Tuvan song rhythm in terms of of general theoretical categories

Abstract

The current stage of knowledge on Tuvan folk music allows outlining the transition from the descriptiveness to using the modern music theory categories. This paper proposes an approach to the analysis of musical and poetic rhythm tested on the material of folk songs of the peoples of the Volga region. The sound-time process in the intonation of songs by Tuvan performers consists of equal periods of time, referred to in classical theory as “mora”. This unit serves as the basis for all other forms of organization of the musical rhythm of a Tuvan song. Thus, the hierarchical scale of musical rhythm is built by summation, i.e., it is opposite to the verse scale formed by division. This means that the Tuvan song rhythm is organized according to the time-measuring principle and represents a kind of quantitative system. Rhythmic cells are combined into melodic and poetic lines, into poetic quantitative systems called meters. In Tuvan songs, lines of four cells prevail, corresponding to an eight-syllable verse. The correlation of the musical process with the syllabic structure of the verse in the musical and poetic process of Tuvan songs is found at the level of the primary grouping of a uniform pulse. A syllable can be sung both for each “step” of the pulse, and stretched or sung for two, three, four (etc.) moras. A complete catalogue (index) of both fixed and theoretically possible rhythms is built from the rhythmic schemes of the lines.