. It is not strange to relate that the older the song the narrower is the range of its compass. The theme is always a short one, and is sometimes found to extend no farther than two bars. Of course, those two bars are repeated ns frequently as the exigencies of the text demand. The harmonisation of those tones is traditional and extremely original. It will bo found that the different voices of the choir approach each other until they form a unison, or else separate themselves into chords. These Russian folk songs may be classified as singing games or songs sung on feast days to the accompaniment of many different games and dances; songs for special occasions, of ■which the wedding song is the most familiar type; street songs, or the serenades for chorus of a jovial or a burlesque character; songs of the barge haulers, or those commonly known as “bourlaks”; and the songs for a single voice of every possible description.

Many of these traditional songs are marked, by excessive masculine energy, also by almost savage and unrestrained vehemence, or by a strange, calm, majestic dignity. Others there are which appear most graceful and attractive, and they immediately charm tho car by their careless gaiety. Again, there aro some stamped with the profound melancholy which is peculiar to the race, and tho grief in them can bo felt as though it was struggling to expand and express itself more clearly. These aro, indeed, truly beautiful. A numlier have their origin in the transparent and peaceful pools of poetry, and they move in a serene, visionary, and lyric world from under happy skies. Others, again, move with a siow and stately measure, and speak to ns w’ith tho voice of pomp and circumstance.

The chorus, which is arranged in n, circle., always plays tho part of narrator and commcndator. Then, in tho middle of the circle aro two or more peasants, say, of either sc\-, whose concern it is to represent tho diaraoters of tho story—tho amorous couple, the wife and her spouse, the. mother and daughter, and the hated and feared stepmother, and so on. Each pennant has to dance and to act while singing tho piece of dialogue allotted to him or her as the caso mnv be.

Taking folk songs in general, tbo terra “ folk song ” is restricted to such melodics as appear to bare been tbo work of untutored minds, and curious as it may be, appear to bare ari.sen independently of any felt necessity for harmonious support. The early types of folk songs are purely traditional. They spring, as it were, not from tbo heart of tbo people alone, but from the brain of someone who must be at work with musical power, yot may bo quite unconscious of it. Folk songs in their category' include loro ditties, lullabies, and pastoral themes, and all these arc melodic harmonies. There is something about_theso simple, haunting melodies—an insistent charm—appealing to tbo cultured and tho untutored mind with a strange fascination.

Tho Rev, ,T. Broaclwond, of Sussex, comprised over 400 examples in the year 1543. They are all of such an arresting character that they make a call and a demand upon our finest emotions, offering something as truly good as they are simple. Folk music is receiving much attention at tho present day, and Sir Charles Stanford Inis done excellent work in compiling and selecting folk songs in order to raise them to a high musical standard. Several well-known British folk songs are ‘Tho Bailiff’s Daughter of Islington,’ which must ho recorded as being a purely traditional folk song of tho sixteenth century, and tho beautiful ‘Barbara Allen.’ which is of unknown origin. Tho ‘ Oak and the Ash ’ is another old-iimo song, and was hdoved of. tho early pioneers. Tho popular words:

The oak and Hie ash and the weeping willow tree, They all grow green in the 01d .Countreo brought many a happy memory and a comfort to the struggling sons of England who gave us the freedom of this happy land. Then there is that old and very beautiful haunting air of Londonderry: “I would, oh, God, I were a tiny blossom.” It has an endearing _ and enchanting quality which is peculiarly its own.

A survival in French folk song is that of the Tonus perogrinus, the chant used for the well-known psalm “"When Israel came out of Egypt.” Tins lovely theme is mentioned as being of very ancient origin, and can bo proved to be of extreme popularity. According to Herr Bohnie, German folk songs are no longer heard. If this can be proved to bo tbo case, then a systematic search for German folk song should be undertaken before it is too late. No nation can afford to lose anything traditional and inspiring and which lends strength or means to make it beautiful. A friend in Sweden has sent to me a delightful collection of folk songs which have their origin from the Land of the Midnight Sun. The Swedish National Anthem is quite uplifting, beginning : Thou ancient, thou glorious, thou alpcrowned north, I greet thee, thou fairest land standing forth. Amongst the collection is a quaint and sweet love song: I walking went one eveniide, The shore was bright and shining; There up to me a youth then hied, His arms abound me twining, etc., and a rigorous and martial air, singing of fine deeds: Manhood, heart and men of will, Live to-day in Sweden still; , Strong of am and bold of heart, Fresh like youth in martial art. Truly it would be a deplorable state of affairs if folk songs had no revival.