The Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony ...

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Yu-Hsiu Lu
in Taiwanese aboriginal music, introduced Pasibutbut to the western world at the 6th Conference of the
<strong>International</strong> Folk Music Council (1953) held in France (Kurosawa, 1973: 6-11). Without any established
rhythm, singers of two to three voice parts try to follow the ongoing upper part melody in order to present the
3 rd , 4 th and 5 th intervals until a perfect fifth chord is achieved. <strong>The</strong> singing progress is so to speak an ongoing
pursuit and collapse of harmony (Wu, 1999).
Tab. 2: I-to Loh’s classification of the aboriginal polyphonic styles (Loh 1988: 43-44)
Polyphonic style Sort Tribe or piece
Intermittent polyphony -- Tso, Thao, Rukai, Paiwan, Amis
Melody with drone -- Paiwan, Rukai, Puyuma
Canon
Parallel
Real canon Atayal
Sectioned canon Puyuma
Free canon Amis
Parallel fourths Saysiyat
Parallel fourths and fifths Bunun, Tsou
Parallel 3rds Puyuma shamanic songs Tao female chorus
Isorhythmic polyphony -- Bunun
Chord with ostinato -- Amis, Bunun, Atayal
Chord with tone-clusters -- Tao
Complicated Polyphony
Identical harmony Bunun Pasibutbut
Interlocking Thao stamping millet songs
Unison-polyphony-unison Amis polyphony
In the group singing of Tao tribe – a tribe living in a very small island southeast of the Taiwan island,
heterophonic phenomenon can be observed. Without care to rhythm and voice ranges, individual singers only
follow a melody gestalt but have full freedom to sing according to their voice range, creating a special effect
of heterophony.
While the two tribes above: Bunun and Tao musical styles pay little attention to rhythm, the harmonies
in music from the Tsou tribe and the 2-3 parts canon from the Seediq tribe rely on a more structured rhythm.
<strong>The</strong> characteristic polyphonic styles of Paiwan, Rukai and Puyuma tribes display a common drone form in
which the drone effect is created by an ongoing long musical note or a repetition of the same pitch by singing
the lyrics.
Southern Amis’ polyphonic songs 3 in which a free counterpoint sound is present. However, from Amis’
viewpoint, their singing form is heterophonic. While previous ethnomusicologists have recorded parallel
fourths and fifths (i.e. polyphony) in the paSta’ay (dwarf-ceremony) of the Saysiyat tribe, polyphony is not
actually their intent 4 . This polyphony can be due to multiple reasons, including vocal range of other singers,
insufficient practice, low energy, or lack of attention (due to the long hours of rituals) (Lu, Sun, 2007: 21-42;
Lu, 2010: 395-408).
2. <strong>The</strong> Possibility of New Polyphonic Forms
2. 1. Taiwanese historical background
In the first half of 20 th century, Japan introduced western science, culture and arts to colonized Taiwan