who asked the first question? - International Research Center For ...

110Ex. 52. Montenegro. (Messner, 1980:356)Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe Bosnian and Herzegovian rural areas were mostly isolated from the majordevelopments of social and economical infrastructure and retained a big part of theirtraditional culture. Their culture represents a mixture of the elements of the pre-Islamicand Islamic periods. As a result of the efforts of visiting Czech folklorist Ludvik Kuba (in1889) and native scholars (particularly Cvjetko Rihtman few decades later) the traditionof vocal polyphony was brought to the attention of European ethnomusicologistsrelatively early. Polyphonic singing is widespread throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.The main type of polyphony is drone. The drone is usually performed by a group ofsingers, and the main melody is performed by a soloist. The melody usually has a smallrange (third or fourth). Two-part singing dominates, although a three-part singingtradition has also been documented.In eastern Herzegovina the melodic line often uses special techniques: shaking ofthe voice (“potresanie”) and exclamations on “oi” (“oikanie”). These techniques are usedin table songs, which survived despite the hostile attitude towards the table (and drinking)traditions of the official Moslem religion. The drone often consists of two components:the so-called “straight voice” (the pedal drone) and the ornamented drone with addedsmall ornaments. This added ornamented drone is traditionally mentioned as a “sobbing”(jekanie) or “cutting” (sjecanie) voice. Melodies develop in a specific manner as a“crawling” across often the half-tone intervals. The range of each part is often verynarrow (minor third),Ex. 53. Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Rihtman, 1953:#25)The new style of vocal polyphony (called na bas), influenced by Europeanprofessional polyphony, has been documented in Bosnia and Herzegovina from thebeginning of the 20 th century. This style is based on parallel thirds and specific cadencialfifths. Interesting examples of the mixture of old and new polyphonic styles has been alsodocumented: “Older versions of Bosnian na bas singing sometimes use seconds inalternation with thirds” (Petrovich, 2000:964)