Concerning the Question of the Evolution of an Ethno-Musical System (on the Materials of the Song Traditions of the Upper Oka Villages of the Tula Region)

Abstract

The object of research in the article is formed by the contemporary mechanisms of modification of the ethno-musical system on the example of a regional song tradition localized on the territory of the Tula Region in the upper flow of the Oka River. Analysis is made of folklore-ethnographic expeditions carried out during the period from the mid-1970s until the early 2020s. The methodology of research is based on the positions of scholarly works by Evgeny Gippius, Borislava Efimenkova, and Margarita Engovatova in the vein of structural-typological research works. The article examines the parameters of the ethno-musical system from the perspective of the existence of song genres and the structure of the genre system, including the mechanisms of replacement of ancient melodies with newer ones. Analysis is made of the tendencies of development of the modal structure of a number of melodies, and indication is made of the mechanisms of “modernization” of the musical language and the peculiarities of correlation of the melodies of a later style with early anhemitonic melodies, the mutual influence of trichordal anhemitonicism with the diatonicism of the instrumental tunes. The article also traces out the paths of transformation of rhythmic structures, the reasons for the “departure” of such genres as Christmas riddles, as well as the principles of inclusion into the system of phenomena of the later urban style (“chastooshka” ditties in the role of spring folk songs, wedding songs in the role of shrove-tide songs). The characteristic feature of the present ethno-musical system from the positions of the present-day tendencies of its transformation has not been reflected previously in scholarly works, wherein the novelty of the present article is stipulated.

Keywords: folk music, ethno-musical system, regional song tradition, authentic performance