Od źródeł do ujścia. Tradycyjny folklor w dobie wpływów, inspiracji i przemian
From the source to the estuary. Traditional folklore in the age of influences, inspirations, and transformations

Author(s): Ewa Cudzich
Subject(s): Music
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: tradition; folk music;folklorism;
Summary/Abstract: For a dozen or so years, the Polish context has seen the expansion of the group of musicians who draw inspiration from source music, from pure, unprocessed forms, on whose basis they set out musical arrangements with reference to traditional melodies and the rediscovery of early, forgotten texts. Traditional music plays a significant role in the formation of ethnic and national identity. Is such a role also played by processed forms? Is it merely a trend in the multitude of genres of music? The text constitutes an attempt at answering these questions, although I am aware of the polydimensionality of this subject. The modern music scene, strictly associated with ethnic, traditional music, and finally with folk, is a remarkable field of research which is subject to constant transformations, but as the decades elapse, the said field requires a scholarly, ethnomusicological insight. In this context a significant role is played by the “guardians of tradition”, musicians who, on the basis of folk melodies, with an awareness of sources and identity, bravely venture outside stiff frames, defy attempts at classification, in order to create new projects which combine elements of tradition and modern music, creating new arrangements of early songs and melodies. The map of Polish folk music changes each year, new ideas constantly emerge, which make reference to some extent to traditional folk songs and melodies. However, of primary significance is the fact that also the recipient is supposed to receive musical content in a conscious manner; it is also one of the roles of the transmitter of the musical-verbal message that is significant. The source is supposed to remain recognisable, so that at the estuary the entity of the place, culture and ethnicity may be preserved.

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