MUH 6515: Musics of the World

Title: Kokle Variation 2 (Variation on a Latvian Folk Tune) Performer: Laima Jansone Culture of Origin: Latvia Instrumentation: Kokle This week's readings discussed instrument classification systems. Every culture has their own way of classifying instruments. Though many of these classification systems are similar to ours, many are completely foreign to our understanding. The ancient Chinese, for example, classified their instruments by the "natural material that produced each instrument's sound" (Wade, 2004, p. 28). The European classification system, which we are most familiar with, includes four groups: strings, winds, percussion, and keyboard. As the field of ethnomusicology grows, it becomes increasingly important to have a classification system that is universally used and understood. Of course this system does not have to replace any traditional systems, but simply allows those outside of the culture to better understand unfamiliar music and instru...

Most múlik pontosan by Csík Zenekar (Hungary) Orchestration: Violin, guitar, viola, bass, accordion, voice I am thrilled to be able to discuss this piece of music this week. After living in Hungary for a year while completing a research grant, I became fascinated with Hungarian culture. In Hungary, the country's folk music still plays an invaluable role; Hungarians value their folk music and a large segment of the population knows and recognizes traditional folk songs.  This band is called Csík Zenekar. I think they are a fascinating example of the modernization of Hungarian folk music. This song, "Most múlik pontosan" is a traditional Hungarian folk song. The band, however, has found a lot of mainstream success in Hungary, performing all over the country and in neighboring European countries as well. Their shows often include modern versions of folk songs as well as a modern concert experience. The study of ethnomusicology helped to preserve the song...