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218Gerald Florian Messnergives us a hint of the age and longevity of this practice, which obviously indicates an affinity with the ancientcantus firmus technique in so called early art music. Support for this assumption comes from the names givento the different parts, such as der Grade (Engl. the straight) or Aushalter (Engl. somebody sustaining a note)these are all alternative names for the tenor voice in some four part songs, a part that sings the 5 th above thetonic which strongly indicates to be a remnant of a central drone. The part that mainly sings the leading middlevoice an octave lower had also a name that varied from region to region. In South Tyrol it still s called die tiafeSekund (Engl. the lower second). Another support for the above mentioned assumption is the use of paralleloctaves, fourths and fifths that can occasionally still be observed especially when the songs are performed byfolk singers who have had no formal musical training. One of the main feature is that these songs are started bythe lead singer and joined in by the other vocal parts. This responsorial practice is not always strictly followedespecially in the contemporary folk song creations. The parts did not always move in a parallel progression butdid show independent counter-pointal tendencies. This too is vanishing.Today, by contrast, the style has become polished and harmonically cleansed. It is quite possible that thedecline of the five part polyphonic vocal style of Renaissance art music towards the end of the 16 th centuryand the rise and acceptance of the basso continuo fashion had an impact on folk music practice especiallyin the vicinity of urban areas. This would explain the adoption of the well known four part homophonicchoral harmony, which has now become the all-permeating structure of both folk and main stream Westernmusic. This development must, of course, have had a strong impact on folk polyphonic traditions that initiallyfollowed a different musical aesthetic. This seems to have been the case with the Alpine folk polyphonyunder discussion.However, the vocal parts have retained their specific names and still follow models and rules well knownto the people of the communities that were living in this area.Singing together essentially was and still is occasionally improvisational in nature. It has, of course,nothing to do with free improvisation but is rather an improvisational practice in which rules, flexible thoughthey may be, are applied in order for a song to sound satisfying for the performers. These performances are,generally speaking, not meant to please only an audience but were primarily created for the enjoyment ofall participants. Some sounds especially those produced in unplanned, improvisational performances were,indeed, not always pleasant for academically trained musicians. Their ears would detect so-called discords,parallel fifths and octaves and other features that are forbidden in the voice-leading practice of art music.This kind of ‘uncontaminated’ singing is, nowadays, almost extinct as the omnipresent equal temperamenttuning system (12-TET) has swept through all our ears and brains and has cleansed and eliminated all so-called“unmusical” and alien deviations from the now dominant tuning and audio reference system of our globalisingmusical fusion-music culture. It appears that people living in remote areas that were difficult to access havebeen able to maintain archaic traditional forms over a much longer period of time. This, however, is nowchanging because of the digitalisation of our world.The polyphonic style of Carinthia has survived but occurs now, predominantly, within the ‘proper’ frameof an academic homophonic four part harmonic make-up. Here and there old hexachordal patterns and socalled “wild” interval formations and polyphonic progressions can still be detected although quite scarcely.Well known melodies are handed down from generation to generation and do pre-exist but the polyphonicweave produced by musicians with no formal training singing together without sheet music is, on someoccasions, still a spontaneous creation of the music makers. Each singer contributes to the harmonic wholeand sings a part that is not pre-set but exists conceptually and is found to suit his or her voice as it comes into
Significant Aspects of Carinthian Multi-Part Singing. Part of the DiversePolyphonic Vocal Tradition in the South Eastern Alpine Adriatic Region219being. Thus it is a collective creation and the people who live in this region have assimilated the polyphonicskills since their early childhood. The Voice production is considered to be soft even when singing with fullcapacity. It is a voice production in the vicinity of what is commonly known as bel canto style. Here the soundenergy is evenly distributed over the whole spectrum and a wide range of so-called overtones or harmonicsis appreciated by the performers.Here are some audio samples of Carinthian singing styles (audio ex. 1-4):1) An audio sample of a contemporary five part song. It is polished and rehearsed, without improvisationalsurprises and represents the present day choral performance tradition. The language, typical for these kind ofsongs, is a middle-Carinthian dialect, promoted by the local poet Gerhard Glawischning. The various GermanCarinthian dialects are generally based on an old Southern Bavarian idiom;2) Here are audio samples of a Slovenian four part and a five part song, the four part song is from DolgaBrda, a Slovenian village right on the border with Carinthia, recorded 1964 (Stajnar, 2000: 86) and the fivepart song is from Zell Pfarre (Slov. Sele pri Fari) recorded 1969. The language of these songs is in a CarinthianSlovenian dialect that also displays regional variants;3) Here is a 5 part audio sample from South Tyrol, recorded 1992. The same song is also performed inCarinthia, sung in several Carinthian German regional dialects.ReferencesDeutsch, Walter. (2000). “Interpretationsformen im Tiroler Volksgesang” (“Interpretation of forms in the Tyrolean folk song”). In:Der authentische Volksgesang in den Alpen (The Authentic Folk Singing in the Alps). P. 27-38. Editors: Haid, Gerlinde, Josef, Sulz,Nußbaumer, Thomas. Anif/Salzburg: Müller-SpeiserEibner, Franz. (1972). “Vom Wert und der Qualität der volkstümlichen Mehrstimmigkeit in Kärnten”. In: Volkslied – Volksmusik– Volkstanz, Kärnten und seine Nachbarn (Folk Song - Folk Music - Folk dance, Carinthia and its Neighbors). KärntnerMuseumsschriften (Carinthian Museum publications), 51: 39–84. Klagenfurt: Beiträge zur Volksmusikforschung in KärntenKohl, Franz Friedrich. (1899). Echte Tiroler Lieder, S. V.Lešnik, Ivan. Slowenian Multipart Singing:http://www.mdw.ac.at/ive/emm/index.php?id=109Messner, Gerald Florian. (2008). “They Howl Like Wolves”… (“ululant ad modum luporum…”)A new look at an old persistent Lombardian polyphonic oral tradition loathed by medieval and Renaissance music scholars. In:1973 Frühlingsbräuche und Frühlingslieder in Südkärnten (1973 Spring Practice and Spring Songs in Southern Carinthia). Journ.Makedonski Floklore, VI, 12:171-77Pohl, Heinz Dieter. (2000). “Kärnten – deutsche und slowenische Namen” (“Carinthia - Slovenian and German Names”). In:Österreichische Namenforschung (Austrian Onomastics), 29. Issue 2–3. ViennaStainar, Julijan. (2000). “Gesangstile in Slowenien” (“Vocal Styles in Slovenia”). In: Der authentische Volksgesang in den Alpen(Authentic Folk Singing in the Alps). P. 81-99. Editors: Haid, Gerlinde, Josef, Sulz, Nußbaumer, Thomas. Anif/Salzburg: Müller-Speiser
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