Embroidered with Gold, Strung with Pearls: The Traditional Ballads of Bosnian Women by Aida s> Vidan (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 96I suggeststhat thisleads to 'affirmationof the "dialogueprinciple"' (p. 30). For the Englishreader,this re-situatingof the Ligetitraitof unresolvedparadox is revealing one of many instances of a specific non-Western contextualization , culturalratherthanpersonal,of Ligeti'snot-yet-Westernizedperception that pluralism and relativity are the essential conditions of contemporary music. As we progress,it becomes apparentthat thisbook is a gigantic dissertation in which every work has been subjected to powerful scrutiny in all its aspects from the circumstances of commission and performance to the aesthetic, the technically formative, the analytical, and the contextual (often to remote artistic periods, mathematics, visual art etc., as well as the Ligeti oeuvre) while the author steers an ever deepening evolutionary narrative through the chronological adventure. This major achievement is supported by translator Mark Shuttleworth who honours the accepted meaning of English technical terms while maintaining a remarkablelevel of fluency and elegant readability. What a pity, then that such a mine of information and thinking is graced with an Index of Names only. The Ligeti-informedreader (thisvolume is hardlydestinedforthe novice)will oftenbe able to locate topics of interestfrom the Contents listing, where titles rub shoulderswith 'Time as Space' or 'In The WonderfulWorldof Mean-tone Temperament'. However, if the description of 'Generalised Hemiola' located at pp. 246-50 seems insufficient (for I have yet to find a convincing definition of what Ligeti after contact with Simha Arom and Central African Pygmy music -means by thisconcept, as the redistributionof x timesy beats asy times x beats seems too insignificantand one suspectssome furtherconcept related to suspended and released rhythmicpropulsion),then one reallywants to look up all other instances to round out one's understanding, and the lack of a topical or subject-basedindex becomes frustrating. Typographical errors are extant but rare, and the occasional unclear facsimilemanuscriptiseasilyoutweighedby theprofusionof musicalexamples serving clearly conveyed analytical and stylisticobservations.In all this is an immensely valuable book, packedwith informationand markedby particular contextual sympathyfor the composer. If this means that negative evaluation isvirtuallytaboo, thenlet futuregenerationsproceed to furtherdiscrimination. The book undoubtedly merits an importantplace in any libraryrepresenting serious thinking about contemporary music and, arguably, its greatest living exponent. Department ofMusic GEOFFREY POOLE University ofBristol Vidan, Aida. Embroidered withGold,Strung withPearls.TheTraditional Balladsof BosnianWomen. Publications of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, i. The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, Cambridge , MA, 2003. xiv + 273 pp. Notes. Glossary. Bibliography. Index. 19.95 (paperback). THIS handsome volume representsan importantcontributionto both the field of oralliterarystudy and the culturalhistoryof Bosnia. The majorpart of the 962 SEER, 82, 4, 2004 bookconsistsofthetextsofsongs,inboththeiroriginallanguageandinfluent Englishtranslation. Thispresentation makesthevolumeof particular value foravarietyofpurposes. Inadditiontothetextsofthesongsthemselves, there is a substantial scholarly introduction, placingthesongsin thebroadcontext oftheSouthSlavtraditional balladaswellasin thespecificcircumstances of whatisknownofthelivesofthesingers represented inthevolume.Theauthor haschosentofocusona smallgroupofsingers aboutwhoselivessomething is known,in orderto give as full as possiblea senseof the whole tradition, therebygoingsomewaytowards compensating fortheartificiality ofstudying oralliterature inwrittenform,outsidethecontextofitsoriginandfunction. Vidanconcentrates ontheballadasoneofthelesswell-known branches of theSouthSlavoraltradition, defining itas'anarrative song,whichconveysin concise and dramaticfashiona fragmentof humanexistence,typicallya conflictofapersonal nature,givingparticular prominence toitspsychological andemotionalaspects'.Shepointsoutthatthecircumstances of theballads' performance and theirfunctionin the societywheretheywere sungdiffer fromthoseoftheepic,whichhasbeenthesubject ofconsiderable international scholarly attention. Theballads werenormally sungbywomenwhoseposition in societywas of coursedifferentfromthat of the epic singerswho were typicallymale.Balladswerenormallyan accompaniment to someeveryday activity,ratherthana 'performance' in a publicplace,listenedto by a more orlessattentiveaudience.AsVidanpointsout,thedifference in therelative positioninsocietybetweenmaleandfemalesingers wasparticularly strongin thecaseofMuslimcommunities. The introduction considers problemsof genreandterminology; classification of the balladsin the Milman ParryCollection;questionsof textual variationand stabilityin the South Slavictraditionalballad;the role of mythology; andtheproblemof formulaic languagein translation (p. 13).In thesectionon'micro'and'macro'structures theauthor's painstaking analysis of multiformsacrossgenres,regions,dialects,periods,ethnic groupsand gendersdemonstrates connections inwhatis atfirstsighta disparate bodyof heterogeneous materials. Thesectionontheroleofmythology isofparticular interestto the generalreaderas it revealsotherwiseinaccessiblelayersof meaningin severalrelatedfolktraditions andcastslighton someotherwise obscurerecurrent phrasing andreferences inthetextsofthesongs. Vidan sumsup her intentionin compilingthe volumeas the hope that 'these outstandingexamplesof folk art will bring us a step closer to understanding thetypeofskillandtalentnecessary fortheircreation,andthat they will serveat the same time as an importantculturaldocumentof a traditionthat has all but vanished'(p. 75).Thereis no doubtthatshe has accomplished hertaskadmirably bymakingthetextsofthesongsthemselves available to awidereadership andatthesametimeproviding awide-ranging scholarly analysis ofthetradition towhichtheybelong. Oxford E. C. HAWKESWORTH ...