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

154Ex. 85. Afghanistan, Nuristan (Vienna, Ph. Archive, B13242)One of the songs from this collection is particularly interesting, as two versions ofthe same song (“Senkivar kasek”)` – were recorded in the same village on the same day.The first version is performed by women and the second is by mixed group. Most of thesongs are sung by men and women separately. This kind of mixed performance might notbe usual for Nuristanians, because this particular performance shows a bit ofuncharacteristic features, and possibly even a “confusion” of the singers. It starts with themale lead and in the first phrase both man and women are singing the second“supporting” part. This is not traditional (to have more that one person singing any of thelead parts), and possibly both male and female singers are giving each other space,because for a while none of the “second soloists” is supporting the lead singer. Onlyabout a minute later the female singer starts singing again the supporting lead part. Groupof women also sing a drone in this version, and as women sing an octave higher, thisversion has uncharacteristically wide range of more than an octave. Second lead part,sung by a woman to the male lead part is very interesting. Instead of singing, as usual, asecond lower from the lead melody, she follows the lead melody a seventh higher(singing the same notes, but an octave higher).Nuristan polyphony is definitely one of the most isolated and interesting traditionsof polyphony on our planet. We will discuss the unique features of Nuristan polyphonyand its possible links to other polyphonic traditions in the second part of the book.The peoples of North Asia, according to the available information, havemonophonic singing traditions (solo and unison). There has been a kind of sensation thatcaused long-heated discussions among Soviet ethnomusicologists when a particularround-dance osuokai of the Yakuts with elements of polyphony was recorded in the1980s. According to Sheikin, one of the Russian ethnomusicologists commented afterhearing the recording: “they are singing as if they are not Yakuts, but some kind ofGeorgians!” (Personal communication from the December 9 th , 1986). On the recordingyou can clearly hear organum-like parallel singing, withmost of the singers singing more