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

60Ossetian polyphony is based on the wide use of drone (and double drone). Songswith a drone mostly represent two-part polyphony. In case of double drones, these dronesare the interval of fourths, fifths, or octaves apart. In such cases (together with the mainmelody, always sung individually) the result is three-part drone polyphony. There isanother type of three-part polyphony in Ossetia as well (in southern Ossetia, withinGeorgia), with only one drone, but with two individual singers, singing together two topmelodies on the background of the drone. This type of three-part singing is considered byOssetian and Georgian scholars as the result of the influence coming from Georgianpolyphonic music. The name of the base part in Ossetia is kirnin, of sometimes – fersag.Male singing is dominating. Besides the drone, Ossetians widely use ostinato formulas inthe base part. Rhythmically Ossetian songs are not very strict. Quite often they usecomplex meters and free rhythm, mostly following the reciting style of the singer of themain melody. Cadences quite often finish on the interval forth.Arguably the most important musical legacy that medieval Alans left in Ossetiantraditional culture is the tradition of epic songs about the Nart heroes. Interestingly, thesesongs (called here kadeg) are performed arguably in the original Indo-Europeanperformance style: by a solo male performer (kadeganag), accompanying himself on astring instrument. Epic songs about the Nart heroes became very popular amongOssetian’s neighbors and are currently spread throughout the whole North Caucasia,although in all other North Caucasian cultures (apart from Ossetians) epic songs aboutNarts are performed by a group of singers, in a traditional polyphonic style with a drone.In contrast to the most of the other North Caucasian polyphonic traditions, whichwere mostly unavailable for European scholars, Ossetian polyphonic tradition becameknown among European scholars quite early (Lach, 1917, 1931). The 1964 volume“Ossetian Folk Songs” (Galaev, 1964) is still the best published source of Ossetiantraditional songs.Chechens and IngushesChechens (Nokhcha in Chechen) are arguably the most populous in NorthCaucasia (about 1.2 million lived here before the recent Russian-Chechen war.Contemporary estimates are nor available). Together with the closely related Ingushes(Galgai in Ingush, population is around 200 000) they call themselves vainakhi. Theirlanguages are a part of so-called Nakho-Dagestanian group of Caucasian languagefamily. Chechens and Ingushes became Moslems in 17-18 th centuries, and they arebelieved to be the autochthonous residents of the Caucasian mountain ranges.Both Chechen and Ingush traditional music could be very much defined by theirtradition of vocal polyphony. As in other North Caucasian musical cultures, Chechen andIngush polyphony is based on a drone. Unlike most of the other North Caucasianpolyphonic traditions (where two-part polyphony is the leading type), Chechen and