Istrian scale

Last updated
Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale
Country Croatia
Reference 00231
Region Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription2009 (4th session)
List Representative
Sopilas: small/thin/high and great/fat/low (Play) Istarska lestvica.jpg
Sopilas: small/thin/high and great/fat/low ( Play )
Istrian scale in Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor (1922), 1st mvt., bars 13-20 (Play); flat fifth marked with asterisk Istrian scale Schubert Symphony No. 8 in B minor (1922), 1st mvt., bars 13-20.png
Istrian scale in Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor (1922), 1st mvt., bars 13–20 ( Play ); flat fifth marked with asterisk

"Istrian scale" refers both to a "unique" [2] musical scale and to the folk music genres from Istria and Kvarner which use that scale. [3] It is named for the Istrian peninsula. Istrian folk music is based on a distinctive six-tone musical scale (the so-called Istrian scale), and the peninsula's two-part, slightly nasal singing. The two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale, a traditional singing practice characteristic of the Istrian region and the north Adriatic coastal area and islands, was inscribed in UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009. [4]

Contents

Genres include kanat and tarankanje; techniques include nasal tone, variation and improvisation, and resolution to the unison or octave; and instruments include double reeds such as sopele , shawms, bagpipes, and other instruments such as flutes and tambura lutes. [3] It was first named by Ivan Matetić Ronjgov early in the twentieth century, [2] assisting his study and notation of Croatian music.

Description

Non-equal-tempered, [2] [5] the scale could approximately be notated as: E-F-G-A-B-C [hexatonic] (see: enharmonic), the first six notes of an octatonic scale on E. It may be thought of in various ways, such as the Gregorian Phrygian mode with lowered 4th, 5th, and 6th degrees (on E: E-F-G-A-B-C-D [heptatonic]). [6] Performances feature diaphony and the Phrygian cadence (in E: F and D moving to E). [6]

Sopilas Sopile.JPG
Sopilas

Though, "relative intonation var[ies] considerably from example to example [and between instruments]," [5] the scale has also been described as derived from just intonation: subharmonics seven to fourteen (approximately D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D')( Play with one voice and and with two voices ). [7]

In Haydn's String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5, [2] something like the Istrian mode, but without its top note, is found. [1] Uroš Krek's Inventiones ferales (1962) uses the scale, "in a disguised manner". [8] Tartini may have studied the scale, [2] and Bartók took note of the scale. [7] Karol Pahor's cycle of 15 pieces, Istrijanka (1950), was the result of study of the Istrian mode, as was Danilo Švara's Sinfonia da camera in modo istriano (1957). [9] The Istrian mode occurs in Josip Štolcer-Slavenski's Balkanofonija (1927). [10]

Throughout the areas of Istria and the Kvarner Gulf the distinctive vocal singing has spread, consisting of alternating half and whole steps, which, particularly in older singers' and instrumentalists' renditions, are untempered. The songs are sung by pairs of singers (male, female, or mixed) in a characteristic two-part polyphony in minor thirds (or major sixths) with a cadence to a unison or an octave. Singers distinguish the higher (na tanko 'thin') part from the lower (na debelo 'fat'). [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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In music theory, the term mode or modus is used in a number of distinct senses, depending on context.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pythagorean tuning</span> Method of tuning a musical instrument

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istria</span> Peninsula on the Adriatic Sea

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Articles related to music include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perfect fifth</span> Musical interval

In music theory, a perfect fifth is the musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semitone</span> Musical interval

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sopila</span> Musical instrument

The sopile is an ancient traditional woodwind instrument of Croatia, similar to the oboe or shawm. It is used in the regions of Kvarner, Kastav, Vinodol, Island Krk, and Istria. Sopile are always played in pairs so there are great and small or thin and fat sopila. Sopile are musical instruments offering very interesting possibilities with a unique piercing sound. This is replicated in more modern examples of Kvarner music through use of modified double reed clarinet or soprano Dulzaina. Sopile are, by "mih" and "šurle," and today are very popular in the folk traditions of Istria, Kvarner and Island Krk.

In music, the major Locrian scale, also called the Locrian major scale, is the scale obtained by sharpening the second and third notes of the diatonic Locrian mode. With a tonic of C, it consists of the notes C D E F G A B. It can be described as a whole tone scale extending from G to E, with F introduced within the diminished third interval from E to G. The scale therefore shares with the Locrian mode the property of having a diminished fifth above the tonic.

The Persian scale is a musical scale occasionally found in guitar scale books, along with other scales inspired by Middle Eastern music. It is characterized by the liberal use of half steps (4), augmented seconds (2), and frequent use of chromaticism. Compare this to the one augmented second of the harmonic minor or the use of only two half-steps in all diatonic scales. This is also the Locrian mode with a major third and major seventh degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian language in Croatia</span>

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The Dorian 2 scale, also known as the Phrygian 6 scale, is the second mode of the jazz minor scale. It is on the second degree of the jazz minor scale. Without the minor second above the root, the scale would just be the Dorian mode. The reason it is also known as Phrygian 6 is because if the scale did not have the major 6th then it would be enharmonic with the Phrygian mode.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Van der Merwe, Peter (2005). Roots of the Classical, p.227-8. ISBN   978-0-19-816647-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Thammy Evans, Rudolf Abraham (2013). Istria: Croatian Peninsula, Rijeka, Slovenian Adriatic, p.17. ISBN   9781841624457.
  3. 1 2 "Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale", UNESCO.org.
  4. Antos, Zvjezdana; Fromm, Annette B.; and Golding, Viv (2017). Museums and Innovations , p.78. Cambridge Scholars. ISBN   9781443862561. Cites: .
  5. 1 2 Marušić, Dario. "Reception of Istrian Musical Traditions", Musicology 7/2007 (VII) ("Reception of Istrian Musical Traditions", doiSerbia).
  6. 1 2 Žganec, Vinko; Sremec, Nada, eds. (1951). Hrvatske narodne pjesme i plesovi. Vol. 1. Zagreb: Seljačka sloga. p. 228.
  7. 1 2 Ruland, Heiner (1992). Expanding Tonal Awareness, p.43. Rudolf Steiner. ISBN   9781855841703. Described by Kathleen Schlesinger on the Greek aulos
  8. (2001). Muzikološki zbornik: Musicological annual, Volumes 37–39, p.86. [ full citation needed ]
  9. Ray Robinson, Regina Chĺopicka, eds. (2003). Studies in Penderecki: Penderecki and the avant garde, p.137. ISBN   9780911009118.
  10. Samson, Jim (2013). Music in the Balkans , p.381. Brill. ISBN   9789004250383.
  11. Rice, Timothy; Porter, James; and Goertzen, Chris (2017). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe , unpaginated. Routledge. ISBN   9781351544269.

Further reading