traditional and acculturated greenlandic music

Traditional and Acculturated Greenlandic MusicAuthor(s): Michael HauserSource: Arctic Anthropology, Vol. 23, No. 1/2 (1986), pp. 359-386Published by: University of Wisconsin PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40316122 .

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TRADITIONAL AND ACCULTURATED GREENLANDIC MUSIC

MICHAEL HAUSER

Abstract. Vocal music was the only traditional music of Greenland, consisting mainly of drumsongs where one person sang, drummed, and danced at the same time. Drum sin gin g was a native art and an integrated part of daily and sacred life. Major song categories and performances are described as they existed in East Greenland and in the Thule District. Some elderly people are still masters of the art, but it is threatened by degeneration from within and without. It is being replaced by Euroamerican music. West Greenland is nearly totally Westernized, but in its southernmost and northernmost areas , interesting relics of traditional music as well as some adapted old whalers* dances remain. The music is explained by reviewing 15 songs and one instrumental dance. Based on formal criteria, the musical examples are chosen from a large body of material to demon- strate definite form or style types which have not previously been described. The distribution of form types and their characteristic versions give valuable information about past Inuit migration routes. One Polar Inuit form type can be traced back to the southern areas of Baffin Island. Knowledge of the traditional form types and the tone material used, which is also described, is a prerequisite for finding genuine traditional elements in acculturated music, such as that played in West Greenland today.

OCCURRENCE AND PERFORMANCE

INTRODUCTION

Traditional Greenlandic music is imperfectly and randomly described. There are many scat- tered descriptions of the music, mainly the drumsongs, or inngerutit, given by missionaries, traders, explorers, researchers, and other persons, but nearly all describe the music from a nonnative perspective. In many cases, the descriptions are colored by the observers1 opinions according to their position and back- ground. Authors may provide information about drumming and dancing movements, they may describe the purpose of the singing, or they may even offer texts and reflections about social con- texts. But normally the music itself is passed over or perhaps characterized by degrading subjective remarks about its primitive nature or lack of polish. This neglect of the music proper has continued to the present day, and, even among trained researchers and folklorists, there has been little or no interest in studying the music's structure.

Publications presenting collections of un- analyzed Greenlandic traditional music are few, and works in which the music is examined or analyzed are extremely rare. They include

Hjalmer Thurenfs analyzed transcriptions of William Thalbitzer!s 1906 recordings from Am- massalik ( Thalbit zer and Thuren 1911) and Christian Leden' s two publications analyzing transcriptions of his own 1909 recordings from Thule (Leden 1952) and his 1910 and 1926 recordings from East Greenland (Leden 1954). A survey of Greenlandic traditional music, from east to west and north, is provided here with additional remarks on its structure, mainly based on my own transcriptions.

EAST GREENLAND, AMM ASSALIR DISTRICT

The East Greenlanders lived for generations with no direct influence from Europeans. Ac- tually, small groups of East Greenlanders visited the West Coast from time to time, but because of the continual field ice flowing along the East Coast , it was impossible for European boats to reach the main Inuit settlement of Ammassalik until 1884-1885. At that time, the Danish captain Gustav Holm hired two Inuit skin boats, or umiaks, rowed by women, to take him there, where he wintered as the first foreign man (Holm 1888).

Gustav Holm found an unacculturated Inuit

Michael Hauser, The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Niels Brocksgade 1, DK-1574 Copenhagen V, Denmark

ARCTIC ANTHROPOLOGY Vo. 23, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 359-386, 1986



360 Arctic Anthropology 23:1-2

culture with a rich spiritual life and many old customs which he described for the first time. His description included the music which pene- trated the society as an important cultural ele- ment. Here flourished the old drumsongs used for any occasion and purpose, hunters uttered and sang magic formulas, openly and secretly, the women sang semimagical charms for their children, and taboos were strictly ob- served in fear of the spirits and the shaman, the angakkoq, who celebrated séances to pre- vent bad weather and illness, to heal, and to regulate behavior. A mission station was established at Ammassalik in 1894, and from 1898 onward West Greenlandic catechists and Danish or Greenlandic missionaries /priests worked together to eliminate all sorts of pagan- ism including the drumsongs which, for the most part, were simply prohibited. The East Greenlanders did not know what was allowed and what was forbidden and, consequently, they stopped singing any of the old drumsongs when the catechist was near. This was exactly the pattern of suppression that occurred in West Greenland during the eighteenth century.

In spite of the persecution and the influence of Danish-European church and school music and of Euroamerican popular music after World War II, part of the traditional music survived until recent times. In the 1960s and the 1970s, a moderate effort began to save what was left of the traditional musical heritage. But the most spiritual songs- sung magic formulas and shamenTs séance songs- have all been irretriev- ably lost.

Magic formulas, or serratiti were spoken, recited, or sung by one person. They con- sisted mainly of repeated words which were in- herited or bought; their power was lost or weakened by use or by handing over to another person. They were uttered to produce good fortune in hunting, good weather, or to protect against illness. Normally they were performed secretly. When sung, the magical formulas included repetition of simple motifs taken from ordinary songs of the area. This kind of formal structure is called formula structure.

William Thalbit zer, who wintered during 1905-1906 at Ammassalik, published a series of magical formulas in his main work, The Ammas- salik Eskimo (Thalbitzer 1923). These formulas were given or sold to him, to Gustav Holm, to pastor Christian Rosing, and to a few others. A few formulas were recorded in his collection of phonograms, and a decline of the tradition is reflected in their absence in the other main collections from the area: phonograms recorded by the Norwegian Christian Leden in 1910 and 1926, lacquer disks recorded by the Frenchman Paul-Êmil Victor in 1935, and tapes recorded by the Dane Poul Rovsing Olsen and the Green- lander Jens Rosing in 1961. In spite of their

absence in these collections, some magic formulas are probably still used in secret such as they are among Polar Inuit.

In Thalbitzer's and Leden's collections, there are some songs sung by shamans. That does not necessarily mean that the songs were intended for séances. The real ritual singing as part of shamanfs séances, angakkup inngerutaa, was lost. Nevertheless, in 1961 Poul Rovsing Olsen and Jens Rosing succeeded in making recordings of "séances" now performed for pure entertainment. Although the séance sessions were reconstructed, these recordings probably give some information and flavor about the original performances, as the parents of the informants experienced real séances.

The songs are sung solo, occasionally accompanied by other voices which sometimes sing "hymn-like" songs in chorus (i.e., singing in unison). The songs are surrounded by heavy sighs, cries, and different sounds that called the helping spirits.

Similar to songs of séances are the famous drum contest songs or duel songs, ivertut pish, that are now performed purely for entertainment. Contest songs are performed out of their original context, but they are well remembered by elderly people. Originally, the duel songs were used as part of a cere- monial clash between two persons of the same sex alternatively singing drumsongs in front of each other. These contest songs were sung in public to mock the opponent and to amuse the audience. They were performed as part of a sequence which also included challenge, reception, and departure, all occasionally accompanied with singing. The person who was made to look most ridiculous was the loser. The purpose proper was to re- establish peaceful conditions in the community. In several cases, this congenial way to solve problems prevented unrestrained violence in a society where murder and subsequent obligatory blood feuds were harsh reality.

Like the contest songs, some elderly people still remember semimagical charms sung for children, some acting drumsongs used in the costumed play uaajeerneq, originally often followed by exchange of wives, and drumsongs for pure entertainment. Charms sung for children, aqaatit, are normally composed and sung by women to their children carried in their parka hoods. The words are spoken, recited, or sung, or these elements are com- bined in the same performance. When sung, charms for children often include few tone melodies, and simple motifs are repeated using nonstrophic litany structures. They are not accompanied by drums.

The Inuit frame drum of a tambourine type, qilaat, is used in nearly all other songs; it is played solo by the singer, whether a man or



Hauser: Greenlandic Music 361

Figure 1. Drumsong Contest in East Greenland between Kûitse and Nujappik. (Photo: William Thalbitzer, Ammassilik, 1906; © by Arktisk Institut, Denmark.)

a woman. The frame is made of driftwood or, in Thule, pieces of bones lashed together. The membrane, isia, is made of a dog's skin, the peritoneum of different animals such as bears in East Greenland, or walrus throat. It is tightened with a sinew to a groove in the frame. The drum is beaten on the lower edge of the frame, sini, with a stick, katu, of wood (East Greenland) or bone (Thule); for example, a caribou rib is often used. In olden times, East Greenlandic drumsticks intended for cere- monial purposes and for drumsong contests had carvings on the one end. Sometimes, carvings were also made on the handle, ipua.

In East Greenlandic drumsongs, there are three drum rhythms for men and one for women. According to Poul Rosving Olsen (1977:6) these rhythms are:

(l) J> } r J> } y

<» ,t> P » j> j1 t

The first rhythm is used by men for performing when sitting. This rhythm is slightly changed to (2) when a man sings ordinary songs for entertainment while standing, but it is changed radically to (3) if the song is related to drumsong contest. The female drum rhythm (4) is used in all songs performed by women .

The drumming and dancing movements are different for men and women. Men bend their knees more often, and women dance with grace while swaying their hips; they hold the drum almost at arm's length. But in terms of the music, there are no differences between men's and women's drumsongs for entertainment. In textual respect, many of these songs deal with




feelings and events of daily life. Songs of this category are called anersaatit. Texts are still remembered that give beautiful descriptions of the magnificent scenery, relate situations from hunting, and praise family life.

Various textual categories have the same superior formal structure of music: drumsongs for entertainment, drumsongs for the uaajeerneq play, and duel songs. Normally the songs are strophic, and the melodic material is based on triads in which the middle tone is movable so that one gets an impression of major alter- nating with minor; the version chosen is normally retained within the same song.

The tonal material is fundamentally based on, and constitutes, pentatonics; this matter is dis- cussed below» Owing to the distribution of text and textless passages, which normally use the syllables ya-ya, it is possible to determine the formal structure. A nucleus, with complete or partial use of text, is presented once or twice and succeeded and concluded by a suffix with no text or with repetitions of one word. In some cases, the nucleus is preceded by a prefix. For musical examples, see notations given later.

Notations of traditional East Greenlandic music are published in only two collections: William Thalbit zer' s phonographic recordings from 1906 of 129 songs from the Ammassalik District, transcribed and analyzed by Hjalmar Thuren (Thuren 1911; Thalbitzer and Thuren 1911), and Christian Leden's phonograms from 1910 and 1926 of 70 songs from Ammassalik and Scoresbysund Districts (Leden 1954). The collection of the Danish Folklore Archives, recorded on tape in 1961 by Poul Rovsing Olsen and Jens Rosing, includes about 350 song recordings which, unfortunately, have not been transcribed due to Poul Rovsing Olsen's death in 1982.

Fourteen traditional songs have been published by the Danish Folklore Archives on two records, RCA DFS Nos. 456 and 457 (Rovsing Olsen 1965). Seven drumsongs have been published on Ulo No. 2 (Sakse 1978), and one drumsong is available on Ulo No. 18/19 (Sommer 1982).

In 1962 Jette Bang and Kaj Mogens Jensen filmed traditional musical performances in the Ammassalik District. The footage was edited by Poul Rovsing Olsen and resulted in five films published by Encyclopaedia Cinematographica in Göttingen (EC Nos. E 2074-2078; Bang, Jensen and Rovsing Olsen 1976a,b,c,d,e).

WEST GREENLAND

In West Greenland, the stretch of coast from Cape Farewell north to Melville Bay, traditional Inuit music was gradually lost during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a result of Danish colonization. This colonization began in the central area in 1721, at the present

capital of Nuuk/Godthâb, and spread south and north during half a century to Nanortalik and Uummannaq-Upernavik Districts, respectively .

In the central areas, the music of European missionaries, sailors, traders, and teachers had a significant influence on the native Green- landers. Danish and German hymns were translated into Greenlandic, and a remarkably strong influence came from the Moravian Ger- man Mission which worked there from 1733 to 1900. The Moravians introduced part-singing as well as highly appreciated instrumental brass music to their congregations. They taught the Greenlanders the principles of polyphonic singing which gave rise to a rich tradition of hymns and many common songs being performed in three or four voices. Today there are still many connoisseurs of this part- singing art. From Moravian hymn singing, there also developed a special mild tonal quality which is now regarded as the Greenlandic "tone," but it is far removed from the timbre of pure traditional Inuit music.

The secular songs and dances of sailors and traders were also adopted by the Greenlanders. Several merry old dances spread along the coast, coming originally from Scotland, Holland, and Denmark. They were called kalattuut and took a true Greenlandic stamp in both dance movements and music. Clever rural musicians played the kalattuut on violins and accordions, the two preferred instruments.

The TeachersT Training School in Nuuk/ Godthâb has, for a long time, been the intel- lectual center of Greenland. In regard to music, nearly all Greenland1 s poets and good composers were educated or worked there. These include Henrik Lund, Peter Olsen, and Jonathan Petersen at the beginning of this century, and more recently Knud Petersen, Johan Kleist, and Amandus Petrussen, among others. Jonathan Petersen was also the main editor of a continued collection of songs, erinarssûtit , which was published in text form in 1908 and in a musical edition in 1911 (Petersen [1911]). The Teachers» Training School was the place for educating catechists, but it also served as an inspiration for new movements. In recent time it has been a center for composing modern music, some of which has expressed protests against Danish authorities.

In the most outlying districts of West Greenland, relics of traditional music have been preserved until recent time. In the southernmost areas, drumsinging is lost, but formal structures originating from traditional music are preserved in several songs. In Nanortalik, some old people still remember umiaq songs, sung by women rowing the large women's boats, and also special songs such as guessing songs sung by women before the




Figure 2. An East Greenlandic Woman Sings While Holding the Drum with a Special Women!s Grip. (Photo: Jette Bang, Ikkatteq, 1939; © by Arktisk Institut, Denmark.)

arrival of the hunters1 kayaks with game. Spe- cial songs also include teasing songs used when playing the ajagaq game, a ring-and-pin game where the holes in a perforated block of bone or wood were "caught" or transfixed with a stick. These songs have normally the same formal structure, or form type, as the majority of the traditional East Greenlandic songs. This old form type is also used in qivittoq songs, long epic-lyrical ballads sung by qivittut or unhappy men who left the community because of rejected love, to live and die in the mountains. Charms sung for children, aqaatit, are also remembered; some of them have a melodic material with a small number of different tones and are of formula structures as found in East Greenland. But, frequently they are more melodious than the East Greenlandic ones, and many of them show European influences.

It is interesting that some of the old songs are now performed by three or four voices in chorus, as a result of the Moravian influence. Other songs have adopted European melodies, while preserving an old-fashioned way of

composing the text. In some cases, they still use ya-ya on refrain parts of the stanzas. In these songs, the tradition of describing feelings and events is continued. They are used all along the coast, and in several cases they express pity or complaint (e.g., when describing the sorrow that followed a measles epidemic . )

In 1914, William Thalbitzer recorded and transcribed 14 songs from the Cape Farewell area (Thalbitzer 1923). A collection of 79 traditional and acculturated songs from the Nanortalik and Qaqortoq areas was recorded on tape in 1963 and 1965 by MâLiâraq Vebaek and published in 1983 with musical notations by Johan Kleist (Vebœk and Kleist 1983). A series of traditional songs and fiddlersf tunes from the southern districts was recorded in 1980 and published on two LP records (Ulo Nos. 15 and 16), with an accompanying book including music notations by Christian Sdgârd (Sdgärd et al. 1981).

When modern West Greenlandic protest songs express a remarkable inner power and




Figure 3. Fiddlers Accompanying the Kalattuut or Quadrille Dances in West Greenland. (Photo: William Thalbitzer, Igdlumiut, 1938; © by Arktisk Institut, Denmark.)

sincerity, it is no wonder; in a new musical garb, these songs continue the old tradition of expressing complaint and irony. Closely related to songs of complaint are songs where a bad behavior is deplored in a sort of shame songs. Now they are sung to Westernized melodies or completely European tunes, but their origin is very old.

In the northern districts of West Greenland, Uummannaq and Upernavik, some people remembered drumsinging a generation ago and a few old persons are still able to sing and drum. In these areas, William Thalbitzer notât ed, directly "by ear," 34 traditional and acculturated songs in 1900 (Thalbitzer 1904). In 1906, two Austrians, Gustav Stiasny and Rudolf Trebitsch, recorded a large collection of phonograms of about 80 ordinary songs, 25 drumsongs, and several language specimens of Greenlandic (Stiansy 1908; Trebitsch 1910). These phonograms, the eldest from West Green- land, were brought to the Phonogrammarchiv der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissen- schaften in Vienna where they were deposited. At a visit in Vienna, I found that this collec-

tion had survived both World Wars. Recently Ilisimatusarfik I the Inuit Institute in Nuuk/ GodthSb and the National Museum of Denmark acquired full copies, with copious accompanying written material including all the texts in Greenlandic. The music is not transcribed; published are texts of 14 songs (Stiasny 1908). In 1909 and 1912, Christian Leden made phonograms of 70 drumsongs and songs of newer tradition. These recordings are untranscribed and deposited at the Danish Folklore Archives, whereas a collection of 22 songs and fiddlers» tunes, recorded in the areas of Disko Bay in 1955 by Erik Holtved and Inge Kleivan, are deposited at the Institute of Eskimology, Uni- versity of Copenhagen. In the 1950s and 1960s, some people still performed drumsongs for the ethnologists Bent Jensen and Regitze Sdby. Bent Jensen collected 41 songs in 1959 near Uummannaq, and Regitze Sdby collected 16 songs in 1964-1965 at Kullorsuaq, north of Upernavik. At that time there were few informants left, many songs had lost their strophic structure, and songs have been partly forgotten although they are still of




true Inuit style. This is a demonstration of how the pre-

colonial Inuit tradition of drumsinging was lost in most parts of Greenland. In spite of the persecution by the church and the Danish- European educational influence by "imported" Danish teachers, drumsinging continued for generations in remote places. It flourished alongside European music and maintained its identity with very little intermixing. The local people went out for baliaring which has been interpreted in different ways. According to Finn Gad, it was probably a cover name for searching out a lonely place for practicing drumsinging out of earshot of the local catechist (Gad 1974:270-272).

Until modern times, traditional Inuit music has survived in the Uummannaq-Upernavik Dis- tricts. But in a relatively short period, it has declined and is now nearly lost. It was not ab- sorbed into European- style music, but was rather abandoned due to Euroamerican ideas and influence. In these areas the Greenlanders gave up their musical inheritance.

NORTH GREENLAND, THULE DISTRICT

The Thule District was "discovered" in 1818 by the British officer Sir John Ross, who also gave the first sparse description of drumsinging in this area. Through the nineteenth century, the Polar Inuit were visited by a number of British and American expeditions bringing some material goods, especially by Robert Peary, but little spiritual influence. Profound changes first set in after the establishment of a mission station in 1909 and a trading station in 1910. Both were situated in the center of the district, at the place called Thule by the famous Danish explorer and scientist, Knud Rasmussen.

The traditional music of the Polar Inuit dif- fers from music found in other Greenlandic areas in some important respects. Personal drumsongs, called pisit as in Canada, have sparse text. Most of the drumsongs, but not all, are performed with no texts, using meaningless vocables as ya-ya. There are fewer song categories here compared to East Greenland or in old West Greenland. For instance, the famous contest songs were probably not used. Occur- ring as a possible relic, teasing songs are used in stories that deal with "drumsong contests" between animals.

In a musical respect, the Thule drumsongs are both longer (in each stanza) and more complicated than those in other areas. From ex- amining the drumsongs of the areaTs three main collections (the Norwegian Christian Leden's phonograms from 1909, Erik Holtved's lacquer disks from 1937, and tape recordings from 1962 by Bent Jensen and me), one notes that the

great majority are of a special, complicated, and tripartite formal structure which is not found in other regions of Greenland. This structure is explained later in connection with notated examples. Through examinations of more than one hundred songs of this formal structure, it was possible to discover and describe the rules of forming and using local motifs. These songs are decidedly real com- positions.

The complete performance includes drumming, a series of three beats plus a pause

ni > rrì * and complex movements of the body with bend- ings, twistings, and handling the drum from side to side. The total performance by one person , man or woman , is extremely diffi- cult. The singer concentrates on the melody, which requires remembering and singing all details in the stanza correctly from stanza to stanza, while she or he drums and dances. The dance movements are mainly directed by length and accentuations of the single musical phrase. They show many variations in the amplitude and tempo according to the singer's temperament.

Drum songs were composed in solitude, often during journeys to the hunting grounds, and were practiced for a long time before presentation. It was an honor to perform correctly, with no hesitations or breaks through the stanzas. When performing, the soloist closes his eyes, as in trance, but normally he is able to interrupt immediately if something happens .

Composing and singing was part of a person^ property which could be sold. His or her name was remembered in connection with their songs for generations. The name was normally mentioned when the song was performed, but only if the name still "lived" in the society (i.e., the name was given to a newborn). During the work of transcription, I noted that a song frequently was connected with different names, perhaps the name of the composer and perhaps the name of a person from whom the singer learned it. Sometimes, the name mentioned seems to refer to the "song cousin" of the performer. "Song cousins" are close friends of the same sex, who help each other in all sorts of situations, used to exchange wives in olden time, and tease each other in good-natured ways, in words as well as in singing. This kind of close friendship still exists, although less so than in the past. It originates from a wide- spread institution of partnerships in Canada and Alaska.

During a performance between "song cousins" in Thule, one person is drumming and




Figure 4. Inukitsorssuaq and Inûteq from Thule Sing Teasing Songs to Each Other. Inukitsors- suaq holds a teasing stick, aviorun, in front of his song cousin. (Photo: Erik Holtved, Thule, 1937; © by Arktisk Institut, Denmark.)

dancing while the other stands still in front of him holding a small stick, aviorun, about 15 cm long, between his index fingers. At the end of the song, the stick is rotated vertically in front of the singerfs face, probably (?) to interrupt the condition of semitrance assumed while performing. Informants explained that the stick was used "to tease and to indicate the end of the song;" the origin of this custom is unclear.

Songs of simple formal structures are also found among Polar Inuit. Some of them show the same form type that is used in the majority of East Greenlandic drumsongs as well as in preserved traditional songs of West Greenland. This form type is also preferred in all central and eastern parts of Canada, and for this reason, it is remarkable that it is used in a minority of the Polar Inuit songs. This state- ment holds for all the main collections, but in the collection of 1962 of the Danish Folklore Archives, the number of simple songs increases. In 1979, a younger singer preferred to use the simple form type. Perhaps this shows the

tendency for future drumsinging in the Thule District, if drumsinging survives at all. Songs of the old, complicated form will, perhaps, disappear and give way to the more simple forms.

Naturally, the question arises whether the complicated Thule form existed in earlier times in West Greenland. We do not know and will probably never find out, but I do not think that it did. Among the old recordings from other parts of Greenland, no real signs or relics of the complicated Thule form type are found. But in North America, there are similarities found in northern Alaska and especially among Copper Inuit, where a forerunner for this form is used. This is a curious matter for reflection!

Thule drumsongs of the complicated formal structure have been designated "old" songs above. This is because these songs were primarily sung by descendants of "old" Thule families, people whose ancestors did not par- ticipate in the last migration from Canada which took place about 1860. This movement




about 1860 is the only historically documented Inuit immigration to Greenland in recent times.

The genealogy of the Polar Inuit has been well studied, primarily by members of the Gil- berg family (Gilberg et al. 1978). Thanks to their information, it was possible to prove that descendants of the immigrated Canadian Inuit preferred to sing songs of a simple form type unlike that used in East and West Green- land. This new form type is characterized by presentation of a personally invented motif at different levels, first in a high position and then repeated in a lower level. Accordingly, it was called Level-Shifted Iteration Form Type. Notated examples are given below.

This form type does not appear in any other part of Greenland. Because of its association with descendants of the immigrant families, it was natural to try to trace the origin of the type back to Canada, following the route of the immigrants. According to Knud Rasmussen, to whom the account of the migration from Canada was told by one of the participants, the journey started from northern Baffin Island. The participants were from Igloolik on Melville Peninsula and Southampton Island. Therefore, I decided to examine recordings of songs from Igloolik, Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet, and Southamp- ton Island; recordings from these areas were kindly placed at my disposal by the National Museum of Man in Ottawa.

Many songs were transcribed and analyzed, but the result was disappointing. Among songs from Igloolik and Arctic Bay, some had a super- ficial likeness to the traced form. The only place where songs of Level- Shifted Iteration form occurred was at Pond Inlet. Here, one of the informants sang songs of this form type. His name was Qumangâpik, the same name as one of the migrants. Because of stability in name- giving among Inuit (using the same selec- tion of names inside the same family or area), this man could be a relative of the migrants. In fact, he was a relative and this kinship was proved by N. O. Christensen and Robert Peter- sen and by Father Guy Mary-Rousselière (Mary-Rousselière 1980: genealogical table). Among my transcriptions, I found a version of one of Qumangâpik's songs performed by a Polar Inuit man, Imfria Imîha. These two men had the same forefather three and five generations ago, respectively. This was a good find, but it was isolated and gave no conclusive information about the area of origin of the traced form type.

Following this discovery, I further investi- gated Inuit songs from several other Canadian areas. Level- Shifted Iteration Forms did not really appear in central and northern Arctic Canada, but they were found in the southern areas of Baffin Island where they were numer- ous and of "pure" form. Consequently, the ancestors of the migrants probably came from

these areas. Study of other cultural elements, such as house- building, strengthened this supposition which was finally confirmed in 1980 by Father Mary-Rousselièrefs genealogical examinations. He demonstrates that the migrants who reached the Thule District had ancestors who originated from southern Baffin Island (Mary-Rousselière 1980:30-32, 177).

This is a good example of how different branches of research can support each other. All traditional Inuit music of Greenland originally came from North America, but normally we are not able to say from what speci- fic area. In this case, we were lucky to discover how a special form type was imported, including information about the area of origin and the terminal station.

Finally, another category of simple songs shall be mentioned. These are songs in stories which are sung by both men and women and are normally performed without drumming. These songs are mainly of the previously mentioned formula structures; melodies of simple repeated motifs which are chosen among commonly used motifs. They are frequently concluded by cries, rhythmically spoken or recited words, or by laughter. In a few cases, complete melodies of ordinary drumsongs are used. In contrast to ordinary drumsongs, songs in stories normally have texts.

Other songs using simple repeated motifs with texts are magic formulas and semimagical charms sung for children. The charms sung for children are less frequent among Polar Inuit when compared to their extension in other parts of Greenland. Songs of simple repeated motifs are found in all areas where Inuit are living. In rural settlements, from East Greenland to Alaska and Siberia, versions of the same motifs of few tones can be heard. This is another mark of the homogeneous musical culture of the Inuit.

Among Polar Inuit, the following collections of notated traditional songs have been published: Robert SteinTs collection from 1899- 1900 of 40 songs which were notated in the field "by ear" (Stein 1902), Christian Leden's phonograph recordings for the Danish Folklore Archives in 1909 of 31 analyzed songs (Leden 1952) , and Amandus Petrussen's tape recordings in the 1970s of 28 songs (Petrussen 1982). The author is preparing three other collections for publication: Erik Holtvedfs 1937 recordings of 126 songs on lacquer disks (all transcribed), and about 350 songs which were tape recorded for the Danish Folklore Archives in 1962 by Bent Jensen and me. Further, approximately 225 song recordings were made in the summer of 1984 by Pauline Lumholt and the author for Nunatta Atuagaateqarfia/Det grdnlandske Landsbibliotek (the Greenlandic National Library) and the Danish Folklore Archives.




Twenty-one Polar Inuit traditional songs are presented on two records published by the Danish Folklore Archives (RCA DFS Nos. 458 and 459; Hauser 1965), and two Thule drumsongs are published on Ulo No. 18/19 (Sommer 1982).

Thule drumsongs were filmed in 1962 by Jette Bang and Kaj Mogens Jensen. The material was edited by the author and published by the Encyclopaedia Cinematographica in Göttingen (EC film No. E 1146; Bang, Jensen and Hauser 1967). Jörgen Roos filmed Polar Inuit drumsongs in 1963 and 1966. They were used as scenes in his film "Grtfnlandske dialekter og trommedanse fra Thuledistriktet" (Greenlandic dialects and drum dances from the Thule District; Roos 1967). In 1984 Kalallit-nunaata radioa /Grönlands Radio (Radio Greenland) made a television film dealing with the drumsinging tradition in Thule. Accom- panying information on the songs and scenes is given in Greenlandic by Pauline Lumholt (Bach and Lumholt 1984).

THE MUSIC

TONAL MATERIAL

The tonal material is fundamentally based on anhemitone pentatonics and, in the Thule Dis- trict, on both pentatonics and hexatonics.

It is possible to make mutually comparable transcriptions by notating identical motifs of differently pitched melodies in equal levels. Using no accidentals, the fundamental tonal material is notated

Various segments of this series are used, or preferred, in different areas, the most common frame intervals being fifths and sixths. Tones diverging from this series also appear in characteristic ways in the different localities.

In East Greenland, the tonal material is more changing than in the Thule District. A fundamental melodic movement is the falling triad in which the middle tone is variable so that the major triad

often is changed to minor

or so that natural thirds are used. Hjalmar Thuren was the first to describe and measure, in cents according to A. I. Ellis1 system, occurring "deviations" from the tempered scale (Thuren 1911:17-24). He also made a classification, based on the actual tonal material, of his transcriptions of the melodies in William Thalbitzer's collection from 1906 (Thuren 1911:24-27). This classification was partly used by Poul Rovsing Olsen who divided the East Greenland melodies in four so-called music genres: (1) Melodies containing two tones only, mainly used in tales and by women when singing charms for their children, (2) melodies with three tones, mainly used in womenfs songs and in magic songs, (3) melodies with at least four tones, used in all kinds of drumsongs for both women and men, and (4) Sprechgesang or melodies performed with a mixture of talking and singing, mainly used by women when performing charms and lullabies for their children (Rovsing Olsen 1963:102).

In a subsequent article concerning acculturation in Greenlandic music, Poul Rovsing Olsen stresses how East Greenlanders kept their traditional music from the influence of European musical style in spite of the great popularity of this invading music. They were able to let the two different styles exist side by side (Rovsing Olsen 1972:33, 37). Obser- vations from the Thule District and from areas in North America seem to confirm this information (Hauser 1979:244), but it should be remembered that the period of European contact has been short.

For West Greenland, the explanation for the disappearance of traditional music is similar to that given for other districts; over generations, the traditional music was probably performed side by side with the invading European music, but the latter music- at least in the central West Greenlandic areas-replaced the original music. In this way, the traditional music died out without coming merged with the European music.

This explanation is probably erroneous, if we exclude most cultic songs, because many old songs from the southernmost districts of West Greenland do show mixtures of traditional Inuit music and European music in terms of both formal content and tonal material. This indicates a long and continued period of influence from European styles. Apart from a few remarks by Hjalmar Thuren (1911:39, 41), very little information has been published about this influence. It has been overlooked. It was not until Poul Rovsing Olsenfs article about acculturation appeared (Rovsing Olsen 1972), that this interesting subject was explored.

In the southern areas of West Greenland, some songs still have a pentatonic




tonal material (see music example 5). But in many other songs, the original tone material is blurred by half tone steps, from the simple appearance of a few semitones to acculturated occurrences in which thorough formal analyses are necessary to disclose a probable original Inuit origin.

In the Uummannaq-Upernavik Districts, the decomposition of the traditional music is more pronounced than in the southernmost areas of the country. It is necessary to review the collections made at the beginning of the century to find tonal material which is close to the original pentatone material, in spite of adopted half tone steps from European melodies (see music example 7). In newer collections from these northern areas, many of the songs show a distribution of intervals which is irre- gular whether seen from an Inuit point of view or from a European one. When such an atypi- cal tonal material is used, it probably is a result of modern influences. The singers did not intend to sing in European style, but they partly forgot their old musical patters.

In the Thule District, traditional songs of all functional categories have a tonal material which is based on the pentatonic series

Variable tones are known, but they do not occur as frequently as they do in East Green- land; contrary to the use in East Greenland, it is the (normally) deepest tone, tone cf, which is varied by a lowering.

In some songs, the material is enlarged with one or two tones, to

or

As found in East Greenland and all other Inuit communities, songs in stories frequently, but not always, use fewer tones with the following motifs being preferred in various variations:

In many songs, tone b1 occurs which en- larges the ordinary series to

_A_ _ . ______

_j^_..ji=3_j_i_f_r_

A classification of this series is ambiguous. The number of used tones indictes a determination as hexatonics, but tone bf seems to be "added" to the basic pentatone material which may indicate a special classification. I have called this occurrence extra- pent atonies. It is illustrated by music example 10.

FORMAL STRUCTURE

Preliminary Information About the Notations

Nearly all traditional Greenland songs are strophic, and therefore it is sufficient to render a music notation of one characteristic stanza for every song. The representative stanza has been given a "form notation" so that every formal phrase receives its own line of notation with an abbreviated explanation above. When formula structures are exempli- fied, the entire notations are shown (see music examples 4 and 16).

Bar lines are halved and they separate motifs; the first tone following a bar line is not accentuated unless it is indicated by an accent mark. Arrows over the notes show small heightenings or lowerings of up to a quarter tone.

All transcriptions are worked out by the author from whom complete transcriptions are available by personal application.

East Greenland, Ammassalik District

Example 1. This is a drumsong for entertainment, sung by Henrik Singerdat from Diilirilaaq, accompanying himself by the drum, and recorded on tape in 1980 by Ola Okfors. The song has seven regular stanzas. As an addition, the song ends with a repetition of the first part of a stanza, followed by groanings and laughter. Stanza 2 is representative (see Example 1).

The tonal material makes up an incomplete pentatonic series, g! -ef -df -cT instead of the complete series a* -g1 -ef -df -cT. Some tones are slightly heightened or lowered throughout all stanzas.

The form is simple, merely consisting of a text-carrying nucleus (N) succeeded by a textless refrain, which in this song includes two suffixes (Sfl and Sf2). Textless passages are sung on the meaningless syllables a-ya-ya or other similar syllables. The formal



*iU 07/ì *iU 07/ì Arctic Anthropology 23:1-2

Example 1. I Pitch: cT = appr. g flat. M.M.: J = appr. 85.

^o tut;*1 . t- " 5f*~

jtt^ <9 } - '•!_* ̂ J 1 MS

. - r ' J n 4-1- T-^>- L4M-jE=g| cT ?

- . ^ *^fcg~~^: - **s »- T-^>- ̂ L^" -JlJ^ :-~'

Example 2. I Pitch: c' = appr. g flat. M. M.: J = appr. 86.

ft r- ^N . ,

Example 3. I Pitch: e' = a flat moving to appr. g flat. M.M. : J = appr. 85.

principle of this song is predominant in East Greenlandic traditional songs and also in the preserved traditional songs of West Greenland. The suffix part of the formal course is obligatory; it appears directly after the nucleus and functions as a completion, or balancing, of the nucleus part. Accordingly this form type was named Directly Balanced Innovation-Iteration

Form Type. It appears in various versions, using repetitions of the nucleus or the suffix(es), presenting two different nuclei or suffixes (as in the present example), or being amplified by using two periods, Nl-Sfl-N2-SF2, each of them formed according to the basic principle.

In many such songs, the nucleus has a




textless short beginning. This is seen in the present example 1 (the rising triad cf -eT -g!). In this case the textless beginning is just the rising figure which is part of the nucleus. In other songs, opening figures are more indepen- dent and appear as prefixes; in still other songs, the text-carrying passage is followed by a textless internal "outrun" (see music examples 2 and 3).

Example 2. This drumsong was originally used in a drumsong contest; it was performed by Lauritz from Kuummiut, accompanying himself by the drum. The song was recorded on tape in 1961 by Poul Rovsing Olsen and published on record RCA DFS No. 457, Side B. In the text, a man derides his opponent who visited his wife. A free translation (Rovsing Olsen 1965: [4]) is as follows:

I long to answer him who stands before me. I am married, I am not like you. Maybe you would like to try them again, Try those up in the tent. I will tell who you have visited. You have visited my wife. You lay with her as I have lain with her. But you got tired of that. Torüka got

tired. How strange, that I should sing about that.

The song has an introduction, formed by the last part of a stanza, and followed by 16 stanzas. Stanza 2 is representative (see Example 2).

The tonal material is fundamentally the same as in the first example. The last tone, finalis, is again the tone cf. The middle tone in the basic major triad is slightly lowered through all the song so that the thirds appear as natural thirds.

The formal course shows use of the same balanced innovation-iteration form type as in the first example, but now the nucleus is rather long and the suffix is short, carrying the most common motif of the area. In the nucleus, text is partly used and followed by an internal "outrun" where accompanying voices sing meaningless syllables, ya-ya. This way of concluding a musical phrase is very common, and the soloist at this place in the stanza has free play to take a rest, to shout, or to groan. Groanings appear frequently in this song.

Example 3. This is a comic drumsong for the role play uaajeerneq, sung by Vilhelm Kûitse from Kulusuk; he accompanies himself by the drum and is accompanied by many voices. The song was recorded on tape in 1961 by Poul Rovsing Olsen and published on record RCA DFS No. 457, Side A. Vilhelm Kûitse performed with a stick in his mouth to change the sound of the voice. According to

the singer, the song originally was sung by a sorceress who tried to entice some kayakers to land by promising them crowberries.

You out there, You who come from the North, Jump to land here. You have no crowberries, You have no berries at all.

The song has seven stanzas in which small modifications and variable tones appear. Stanza 1 is representative (see Example 3).

The tonal material, based on a complete pentatonic series, now has a flattened middle tone in the melodiously dominated triad. It is typical for East Greenland melodies, as mentioned earlier, that this middle tone is variable. The most commonly used three positions of middle tones in the triad are demonstrated in the preceding three music examples. In the present song, the middle tone gradually rises through the stanzas, almost to a "major" position in the triad; this occurs only rarely.

The formal structure is close to that of Example 2, the song also belonging of the same form type as the two first music examples. Now, the nucleus has two text passages which may indicate a division into two nuclei or a development towards a division into two inde- pendent nuclei.

The suffix has a motif of a falling fifth. This motif, which also was used in the previous song, is a semistereotyped motif of the area; frequently it is anticipated in the nucleus, as in the present song.

Example 4. This is a lullaby sung solo by Olga from Sermiligaaq. The song was recorded on tape in 1961 by Poul Rovsing Olsen and published on record RCA DFS No. 456, Side A. The text is as follows:

Sleep, my sweet, or else the ugly màmâq will come after you.

Sleep, my sweet, or else a horrible topknot dog will come.

Listen, listen, listen to me, s-si-si. Sleep, my sweet, the horrible dog will come

after you. Sleep, my sweet, the ugly mâmâq will come

after you.

The entire song is notated (see Example 4). The tonal material is limited to two tones,

tone d! repeated followed by a rising fourth to tone gT. Rising motifs used as main melodic figures are not common. The preferred melodic movement among all Inuit music includes a springing, ascending movement followed by a gradual fall, a movement in descending vines. Songs of few tone melodies are widely




Example 4. I Pitch: cf = appr. f rising to appr. g. M.M. : J = appr. 74 to appr. 86.

i_** ^ _j ^0 - o^

«- ^

i rl" M?

(^"~' r""^;V"-'

^ ill TiriTir'li^F^ ^ft Recced ,, ^^ >

\\ \ . _ . . _ . . , . S\ \\ - il /~T~? -

il I fe i'

\ n \~tt

. _ . > . ni

_ . . m

, . > i i-^i-0 A

- kttnv^±±z4\ il /~T~? il

w tfct 1

distributed among Inuit and mainly used in magic formulas, in women's songs, and in songs in stories.

Formally , the song is of formula structure in its most simple version, which is repetitions of one motif. But the distribution of text-carrying and textless passages shows a tendency towards formal units; they have been marked with dotted lines over the notation. An embry- onic strophic structure is noticeable in every "stanza" which is formed in the same way as used in the main form type of the area (i.e., with a text-carrying nucleus followed by a suffix on meaningless syllables).

West Greenland

Example 5. This qivittoq song, a song of a hermit, is sung by Jakob Dorph from Tuapam- miut in Nanortalik District. The song was recorded on tape in 1961 by Hans Christian Petersen. The text, which was also transcribed by H. C. Petersen, is divided into a

spoken introduction, followed by the song in which a new qivittoq receives good advice for surviving the winter from a senior qivittoq.

The introduction is as follows:

It is told that a man from Tuapammiut, once in former time, was more and more depressed by his wife. Finally he was quite restless. One day when paddling the kayak, he reached land in Naajat Fjord. There, he carried his kayak high up in the land. He brought it to the isthmus between Orlerit and Naajat and placed it there. From this place he walked southwards.

It is told that many qivittut were in the mountain above Illisaatissat . Having no choice, he went there. He saw a tall man and said to him:

The song: I would like to leave home!

(The tall man answered:) If you leave here now, You must go to Qassit Qinnguat. There, in the middle of the scree, my cave



373 Hauser: Greenlandic Music

Example 5. I Pitch: c! = appr. e. M.M. J = appr. 110-115.

*li'iJ.'.'iJj./;U^JJl'-lil '

1^**^

. ...... si

',

al- ni- m-sii- aie- toi- U sorper-jt- ̂ awjtf-frr-Ä-tt

Q.-ux-^-ya.-ija.-CL-yo.-ija- i-^a - t-

is situated. There, lots of dried meat is stored, And my weapons of various kinds. If you winter there, You will not suffer. If you eat the meat, Another cave is situated above

Tasermiutsiaat. There, you find dried fox meat, And my weapons of various kinds. If you live there through the winter, You will have no suffering. If you eat that meat, You will face a severe winter full of

deprivations . At that time you must learn to do the

shaman1 s séance, So that you can tie a thong round your

legs, And fly away through the air.

(The new qivittoq sang:) Who is that woman who provoked me, A - ya - ya - a - ya - ya - e - ya. Once I dreamed to go to the large land

to the north. It is told that big caribous with delicious

tallow live up there, Which I should eat and enjoy,

A - ya - ya - ya - a - ya - e - ya. When the great springtime arrives, the

field ice comes sailing, Once again you begin to catch big seals. Imagine, a damned woman, Should drive me away from all that, A - ya - ya - ya - a - ya - e - ya.

The song has nine stanzas and an appendix (repetitions of the suffix). Stanzas 2 and 8 are representative (see Example 5).

The tonal material is purely pentatonic, the tones now being placed inside the frame of a fifth in another way than in East Green- landic traditional songs.

Formally, the song follows the main form type of East Greenland , here in the simple version of a nucleus completed by a suffix. This form type was probably also the main form type of West Greenland in olden time. It was reintro- duced into the southern areas of the West Coast by small groups of East Greenlanders visiting there from time to time.

Previously, I mentioned that the suffix in East Greenland songs of this structure normally is sung on ya-ya. In the present song, only three stanzas have suffixes with no texts (see stanza 8 in the notât ed example). This




Example 6. I Pitch: Originally played in D major. M.M.: J = appr. 150.

(a) - M- L^J~ 1 ~ * * * 1 i *-*--*' I JTTj \ +~~1

i } i _ * fTl i rfi -fffli , Tf H*n H^-fV?! Ito ji^J|*»'1 IJ^ #-j 1 • r »=il

may constitute an incipient disintegration caused by European influence. In other songs, a real decline is evident, such as when a partly Euro- pean tone material is used.

In the notated two representative stanzas, the nucleus is repeated in stanza 2 but not in stanza 8. This is quite common in all Inuit songs and constitutes no sign of decline. The singer has a free hand to present his song with or without repetition of motifs. In the present song, the nucleus is repeated in stanzas 2, 4 (twice), 7 and 9, but not in stanzas 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8.

Example 6. This is a sisamaaq, or "four- tour" folk dance, played solo on violin by Pèle Holm from Nuuk/GodthSb. This fiddler's tune was recorded on a wire recorder in 1949 by Méliâraq and Christen Leif Vebaek. The melody is played four times with no changes.

The melody was developed from the Euro- pean dance music tradition. The tonal material uses the Western major mode, and the formal structure is bipartite, each period falling in a fore-phrase and an after-phrase. The technique of playing also shows the influence from European tradition. For example, double stops are frequently used.

As mentioned above, fiddlers' tunes are regarded as genuine Greenlandic music. Locally developed tunes and special dance movements give these dances, called kalattuut,

a true Greenlandic stamp and therefore they are treated here.

Example 7. This example is a traditional song, probably originally a drumsong, that was sung without accompaniment by the woman Marnarne from Qaarsut in Uummannaq District; it was recorded on a phonograph recorder in 1912 by Christian Leden. The song has six stanzas in which the nucleus has one presentation in stanzas 1 to 4 but another one in stanzas 5 and 6. Perhaps, this shows a piecing together of two original songs. Stanza 4 is representative (see Example 7).

The tonal material resembles that of Exam- ple 5 from South Greenland, but now the first phrase also includes tones gT and f , resulting in the half-step f to ef which probably arose as a result of European influence.

The formal structure is not as distinct as in the other songs. Thus, it is doubtful whether one or two or even three nuclei are used. The motif in the second phrase has text in all stanzas except for one (in stanza 5) in which ya-ya is used. Placement in the stanza and use of a motif point toward a determination as a suffix, but the use of text strengthens an interpretation as a new nucleus!

In spite of these uncertainties, and the changing presentations of the nucleus mentioned above, the form type is still the same Balanced Innovation- Iteration form type as




Example 7. I Pitch: cf = appr. e'. M.M.: J appr. 86.

* s W- ^ i«t 1 * s

, SjwN*. |

ll fJMihrriiH ^ <t-t-d-ba-h*-e <t-t- a.

Example 8. I Pitch: c' = appr. g. M.M.: J = appr. 106.

, \njbro ,

ft ' y ^ > '

\^vl £ ^* ^ ̂ £ ~^^ jf_ I "

i '

~_2

preferred in East Greenland and in the southernmost areas of West Greenland. The formal course is blurred» heralding the struc- tural disorganization which unfortunately domi- nates the more recent songs of this area.

North Greenland, Thule District

Among the Polar Inuit in the Thule District, the Balanced Innovation- Iteration form type is also known. But, contrary to all other areas in Greenland, songs of this form type are in the minority in the Thule area music collections.

A music example is given above (Example 8). Probably, this form type is very old since

it is widely spread in Greenland as well as Canada. Among Polar Inuit, it was covered and partly replaced by layers of other form types that were imported from faraway northern region of North America by forgotten groups of immigrants. (For the other form types, see music examples 9 and 12.)

Example 8. This drumsong was intended for entertainment and was sung by Inûteq Napa from Qaanaaq, accompanying himself on the drum; it was recorded on tape in 1962 by the author. The song has four uniform




stanzas; stanza 2 is representative. The tonal material is purely pentatonic with

respect to all main tones. Grace notes are frequently heightened, and final tones in motifs and phrases are frequently lowered because of heavy accentuations.

The formal structure shows a Polar Inuit version of the Balanced Innovation- Iteration form type. The nucleus, following a short introduction, is divided and repeated, and the suffix brings the height (normally used at the stanza's beginning) with a succeeding fall to the lowest tone which is also the finalis.

In stanzas 2 and 4, the nucleus parts of the stanzas have text. This seems quite natural, according to practice in East Groenlandie songs of the same form type. But in Polar Inuit context, it is very rare because most of the drumsongs of this area are performed thoroughly on ya-ya or using ya-ya mixed with few repeated words .

Example 9. This drumsong for entertainment was sung by Pualorssuaq, accompanying himself by the drum and accompanied by many voices. Pualorssuaq lived at Neqe, Siorapaluk, and some other northern settlements; he mainly lived at Siorapaluk. As did most hunters, he moved from place to place. Therefore, the information about the domicile of an informant from the Thule District refers to his preferred locality. The song was recorded on a lacquer disk in 1937 by Erik Holtved at Uummannaq/ Dundas, in the central part of the district. This is the place where the mission settled in 1909 and where Knud Rasmussen established his trading station in 1910. The song has seven uniform stanzas; stanza 1 is representative (see Example 9).

The tonal material constitutes a complete pentatonic series. Small deviations occur, as in example 8, in connection with the many grace notes and accentuated tones. Generally, there is a tendency to heighten the light vowels and lower the dark vowels in the thoroughly textless performance.

The formal structure shows a developed tripartite course. The first part of every stanza has a personally invented nucleus, based on locally typical motifs, which is repeated with an extension leading downwards (to tone c'). The second part contains repetitions of tones, pleonasms (P in the notation) , and two intermediate groups in which the last part of the second presentation of nucleus is repeated. The third part of the stanza has two phrases. In the first, the composer chooses among different available motifs which have to be presented, pure or with personal variations, following certain lines of combinations (called the C phrase in the notation). The last phrase Includes two motifs which are stereotyped and

obligatory; they are used in the same versions and order in all songs of this form type. This formalized concluding phrase makes up a formula finalis (FF) which is used in all stanzas, the last one excepted. Curiously enough, the last stanza always ends with the C phrase followed by cries and laughter.

The last part of this formal course (i.e., the C phrase and formula finalis) is necessary to complete the structure. It makes a balancing which is separated from the nucleus part of the beginning by the intermediate groups. In this way, a spaced entirety is the main characteristic of this tripartite form type which consequently was named Balanced and Spaced Tripartite Innovation-Iteration Form Type. A more detailed description of this main form type of the Polar Inuit traditional songs is given in an article entitled "Formal Structure in Polar Eskimo Drumsongs" (Hauser 1977).

In Pualorssuaq's drumsong, the nucleus is rather short and the intermediate groups repeat the last part of the extended (second) nucleus. The C phrase has an initial semistereotyped motif and a varied repetition of the last part of the (first) nucleus which is followed by repeated tones.

Example 10. This drumsong for entertainment was sung by Imîna Imîna from Siorapaluk, accompanying himself by the drug and accompanied by many voices; it was recorded on tape in 1962 by Jette Bang in connection with the production of a film about drumsongs (Bang, Jensen and Hauser 1967). The song has two stanzas; stanza 1 is representative (see Example 10).

The tonal material is enlarged, compared with example 9, and now also includes tone bf so that the series shows

According to the number of tones, the tone material forms hexatonics. But tone bf appears as an "addition" to the steadily kept main pentatonics with thorough pentatonic movements; this seems to indicate a classification as extra- pentatonics.

The formal course illustrates some of the possibilities and restrictions of the very bound Balanced and Spaced Tripartite Inno- vation-Iteration form type. Compared with example 9, the nucleus is very different. It is longer and presents other motifs, except for the last motif which has a new version of the corresponding motif in example 9. In this individualistic way, the nucleus presents new motifs or new versions of well-known motifs from song to song. In the repetition of the nucleus, the present song, naturally,




Example 9. I Pitch: cf = appr. d flat. M.M;: J = appr. 124.

! N , K k > ^

& a- UQ, - UCU-flU I/O- HCL- trCL - t'CL ^fr

^ , - M,«ct. 1

yr p ft I i> ^

- U f> > . * v i>

» i » - > T ^ - r

H » ' I Interr». ^ «tou/i H ' v B ^ I ^ ! A Ns 'fTl

B pa» >t=^~âr. is. » 1 !

^ a>=rj(a.-e-«.-na.-a- e-jo^^-jtC^ê

' ̂ Ä=ifd-e-a- 2 no,- c^r , ' ̂ , 2 c^r c^rê,

, _,

follows the rules by bringing an exact repetition of the motifs and versions of motifs followed by the obligatory movement down to tone cf.

The intermediate groups shall, at least, quote the last part of the second presentation of the nucleus phrase. In the fourth and the

sixth notated lines, one may see how carefully the singer fulfills this requirement.

In the C phrase of the song, the conclusion is made up by the same motif, in a varied version, as that used in example 9. On the other hand, the initial motif does not corre- spond to the beginning of the C phrase of




Example 10. I Pitch: c1 = appr. d. M.M.: J = appr. 115.

jv '

t >t f » y, MT " N

. , >J >Jt » > * k "*-,

| P I

|V I (>^ C (OlTtlX, g

1

I-P >_t > 1 t 'T^^ u > f \ ^11 Ife^^^l

>_t > > j > j h y'?» ï\

> ] jf^d=z====:=z=

=^

example 9, On this place in the form, the composer shall choose among a series of possibilities as regards motifs and their combinations. It is a limited freedom which does not include the possibility of making a new individualistic nucleus.

The formula finalis is presented in the

prescribed way using the right motifs in the right order (i.e., as in example 9). Following the rules, formula finalis is omitted in stanza 2 which in this song is the last stanza.

Example 11. This drumsong for entertainment was sung by Inûteq Napa from Qaanaaq, accompanying himself by the drum; it was



Hauser: Greenlandic Music ßjg

Example 11. I Pitch: cf = appr. f. M.M.: J = appr. 114.

n ' 5 N > ' 1 A. ft \ ' n w i l r> ^Jfr ( XVft »' =:

Iro A. \ ' * w i j [ j/ # * * I ' ~p ======:::z:

^ a- ja- - a- a - ^-^ -jo,- a- <>-fi^-fi<^£

^ a- ^t; -j«.- JO.-JCL ja- a^ - a- 0^37- -yx.^< t-

r-D J, - v-t - >~tó 1 1 Wi y t ^ S* ••

jct^- ^jdc^- c iya- e- a- a- e-- a-e

recorded on tape in 1962 by the author. The song has two stanzas; stanza 1 is representative (see Example 11).

This example has the same tonal material of a complete pentatonic series as example 9.

Formally, the present song also belongs to tne Balanced and Spaced Tripartite Innovation- Iteration form type, such as examples 9 and 10.

Here, the nucleus is short and uses two versions of the motif mostly used in the area. In a consistent way, the chosen versions reappear in the second phrase which is concluded with the compulsory descent to tone c1.

In the intermediate groups, the closing descending motif of the second presentation of nucleus is quoted, as expected, but in the present song this quotation is preceded by a




Example 12. I Pitch: cf = appr. B flat. M.M: J = appr. 124.

LI * * J * J J * I f4 H i '

\l J J- 4 J n *

i f j é rf-i- é i 7 4- - ^

tj w î L ; i * ,^r- , é é T {*& tj w ar-toT- hrroa-rtt L qat-

; u- i tioar-hrrut tun-*<*rloT-hrtocL, ,

short motif which originally "belongs" to the C phrase. The composer is free to use versions of this motif, or a few other semistereotyped motifs, in front of the obligatory content of the intermediate groups.

In the C strophe, an increased number of motifs are used, both in complete and abbreviated versions, in front of the compulsory conclusion which quotes the last motif of the nucleus. The formula finalis is formed in the obligatory way. In the last stanza, it is omitted as prescribed.

The next examples show the second main form type of the Thule District.

Example 12. This is a drumsong for entertainment and teasing, sung by Kûtsfkitsoq Odâq from Qaanaaq; it was recorded on tape in 1962 by the author. The text is as follows:

I cannot bear these stupid Danes, Who are so stupid that they are not able

to speak (Greenlandic).

The song has two stanzas in which two passages are interrupted by laughter and repeated. Stanza 1 is representative (see Example 12).

The tonal material includes tone c" so that the ordinarily used "standard" tone material of a! -g1 -df -cf is enlarged with one tone. This expanded pentatonics

is rarely used. The formal structure shows a new principle

where a motif is repeated in a lower level. Ac- cordingly this form type was named Level- Shifted Iteration Form Type. It appears in a series of versions of which the most simple, a nucleus (N) succeeded by its transposed repetition (N,tr), is demonstrated by the representative stanza of Kûtsfkitsoq Odâq's

song. The transposition is based on the penta-

tonic series and shall be "measured" in (pentatonic) steps, not in intervals. In the present example, a two-step transposition takes place. This means that every tone of the nucleus is repeated two pentatonic steps lower. Consequently, tone c" is lowered to gf, a! to ef, g1 to df, but ef to cf (and not to tone b!). In many songs, the transposition is not so "pure" as in the present song. Such approximate transpositions are called transmissions (as an example, see music example 13). Songs of this simple version of the form type are rare. Most songs of Level- Shifted Iteration form type have addi- tions as shown in the next examples.

Example 13. I Pitch: cf = appr. B. M.M: J = appr. 83.

r-r N .

I to <-* * * j *ii kl^ ' 3> -

Example 13. This is a song for entertainment, sung by Inûterssuaq Uvdloriaq from




Siorapaluk who accompanies himself on the drum; it was recorded on tape in 1962 by the author. The song has three stanzas; stanza 2 is representative.

The tonal material, including tone bT, constitutes hexatonics or extra-pentatonics. For comments on this ambiguous determination, see the remarks for example 10.

In the present song, a level- shifted simili- tude is caused by a transmission from phrase to phrase, instead of by a true transposition. The first four tones of the nucleus are transposed one pentatonic step down, whereas the last tones are transposed two steps down.

The level- shifted reappearance of the nucleus is followed by a suffix. This is the most frequently used version of the Level- Shifted Iteration form type. Normally, the suffix is a simple motif as is the case in the present song. A series of commonly known motifs or semistereotyped motifs are used for this purpose.

Example 14. This drumsong for entertainment is sung by Inûteq Napa from Qaanaaq, accompanying himself by the drum, it was recorded on tape in 1962 by the author. The song has two stanzas; stanza 1 is representative (see Example 14).

This example is chosen to illustrate a more elaborate course of the Level- Shifted Iteration form type. The tonal material, tones a! -g1 -ef -dT, makes up an incomplete presentation of the ordinary pentatonic series, and finalis is now tone df instead of the normally used tone ef (as in examples 9, 10, and 11) or tone c1 (as in examples 8, 12, and 13; see also the East Greenlandic songs) .

The use of finalis d! only appears in songs of litany structures and, mainly, in songs of Level-Shifted Iteration form type. As described above, songs of Level- Shifted Iteration form type can be traced back to Baffin Island in Canada. It is very probable that songs with finalis df were also introduced into the Thule District by the earlier mentioned immigrants in the last century.

The formal structure is basically formed, as in the previous song, by a nucleus with its level- shifted repetition succeeded by a suffix. But the introduction and the varied repetitions of the initial nucleus motif, in the high level as well as in the low, makes the form less easy to grasp. The formal content once more demonstrates the liberty of the composer or singer to repeat and vary the motifs, including the suffix motif.

Example 15. This drumsong for entertainment was sung by Kigutflkaq Duneq from Qaanaaq, accompanying himself by the drum; it was recorded on tape in 1962 by the author. The song has four uniform stanzas;

stanza 2 is representative (see Example 15).

The tonal material is the most commonly used of the area forming a complete pentatonic series. As in example 14, the rarely used finalis df appears.

The formal structure shows the Level- Shifted Iteration form type in its most elaborated version. Besides the short introduction and the suffix, an infix (If) is put in between the nucleus and its level- shifted reappearance. In the present song, a real transposition takes place with the level- shifted repetition of the nucleus being presented two pentatonic steps lower.

The present elaborated version of Level- Shifted Iteration form type occurs in rather few songs. The level-shifts are obvious and are characteristic of these songs, as is demonstrated in the present example. Songs of still more elaborated versions of Level- Shifted Iteration forms are very rare.

Example 16. This song, in a fable called "The Singing Hare," was narrated and sung without accompaniment by Amâunalik Qâvigaq, Qaanaaq; it was recorded on lacquer disk in 1937 by Erik Holtved at Uummannaq/ Dundas. The text was transcribed and provided with a literal translation into English by Erik Holtved (Holtved 1951: 242). The fable deals with some hares which fled from a hunter by crossing a broad river. One of the hares sang the following song (rendered here in a free translation) :

When we walked, when we fled, Crossing the rivers, Crossing one of them which had risen

above its bed, As he was not able to cross swiftly,

we passed safely.

The entire song is notated. The tonal material constitutes an incom-

plete pentatonic series in which lowerings and heightenings of tones appear frequently; glissandi are also used several times. Tone gf as a finalis is uncommon in Polar Inuit songs.

Formally, the song is of formula structure : the same motif is repeated , varied , and diminUed through the song. This motif is a semistereotyped motif (Sm) which is commonly used in traditional songs from all over Greenland. In East Greenland, it is the most commonly used motif (see the first music examples). Varied versions of this main motif are also frequently found among Inuit of the eastern and central Canadian Arctic and among Alaskan Inuit.



382 Arctic Anthropology 23:1-

Example 14. I Pitch: c' = appr. e. M.M: J = appr. 110.

K , Intro ,

i_^

p -

^ -

9 -

-^

îinTtjTirT7TrTTTTBTffTl. .

^ f Njirnt.- r 1 1 N, im. 1 1 N»trni;v. 1

|5) 'P • J * f ^' ̂ ~^ < f Ji # # #> # ̂ # # j # : # * # ^ - ^111 Cf vcrcL-üa-joo-y-o-it CL-â-â^-ja-o-n a-^öL-Ôo-Jt^'01'

^ , Sf 1, S/,* 1

Example 15. I Pitch: c1 = appr. B flat. M.M: J = appr. 124.

I- \ntro 1

^ r-l.? _ N ,

' > 7TT '^ a ' ^__ JJJ- fe^^p^g^y | f> (UL=7

^ n » , in,

M +y i». , I n , in, i». , I




Example 16. I Pitch: cf = appr. a. M.M: J = appr. 180.

r- ;- y -if A

* rt-;Wk».-u v m v i

1 1 i.lj} ft h A

'.n ft hj i v

J j j ' .bh^g

v

ft ^

POSTSCRIPT

The previous musical examples show traditional Greenlandic drumsongs dating from Christian Ledenfs phonographic recordings in 1912 and Erik HoltvedTs 1937 collection to Ola Okfors1 recordings from 1980. They are glances to the past, but we might inquire about the conditions for Greenlandic drumsongs today and in the future. The answer is ambiguous and unsure; the conditions seem to be rather good but at the same time there are many negative signs that are troublesome.

Drumsongs have in recent years been "re- discovered." At festive regional and national occasions, drumsingers from East Greenland and the Thule District are called forth to perform. At Greenlandic cultural presentations made at various places outside the country, it has become more and more common to engage drumsingers. They are very much in demand and the drumsongs are popular; this shows a strong interest in drumsinging that has emerged from the growing feeling of nationali- ty and identity in Greenland. This popularity and interest suggests that drumsongs will continue to be important in Greenlandic society in the future.

To counter this optimism, however, it should be pointed out that drumsinging appears to be a declining musical tradition. My impression from collecting drumsongs recently in the Thule District (Hauser 1984) is that there are only a few skilled drumsingers remaining and almost all of these are older persons (born before 1941). None of these singers teach the art of drumsinging to young adults or children in their families. The problem is that the

resurgent West Greenlandic interest for traditional music has not yet reached the outlying areas such as northern Greenland. Further, people in the local communities, especially those who represent civil, school, and church authorities, appear disinterested in drumsongs. This outstanding art does not seem to be valued, although it is commonplace in village communities. When drumsingers are faced with indifference, they understandably lose their desire to practice or perform the songs. If drumsongs are to remain a viable art form, it is absolutely necessary for the local community to express a genuine interest in these songs by supporting those who perform them.

It is possible that renewed and spreading West Greenlandic culture consciousness will act as a stimulus for greater appreciation of drumsinging in more remote communities. In this way, drumsinging may be given an opportunity to survive. Of primary importance is whether this interest can be expressed in time to save the real tradition of drumsinging, with its handing down of songs with the proper content and form. One of the goals of my own research and of this article is to document the fact that drumsongs are not formless, impro- vised musical renderings, but in fact are closely structured, artistic expressions that reflect a rich spiritual culture. It may very well be that interest in drumsongs will reach eastern and northern Greenland too late and thus the correct traditional forms of the drumsongs will be lost. In that case, only bits and pieces of former musical splendor will be remembered and sung, as in the previously mentioned case of the Uummannaq District. There, the tradition of drumsinging has been




broken. Only the future will show whether the

present wave of interest is strong enough to save Greenlandfs tradition of drumsinging.

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