Classification of Macedonian Folk Songs:
There were many scientists (folklorists, ethnomusicologists, etc) in the beginning of this century that have tried to classify macedonian folk songs according to their contents and “character” (Vuk Karadjic – serbian folklorist: heroic-male and lyrical-female songs) or songs’ function and use (in most of the folk songs collections published before 1950: familly songs, emigration, wedding, songs about the otoman-battles,etc.). One of the generally accepted classification is that of Miodrag Vasiljevic (also serbian folklorist) who has divided the macedonian vocal tradition into calendar and noncalendar songs. He thinks that all the songs belonging to both groups can be found in all season cycles. So for the winter cycle calendar songs for hollydays like Christmas carol (Kolede), Vasilica, Vodici, etc. are typical (he term “calendar songs” points to precise conection with the some dates of the year). Spring cycle songs: St. Lazarus’ Day (Lazarica), Easter (Veligden), St. George’s Day (Gjurgjovden), etc.; Summer cycle songs – smaller number of calendar songs: St. Ivan’s Day (Ivanden), St. Peter’s Day (Petrovden). Autmn calendar songs – almost don’t exsist. Noncalendar songs (not related to precise date of the year) are: wedding songs, sitting party songs (mostly in autmn while working at homes like corn-pilling, tabacco-stringing, wool-spinning, weaving, etc.), harvest songs, rain-calling songs (“dodole”), etc. The newer noncalendar songs: revolutionary from the period of the national-liberating war, emigrant songs, etc.
Number of Voices in the Macedonian Folk Singing:
If we speak about songs in folk music, we can put it in two parts: singing in one or two voices. One-part singing (monophonic singing) can be interpreted by men, women or together in the mixed ensemble. The individual one-voice singing is most typical with moments connected with birthing, by death (funeral songs) and for some other occassions from the human life, for example doing some individual job (collecting trees, watching animals, shipping and other occassions). The collective ensemble also can be interpreted monophonic, both in frame of pure or mixed vocal ensemble (male and female), even while the second ones are so much rare and also newer. In these cases the sound manner is different from the real one voice singing: they sing in paralel octavas. Macedonian one voice singing is represented both in older and newer songs, i.e. in the whole development of the vocal tradition. Still singing in more than one voice in Macedonia (mainly two voices – two-part singing) is more typical, especially for the older tradition in some macedonian regions and it increased in the time of pagan history, influenced by crossing of peoples, and later with adopting the Christian religion. It is performed separately by men or women. The two-part singing is based on the drone principle: one person sings the melody whilst the others accompany on the tonic with the same text and in the same rhythm (rarely on tonic without text and rhythm, on neutral syllable, for example on “a”). Something similar is also found in instrumental music. According to the previously said two-part bourdon (drone) singing is more typical for women as a result of their social status in the past and the division of the working tasks. Male bourdon singing is rare, although in Tetovo and Gostivar region it is typical as a style, both male and female singing.
Two-part singing understands one leading voice and a drone tone. It is almost always connected with the antipnonic way of performance – succesively perfomance (responding) by more groups of three in which the main singer (always in the center of the group) sings the leading voice while the other two sing the drone tone.The drone (bordun, pedal) tone appears in few variations: continously unchangeful and continously changeful, and rhythmically unchangeful and rhythmically changeful.
Two-part singing could be found also as a form of singing partly in parallel thirds. That considers only the newer songs, sometimes more urban than rural. The three-part singing that comes from Kostur region in Eagen part of Macedonia (today beyond the borders of the Greek state) consist of one leading voice, one imitating voice (both with decreising malodic line) and one drone. It is believed that the Macedonian people from Kostur have taken the three-part singing perhaps from the peoples situated on the Balkan Peninsular before their coming, i.e. the Albanian Tosk tribe and the Vlahs. After the Greek Civil War 1948 and the great migrations of macedonian people the macedonian three-part singing can be found only as a relict of Kostur Eagen emigrants (that is in Vardar Macedonia, some oasis in the Pirin part of Macedonia – today in the Bulgarian state; also Romania, Chech Republic, etc.).
The Metre and the Rhythm in the Macedonian Folk Music:
Following are the metric schemes which appear in the macedonian folk songs: regular, asymetric, unmeasured and a combination of previous three.
Regular meters. Simple duple meter 2/4 is by far the most common of all regular meters in macedonian folk music, and it’s balanced by the variety of musical sentences. It is one of most frequent in the dancesongs. Triple meters 3/4, 3/8, or 9/8 are almost nonexistent except in some newer city songs influenced by foreign romances, dances, etc. The very few instances of triple metric signatures date from the latter part of the nineteenth century, when the Balkan peoples in general began to establishe contact with western Europe. However, it is by no means rare in combinations with other meters. The 6/8 is only typical for the instrumental music. Most folk songs in regular meter (with the exception of a certain number in 2/4 which are dance-inspired) stem from lyric folk poetry and are not associated with the dance.
Asymetric meters. A great many of the macedonian dance songs bear such metric signatures as 7/16, 9/16, 5/16, 11/16, etc. These tunes are by far most interesting since the conbination of seven, nine and five etc. are not septuple, compound triple, and compound quintuple time respectively, but instead are measures which contain three, four and two assymetrically combined beats, each beat containing two or three sixteenth notes. The principle of hemiolia, of lengthing the note value by one and one-half times the original time unit, was known to the Greeks and used in their paeonic meters. They borrowed this irrational relationship from their method of octave division, where the interval of the perfect fifth resulted from the relationship 3:2, and so on. Thus, pitch and time relations were founded on the indentical principle. There is no common term for such meters in Occidental tonal theory. The 5/16 (2+3) is the metric signature for a great many old ritual and religious songs, especially Christmas carol in Eastern part of Macedonia. The other division of the 5/16 (3+2) is not much familiar to this tradition. But the 7/8(3+2+2) serves as a metric framework for many Macedonian religious folk songs (mainly newer ones) and even dance settings. Virtually all metric variations are posible within the measure. In all of those variations 7/8 is a triple meter, with an alongated first unit which receives the strongest accent in the measure. The Bulgarian folklorist Dobri Hristov has called this 7/8 with first unit elongated “the rhythm of the macedonian dance”, because undoubtedly it is the most familiar to our people’s folk tradition and that’s in every possible corner in the world where Macedonian lives; in other hand, it’s also present in some neighbor folk traditions (in modern greek and in the bulgarian folk music; also the turkish “usul devr hindi”), but not so much frequent as in the macedonian one. The 7/16 (2+2+3) with last elongated unit is familiar to the Bulgarians, but in more faster tempo then the macedonian 7/8. So it’s maybe the main metro-rhythmical difference between these two Balkan cultures. The 9/8 or 9/16 (2+2+2+3) (2+2+3+2) is one also commonly used meter in the macedonian dance songs. Scientists think that its origin is Oriental. It is found in the Turkish music under the name “aksak”. The nine equal notes within the measure are not grouped as a compound triple pattern, but as a measure of four beats with an alongated last beat. The strong accent falls on seven, giving the effect of 3/8 +3/16. The 11/16 is quite similar to the previously mentioned 9/16 meter; in edditional group of two sixteenth notes is inserted before the elongated unit (2+2+2+2+3) or at the end (2+2+3+2+2). The socond one is more common. Such a combination is by no means theoretical. It is found in also many songs in Macedonia, although it is less common than another 11/16 pattern with different grouping. Unique types of meters in the macedonian vocal tradition are also some other asymmetrically patterns as 10/8, 12/16, 13/16, 14/16, 15/16, 17/16, and so on, very rarely found. The 8/8 (3+2+3) in a kind of unusual manner is present in the macedonian folk tradition – not as a regular meter 4/4, but as a asymmetric pattern; beside some newer lyric songs, it’s also found at the beginning of songs and dances that towards the end the tempo’s acceleration makes the last eight to be gone and the 8/8(3+2+3) become 7/8 (3+2+2)!
Unmeasured meters. Many colorful macedonian folk songs cannot be represented by any of the metric devices previously mentioned. Their construction, like interpretation, is altogether free. This category is made up chiefly of heroic (epic) songs, harvest songs, and songs sung at the dinner table, dealing with food, hospitality and related subjects. The melodies move within a limited ambitus, often repeat one degree of the scale, and usualy are highly decorated. Syllables which are not a part of the text are frequently added either at the beginning or at the end of the musical phrase or within the period. Rich ornamentation is also characteristic of these songs.
Combinations of different measures. Any combination is possible, but so far noted or recorded are: combinations with 2/4, 3/4, 4/4/ and 5/4; than: 2/4 + 7/8, 2/4 + 9/16, 4/4 + 5/16 + 9/16, etc. More interesting are the folk songs which set an actual poetic text, but musically include unmeasured sections within a melody which otherwise follows a definite metric scheme, assymetric or regular. Such unmeasured fragments may appear at the beginning or at the end of the musical sentence; they may occur once or more times.