THE WORKING-BEE NON-MEASURED SONG IN THE PIRIN FOLKLORE REGION – ESSENCE, FORMAL AND STRUCTURAL SPECIFICS

Abstract

One of the most widespread and striking folklore cycles in the Pirin region are the songs sung at a working-bee. They represent almost 1/3 of the song diversity of this region and are a preferred genre among the local population. A large part of the working-bee songs distributed in the Pirin region are non-measured. Their non-measured nature is determined primarily by their function as songs accompanying a particular work activity. The working-bee non-measured songs are an integral part of the life of the Pirin population. They are performed during the doing of some common work – tobacco stringing, sewing, knitting and are sung mainly by young people in the village - boys, girls, young brides. Some working-bee songs have a specific purpose in the work process. There are songs for starting the working-bee and songs that are sung when the girls are going out of the bee, as well as spring and autumn bee songs. Antiphonic singing is also typical of this type of non-measured songs. During the common labor activity, more people meet together in one place, which favors the emergence of various and interesting forms of performance. Often singers are split into two groups of two or three singers, with one group singing in and the other singing out. The performance of the working-bee non-measured songs is characterized by sharp, ringing sound, and the singing is intense, open. In formal-structural terms, non-measured working-bee songs are extremely diverse. There are one-tone and two-tone songs, and more and more often nowadays, the old local two-voice is being replaced by the performance of songs in parallel thirds. The working-bee song cycle is particularly rich in a variety of subjects. There are historical, haiduk, heroic stories, songs related to daily work, family life, love. For the most part, working-bee non-measured songs in the Pirin region are performed in a two-tone manner, mostly the old, local songs. The homophonic ones that have arisen in recent times are mostly with historical themes, reflecting events from the Liberation Wars, the Balkan War, etc., as well as songs with a love theme. The so-called working-bee choruses are also very common in this region, sung in a variety of tunes, some of which are not local but come from other folklore areas. Due to their peculiarities and characteristics, the working-bee non-measured songs are defined as a specific song group in the musical folklore of the Pirin region. This paper examines and analyzes their peculiarities in terms of their formal-structural components - melody, musical form, ambitus, mode, polyphony, ornamentation, rhythmic characteristic, the purpose of which is to highlight their distinctive features and specifics.