Re: OT: Musical languistics

--- Sally Caves <scaves@...> wrote:
> I don't think it is any more mutually understandable
> than language, although
> it has been spoken of as THE "universal" language.
> Back in graduate school,
> we listened to something in Japanese that sounded
> cheerful and triumphant.
> It was a dirge, we were told.  :)  Bulgarian women's
> choir has always
> fascinated me, partly because of the quarter tones
> used in them.  Herman
> Miller's site has a number of compositions where he
> uses quarter tones and
> the effects are quite bizarre.
>
Though, you've probably never heard it, there's a
lovely Taiwanese folk song called U Ia Hoe.  The first
time I heard it played, I fell in love with it.  It
was such a lovely melody.  I learned to play it on the
erhu.  Only later, in my Taiwanese class, did I
finally learn the words and hear it sung.  My concept
of this melody changed completely.  The words are a
touching lament about a flower fallen unnoticed and
uncared for, battered by the storm and left in the
pool of sorrows.  It is an allegory of what Taiwan
experienced under the Japanese and the fallen flower
is a group of young Taiwanese intellectuals arrested
by the Japanese for advocating Taiwanese independence.
 The song was banned by the Japanese and seriously
frouned on by the KMT government as well.  It has
remained popular for 70 years as the Taiwanese
continue their struggle for independence.  Once you
hear it sung you cannot mistake it for other than sad,
but just hearing the melody I thought it rather
cheerful.

As for Bulgarian women's choirs, I love them.  The
sound is so full of energy.  I'm trying to remember
the name of that song that starts with the bases
droning "dung di dung di dungidi dung" before the
sopranos come in with the lyric.  Do you know the one?
 I used to have an assistant from Bulgaria whos mother
was in such a choir back in Bulgaria.  She (my
assistant) was one interesting lady to talk to on any
number of subjects.  She was also the one who taught
me a Bulgarian tongue twister!

I love music and have stuff from many different
traditions in my collection.  There are very few
traditions I can't dig.  I love Chinese folk, (and
some of the formal styles), Japanese, Indonesian pop
(a little gamelan goes a long way), Taiwanese. Indian
styles are great.  Arab music is fun.  I absolutely
love Ashkenazi and I'm getting into Sephardic music.
All the mediterranean basin styles, Ethiopian, ancient
liturgical musics.  (Though that ancient Greek stuff
is um . . . )  Native American musics are great.
Polynesian is fun.  Most of the West African stuff is
fun.  I love southern African and East African, but
I've got some stuff from Zaire (or DR Congo) that is
horrifying.  Oh the dissonant clamour!  It's like the
stuff is going to amputate my cerebral cortex!  I'd
rather listen to 20th century "serious" classical.
Yes even to THAT!

Adam

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