The Real Being of the Folk Song: Actual and Virtual Forms

Marian-Bălaşa, Marin (2003) The Real Being of the Folk Song: Actual and Virtual Forms. Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 44 (1-2). pp. 113-120. ISSN 0039-3266

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Abstract

The structures, or architectural forms, can be very various. They are independent both as to text and tune, are inconcievable by lyrics or melody taken separately, have nothing to do with the conscious intention or representation of the singers themselves, and are spontaneously actualized during the singing. Due to such immaterial structuring possibilities, and using only the formal possibilities of the syntagmatic, in Romanian traditional/folk singing a single poetic text can receive 64 formal treatments/versions. For establishing the existence of these architectural variants I have started from observations such as the one belonging to Bartók, who noticed that Romanians had the peculiarity of singing the same verse four times. Other observations spoke about tree times repetitions of each verse, while in someother circumstances verses are repeated just once. If we logically establish all possible forms of sytagmatic repetitions we obtain this sum of 64 variants, which constitute the equally real and virtual being of each and any folk song. These structures and architectures were very important to the old, traditional/peasant aesthetics, and their actualization was essential espetially to ceremonial repertories such as Winter-Solstice-Songs (carols). By giving up devices such as verse repetition and stanzaic refrains, and by shortening the time for performing the epic songs of the peasant carol, what was lost was the immaterial aspect of unconscious constructing, the abysmal pleasure for implied mathematics, was lost one of the essences of the sacred experience, which is -as philosophers put it - 'experiencing the Number'.

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