The Melody and Scales in the Macedonian Folk Music:
The melody of macedonian folk songs is in general as simple as the ideas expressed in the folk poetry for which provides a setting. It moves within a limited ambitus of a scale that realy reflects the song’s character.
Ambitus. The majority of the melodies consist of a diatonic scale of five notes which in most cases includes the subtonium and often borders on the sixth (VII-b6). However, quite a number of melodies (especially newer and city songs) include the seventh, and in very few cases octave. It is typical that the nearly all the note material lies above the tonic. Only the subtonium (VII) plays any notable part. Most of the older ritual songs’ melodies are limited to third or forth (VII-2 or VII-b3).
Initial notes. The most usual thing is for the melody to begin on the tonic, on fifth or fourth, and the major second under the tonic (subtonium VII). Any other initial scale tone is possible, too.
Half-closes. The musical sections often conclude with a long note which coincides with the last syllable of the verse or possibly at another accentuation of the melodic course without, however, breaking it. In most cases the half-closes falls on the subtonium, tonic or the minor third; rarely other scale tones.
Cadences. The final is identical with the tonic (or tonus finalis). This is the centre of the melody, and final resting point, and when the last note is reached it is felt that the musical course is accomplished.
Scales. Most frequent and wide-spread in Macedonia is the diatonic scale with minor third and a subtonium, sometimes the second above tonic is also minor. If the ambitus is wider, the sixth is also minor. The minor third and minor sixth give this key a definitely minor character. Some theorists call it Aeolian (Stojan Djudjev – a bulgarian folklorist) or Srp-Ajdem (bulgarian folklorist – Dobri Hristov enters it among Arabian and Persian scales under that name). The diatonic scale with major third from the tonic and with range mostly up to fourth (sometimes fifth) is also familiar to this people, even it sometimes includes the (for those music culture) unusual semitone step under the tonic.
One of the most wide-spreadind chromatic scale in Macedonian folk music is the one which possesses an augmented second from second and third degree in an otherwise diatonic scale. The semitone steps lie between 1st and 2nd, between 3rd and 4th, and between 5th and 6th degrees. The most important degrees in this scale are 1st and 4th, which form the extremities of the chromatic tetrachord. The 4th degree is often the initial tone, or it is reached on one of the first syllables and dominates all through the melody. The chromatic tetrachord is also the basic for the cadence (G – as – h – c).
In some older ritual songs untempered intervals can be found; folklorists still batle about this question: is it an incident or a relict form of an ancient untempered tone system?
Intervals. Melodic movement, generaly speaking, advances diatonically, but skips in one direction or another – particulary upwards – are a frequent occurrence between melodical phrases in the one song’s frames. But in the older ritual vocal tradition skips as a characteristic of a melodic phrase are unique fenomena; they are more typical for the newer and urban folk songs. So, in that sense, the most characteristic interval is the perfect forth skipping upwards, very frequently at the very beginning of the melody or towards the end of the section. Sometimes it is used also as a part of a cadence. Thirds and seconds – both major and minor – appear almost everywhere.
Ornamentation. It is difficult to find any melody entirely devoid of ornamentation. Even the syllabically-stamped ones are at all events embellished with transitional notes and grace notes. Melismata particulary stamp melodies sung in a freer rhythm. They especially grace line endings and in many instances serve to connect larger skips. Their main function is purely decorative, and on this point the singer can evince his musicial personality and sense of beauty. The melismata are executed lightly and effortlessly – without cold virtuosity, but with an unobtrusive gentleness.
The Formal Structure of the Macedonian Folk Songs
In the formating of a folk song there is a constant interplay between melody and text. Text strophe formation. It is mostly found that it often subordinates itself to the form of the letter. Repetition of syllables, words, or whole verses, plus the use of interpolations and refrains is often necessary to complete this adjustment. This particulary applies to the heterometrical melodies. Pure verses. Most frequent are the eight syllables structure of the verse with asymetric or symetric division: VIII(5+3) or VIII(4+4), and the ten syllables verse structure: X(6+4), X(4+6) or X(5+5). The pure verse with its interpolations and repetitions make the extended verse of the strophe. Other combinations of syllables in the verse are also possible, although not so often as the previous ones.
Interpolation. The interpolations are frequently unconnected with the text, through they may possess a meaning and even fit into the action. There are exclamations like dusho (my soul), majko, mamo, male (mother), libe (beloved), ludo (fool, dolt – but less strong), pile shareno (many-coloured bird), Jano jagne (Jano, my lamb), etc., or shouts as Oj, Aj, I, Lele, le, de, dej and ajde, which appear in a number of songs as introduction to, or in the middle of the verse. Many words derive from Arabic, Turkish, Persian or Greek (ex: djanam, aman, merak, mori, bre, etc.) – though the original meaning of these words has often been weakned or completely lost, but they have reserved a psyhological value in that they can serve to emphasize sentimental features in the text. Interpolations can devide up a verse in the curious fashion, either for the pupose of prolonging it in order suit the melody, or for no other reasen bar the establishment of the text.
Repetition. This is another means used in the frequent efforts to adapt short verses to the melodic strophes. One can difference between partial repetition, that is to say repetition of a part of the verse, complete repetition of a verse, and finally the refrain which represents an unchangeable repetition of one or more lines from strophe to strophe. The verse can be augmented by reapeting the last syllables or the syllables in the middle, or the whole last metrical group. In many songs the first metrical group is repeated no less than three times. But some how in the most of the macedonian traditional songs a single verse forms the basis for whole strophe and it is sufficient to repeat the verse in its simple form, or it can bechanged slightly by repetition wnere the firs time an interpolation of a syllable or two are added.
Refrain. They differ from the interpolations in that form a whole line or several lines which are repeated
in each strophe, appear in various forms. It can be one or two lines which end the strophe, or with one line inserted before the last one. It is not always neccessery the refrains to be repeated regularly. The strophe not only represents a metrical, but also a logical and syntactical whole. In cases where the number is insufficient to form a strophe, a verse is repeated so that the verse in the strophe may come to form the first verse in the next.
The musical strophe. The greater of the melodies in two (AA’, AB, etc.) or three sections (AAB, ABB, etc.), and the rest in one or four (rarely more) sections. Often a musical section doesn’t correspond to a textual section, that is to say, a verse whether this be single or augmented. This musical section can also be devided into sentences which follow the division of the text. Length of the sections – as decided by the number of syllables: isometric – of equal length where interpolations have no influence over the rhytmical structure of the melody (most frequent), heterometric, isorhythmical and heterorhythmical. There seems to be a tendency for metre and rhythm to correspond with each other, so that the isometrical melodies are isorhythmical and the heterometrical melodies are heterorhythmical.
Some Other (Old Rural) Style Characteristics:
Breathing. In general, breathing is effected to conform to the form of the melody, so that natural pauses occur between the sections. However, there are a number of examples (mainly in the older rural folk songs) where breathing does not fallow the lines of the veses, which can confuse one’s impression of the construction of the melody so long as the text is not explained. The breathing pause mostly comes at the end of the half section after a long note, while the first section is led over to the second without without pause. The breath is also often drawn a few syllables before the end of a line where a word is cut in half.A breaking of syllables is a characteristic of the oldest macedonian traditional songs, similar to the shoutings.
Shoutings. These also represent the relict of the oldest macedonian folk vocal music. There are six types of shoutings (long down-going, short down-going, long up-going, short up-going, short or long horizontal shout) and all of them could be found at the end, the beginning or in the middle of the strophe or verse.The shoutings’ place in the strophe is strictly fixed. The most frequent one is the long down-going shout at the end of the strophe. The shoutings’ function in the past was to reject the bad and evil spirits.
Clucking sounds. The so-called “clucking sounds” are in a way similar to the shoutings (the short up-going shout, hiccup-like sound), but with a less intensity. They also differ from the real shoutings in their place in the strophe, which is not always fixed. Sometimes the cluckings’ occurance is only accidental as a result of a physiological breating proccess, but in most cases it has an aestetic meaning and role in the song.
re-published from MMC