In the first part of this paper, three New Zealand Maori scales and a possible fourth were derived from interval associations, using strict criteria of melodic usage. An unexplained fact is the coincidence of these three scales with the plagal forms of the medieval phrygian, ionian, and aeolian modes. Historical connection with ancient Greece seems too unlikely a hypothesis to be entertained, and exposure of the Maoris to the medieval modes through early missionary activity can also be ruled out. An alternative explanation is that the ancient Greeks and the New Zealand Maoris shared common principles in their music which led to the evolution of similar scales, but such principles seem impossible to demonstrate. The conclusion must be that there is, as yet, no acceptable explanation for the parallels observed in this paper between Maori scales and those of medieval Europe and ancient Greece.

References in early writings to African music in pre-European times often indicate the existence of harmony. On entering Mossell Bay in December, 1497, Vasco da Gama's men heard four or five flutes played by negroes, “some producing high notes and others low ones, thus making a pretty harmony” (Davidson, 1964). At Malindi, in 1498, Vasco da Gama's Logbook referred to “two trumpets of ivory … of the size of a man,” whose music “made sweet harmony” with those of anafils. Writing on the music of Ashanti and other peoples of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Bowdich mentioned “several instances of thirds” (Bowdich, 1819).

In his essay, “The Cultivation of Various European Traditions in the Americas”, Charles Seeger stated that:

Cet article a moins pour objet la description des instruments de musique des Yezidi, instruments qui ne présentent en eux-mêmes aucune singularité remarquable, que celle de l'usage qui en est fait dans cette communauté religieuse, usage qui offre d'intéressantes particularités sur lesquelles, à notre connaissance tout au moins, aucune étude n'a encore été publiée. Corollairement, la description portera sur le statut social des instrumentistes, médiateurs entre ces instruments de musique et leur fonction sociale.

In anthropological research one usually turns to cultures where social bonds are still closely knit, and as a result “primitive” or tribal peoples are often the centre of interest in Western anthropology. But in many areas of Europe peasant culture has retained highly integrated patterns of life with relatively little disturbance almost up to the present day. Professionally organised field work reveals astonishing features of culture unexpectedly so close at hand in neighbouring industralised Europe.

It is generally thought that Chinese music is homophonic. In instrumental music, the players tend to play in unison, and in vocal music, the instrumental accompaniment closely follows the pattern of the singing. The science of harmony, or the system that governs the combining of the intervals as applied in European music, was not known to China in the past. In fact, very little was said in the long history of Chinese music about the theory of combining the intervals.

However, unison is not to be regarded as the sine qua non in Chinese instrumental and vocal music. In many types of Chinese folk music, one finds that the players or singers do not adhere strictly to unison but vary their parts in juxtaposition and in relay. Frequently, the players resort to embellishing the melody and the more skilful ones will embark on extemporization, giving rise to heterophonic effects. The practice of embellishment and extemporization is intended to avoid monotony in ensemble playing and to show off the skill of the player. But in specific cases, different parts are planned for the singers and players to perform.

The dance is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and beautiful expressions of the Rumanian people. Its present-day forms are the product of an evolution during which it was subject to diverse influences (both internal and external) and shaped by the spiritual needs of its creators. While part of the whole realm of folk creation, the dance is in itself a most complex phenomenon. Consequently, it has for quite some time been regarded as an independent genre, and little study has been devoted to its relationship with other folkloristic elements.

Ethnologists now generally accept the idea that all cultures are dynamic and ever changing (Berreman, 1968:338). It is clear, however, that the rate of change varies not only from one culture to the next, but also with respect to the different elements within that culture. In some ways, a society is rather like an octopus with its tentacles periodically stretching in different directions—each motion causing at least a slight change in the alignment of forces within it. For analytical purposes, this continuous juggling of forces and pressures can often be comprehended more readily in a series of stop-action vignettes, exactly comparable to the individual frames of a motion picture film. With this technique, it becomes possible to predict that, for instance, a jumper in mid-air will return to earth and, if one knew his velocity and trajectory, just where he would land. However, the forces operating on and within a society are not nearly as well understood as is the force of gravity and thus predictions of change in society are generally much less reliable. Nevertheless, such an examination of the operative forces and their alignments in this kind of stop-action view will undoubtedly add to our understanding of the processes of change in society.

This paper concerns the music of wedding ceremonies that I recorded and filmed in four communities in the vicinity of Delhi: the town of Gurgaon and the villages of Jharsa and Jhanjholi in the state of Haryana, and Singola village in the Delhi Government District. It concentrates primarily on songs for two ceremonies in the Hindu cycle of wedding rituals — the lagan and the ban, and also includes songs for the other rituals that took place on the day of a phera (‘the marriage itself') in the villages of a groom (Singola) and of his bride (Jhanjholi). The music for such ceremonies is always provided by women, members of the families of the bride and groom and other appropriate female members of the community. Before presenting and discussing these ceremonies and the music for them, I want to describe the socio-cultural context of marriage in India.

In various studies scholars have asserted that two or more melodies are similar. In many cases the scholar does not offer a method by which the reader can determine that the melodies offered are indeed alike; He merely places the melodies in juxtaposition and assumes that the reader will perceive, as the author apparently does, that they are similar. This is the procedure followed by George Pullen Jackson in his attempt to prove that Black spirituals derive from white hymn tunes (Jackson 1933:242–261). On examining the melodies presented by Jackson, I find them similar in some respects and dissimilar in many other respects. I am by no means certain that they are versions of the same melody. In other cases the scholar does not offer full melodies or even full first sections of melodies. This occurs, for example, when Peter Gradenwitz offers melodic analogues of the Zionist and Israeli anthem, “Hatiqvah” (Gradenwitz 1949:302–303).

The various notational means of signifying and conveying the composer's decisions and specifications to the various media for the electronic production of musical sound are probably temporary both in their exact nature and variety. But this should not be construed as a basis for concluding that these notational practices are, therefore, of consequence only to the historian of the ephemeral, or to the operators and designers of such media. The characteristics of these notations and, indeed, the very fact of their probable ephemerality embody implications of far more than mere “historical” interest, implications which extend significantly beyond the nature of the current means and even the structures of the particular media.

The subject of this paper, “European Folk Polyphony,” is one to be approached only with the most painful scruples and not a little hesitation, and this for the following reasons:

1. (1) It seems as though, even by hearsay, nothing like all the phenomena of European folk polyphony are known. Every year brings fresh surprises to light.

2. (2) The material basis is as yet extremely narrow. Far too few transcriptions have up to now been published.

3. (3) Even when comprehensive and reliable transcriptions have been published, we still lack exact studies that penetrate the material and isolate its typical characteristics or features. As is the case with all folk music, the polyphonic variety is, as we know, dependent on oral tradition, that is to say, the folk singers follow with fine instinct definite rules. But of these rules they are “theoretically,” as we understand this term, not conscious. It is thus only possible to deduce these rules in a “mediate” way, viz. through the careful analysis of transcriptions. But for this we need suitable methods of investigation and a terminology making it possible to give an unambiguous account of the phenomena with which the researcher may find himself confronted. And despite meritorious attempts, we have as yet no such methods and terminology at our disposition.