The Old Style Song in the Land of the Foresters, Hunedoara. Melodic Types with Refrain Resulted from Melodic Interjections

Abstract

"Old style songs are the most numerous, varied and widespread folk music productions in the entire Romanian territory. Researchers such as Béla Bartók and Emilia Comișel have conducted collections in the Foresters’ Land in Hunedoara County. In the summer of 2017, together with prof.univ.dr. Ioan Bocșa, we did a lot of research in this area as well. Hundreds of songs belonging to this lyrical genre have been collected, both in previous collections and in our own. The songs are performed, for the most part, by women, in the privacy of their home, on the border or in gatherings. Although it is a mainly individual genre, group interpretations have also been recorded. The vocal emission is similar to ritual songs (metallic, strong, sustained voice); we were amazed, as a performance of the group interpretation, with the unison execution of the ample and complex ornaments. For our study, we selected melodic types that have a very short refrain (two or three syllables), which has been theorized over time as a melodic interjection; due to the extension (up to a melodic line), a consequence of an excessive ornamentation, we consider it to have the status of a refrain. Keywords: Land of the Foresters, Hunedoara, old style vocal song, melodic interjection, refrain. "