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52 THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF EUROPEAN FOLK MUSIC
cannot even give samples of the music of each nation. All we can do is to give some examples of what is typical, what is common, and what is particularly noteworthy, and then to hope that the reader will continue delving into the specialized literature and, above all, proceed with listening in order to broaden his understanding of this fascinating area of European culture.
Bibliography
The only general and comprehensive book on European folk music is in German, and it approaches its field from a very special viewpoint, attempting to show various historical layers evident in present-day traditions. Nevertheless, it is worth reading: Werner Danckert, Das eu-ropdische Volkslied (Berlin: B. Hahnefeld, 1939). Several collections of folk music in Europe that make it possible to compare the various styles are Leonhard Deutsch, A Treasury of the World's Finest Folk Song (New York: Howell, Siskin, 1942); Maud Karpeles, Folk Song of Europe (London: Novello, 1956); Europ'dische Lieder in den Ursprachen (Berlin: Merseburger, 1956), a collection published under the auspices of UNESCO; and Walter Wiora, Europaischer Vr oiksge sang (Cologne: Arno Volk, 1955), a collection that stresses the unity of European folk song by presenting variants of the same tunes from several countries.
Introductions to the field of European balladry are Gordon H. Gerould, The Ballad of Tradition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1932) and William J. Entwistle, European Balladry (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1939). The many variants of a single ballad text in several European nations are studied in Iivar Kemppinen, The Ballad of Lady Isabel and the False Knight (Helsinki: Published by the author, 1954). A short discussion of European epics is Felix Hoerburger's "Correspondence Between Eastern and Western Folk Epics," J-IFMC, IV (1952), 23-26. The entire epic tradition is discussed, but with emphasis on the Yugoslav forms, in Albert B. Lord, The Singer of Tales (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960). Finally, a classic on folk song as a living artifact is Phillips Barry, "The Transmission of Folk Song," Journal of American Folklore, XXVII (1914), 67-76. |
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