Suriname folk-lore

3. The Music of the Town Negroes

a. Tonal Range.

The songs of the Town Negroes also show considerable difference in tonal range;⁴ however, in the Town music, a range of more than a minor tenth is found in only 6% of the songs (in contrast to 29% of the Bush songs). Most commonly the tonal range is an octave.

4 Fig. 1.

b. Melodic Movement.

The descending tendency of the melodic movement is more conspicuous in the Town than in the Bush songs. Thus, about one-fifth of the Town songs begin on the highest note of the song (Bush 8%); while a maximum rise of more than a fourth over the opening tone occurs in 27% (Bush 42%), and a maximum drop of more than a fourth below the opening note is found in 62% (Bush 56%).⁵ The position of the opening tone in relation to the closing one, as well as the position of the final tone itself, shows essentially the same characteristics as in the Bush songs.⁶

5 Figs. 2 and 3.

6 Figs. 4 and 5.

c. Intervals.

Only 10% of the Town songs (Bush 63%) are entirely, or almost entirely without half-tones.⁷ The less frequent employment of steps of wide range is a correlative of much more frequent use of half-tones. The following table gives comparisons between Town and Bush in the matter of the intervals which are found:

7 Songs 116, 138, 142, 158, 180, 182, 187, 198, 200, 204, 209, 215, 217, 224, 228.

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Plate XXII. Town-Negro Mᾳn-drɔ̨.

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Plate XXIII. Town-Négro Agida and Lᾳŋga drɔ̨.

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Songs with	Town	Bush
Steps of a fourth	62%	85%
Steps of a fifth	18%	45%
Steps of a sixth	8%	11%
Steps of an octave	1%	6%

Manifold tonal repetitions are, as in the songs of the Bush, very much favored; two-thirds of these contain parts in which four or more syllables are sung on the same pitch.¹ On the other hand, the combinations of steps of thirds and especially of fourths, so characteristic of Bush songs, occur here more rarely:

Songs with	Town	Bush
1. Pendular combinations of at least three steps of thirds	17%	45%
(a) Minor thirds	17%	41%
(b) Major thirds	1%	8%
2. Sequences of steps of thirds moving in the same direction	37%	53%
(a) Two minor thirds	2%	5%
(b) ‘Major triads’	30%	38%
(c) ‘Minor triads’	10%	24%
(d) Three thirds	4%	7%
3. Interlocking thirds	14%	16%
4. Combinations of fourths	6%	38%
(a) Configuration of fourths	0	14%
(b) Configuration of fourths	3%	9%
(c) Sequences of fourths moving in the same direction	0	6%
(d) Interlocking fourths	2%	11%

1 See chiefly songs 113, 168, 180, 204, 205, 212, 232, 245, 249.

d. The Penta-types of Modal Structure.

A large proportion of the Town songs more or less coincide in their tonal structure with those of the Bush Negroes. The penta-type occurs only very rarely.² In the song analyses VII a and b, the dominant g stands out especially and becomes the tonic in VII d. Song 116, it may be remarked, has essentially the same structure as Bush song 1.

2 Fig. 6.

e. The Hexa-type.

The frequency curve showing the number of songs in the hexa-mode indicates an increase in the number in sol and si at the expense of those in do and re. Among the hexa-do songs,³ numbers 164 and 171 are to be noted for the absence of the g, a tone other-

3 Analyses of structure Nos. VII d-l.

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wise of importance in this mode. Song 77¹ may be looked upon as the basic structure of 164;² gaps in the thirds are filled in by two inserted tones. Song 171, having a range of a fourth,³ based on the minor third, is closely related to song 14;⁴ song 243 has the same tonal structure as 49,⁵ while 242 appears to be almost a variant of 15.⁶ Songs 228 and 254 are extensions of the penta-do mode.⁷ Just as is the case with the Bush songs, so in those sung by Town Negroes, the tonic of the songs in the hexa-sol mode is for the most part the lowest tone, the upper fifth functioning, as a rule, as a dominant.⁸ Song 117 is a variant of the penta-do melody 116.⁹ The scales on which the songs analysed in VII m-p are based, represent what may be called diatonically ‘filled’ penta-chord structures, and in this resemble the analyses of songs 72 and 73 in II l and m.¹⁰ The structures VII q-u, based on a sixth, are like II n-p; VII u, based on the octave, is like II q. The hexa-re mode, which is only represented by song 198, has, if we overlook the absence of the fourth below the key-note, the same structure as song 23.¹¹ Of the songs in the hexa-la mode, those analysed in VII c-e, with their emphasis on the fifth, g-d, resemble the analyses given in III h-k. Just as in the Bush music, where songs sung in the penta-re mode were seen to be closely related to those sung in the penta-do mode,¹² so the music found in the hexa-la mode is closely related to that in hexa-sol. This appears with special clarity in song 186, which was rendered twice by the same singer, who ends his song one time on a, that is, in the hexa-la mode, and the other on g, in the hexa-sol mode. In the songs sung in the hexa-mi mode¹³ either the fifth above the tonic¹⁴ or the fifth below it¹⁵ functions as the ‘dominant’. The minor third b-d, with b as the fundamental, ‘filled’ with an inserted c, forms the nucleus of the hexa-si mode.¹⁶ Besides this the thirds a-c¹⁷ and g-b¹⁸ also have structural significance. The tonic b¹⁹ is the ‘mese’ of the third a-c, as well as

1 Analysis No. I a.

2 Analysis No. VII h.

3 Analysis No. VII g.

4 Analysis No. II b.

5 Compare analysis No. VII k with No. II i.

6 Analyses Nos. VII j and II g.

7 Analyses Nos. VII l and i.

8 Analyses Nos. VII m-v.

9 Analyses Nos. VII m and VII a.

10 Compare especially songs 72 and 184.

11 Compare analysis No. VII a with No. III e.

12 Compare songs 1 and 4 with 2 and 5.

13 Analyses Nos. VIII f-h.

14 Song 132.

15 Songs 187, 192.

16 Analyses Nos. VIII i-t.

17 Analyses Nos. VIII l, o, p, r-t.

18 Analyses Nos. VIII p, r, s.

19 As in analysis No. III o.

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of the fifth g-d. Song 248¹ exhibits a pendular structure of minor thirds in the second part, while in 214² the melodic weight is shifted in the course of the song from g to b, and thus the hexa-sol mode changes to hexa-si.

1 Analysed in No. VIII u.

2 Analysed in No. VIII v.

f. The Hepta-Type.

The hepta-do mode is by far the most commonly employed in the Town Negro songs.³ Songs in this mode are found to correspond, to a degree, with those of the Bush Negroes.⁴ g is, in most cases, the dominant. The chromatic sequence that is employed in two instances is avoided in the restatements of these songs.⁵ Further parallels to the Bush songs of various kinds are also found among the other hepta melodies.⁶ As in song 214,⁷ the melodic weight in 218⁸ is shifted by a third; in this instance, however, by a minor third downward, which means that the song modulates from the hepta-do mode to the hepta-la.

3 Fig. 6.

4 Compare analyses Nos. IX i with IV c-d; IX j with IV e-g; IX l-o with IV h; IX q-w with IV k.

5 Songs 174, first variant, and 185, first variant (analysed in Nos. X n and IX p).

6 Compare analyses Nos. XI g-h with V a-c; XI i with V i; XI n with V r; XI r-s with VI d-e; XI v with VI g.

7 Analysed in No. X v.

8 See analysis No. XII o.

g. Meter and Rhythm.

The 4/4 rhythm is that which occurs most frequently in those songs of regular meter,⁹ while 3/4 time is rare.¹⁰ 6/8 time is found somewhat more frequently,¹¹ as is the 5/4 beat.¹² Metrical extensions and contractions are much in favor. Thus, for instance, the 4/4 measure is found shortened to 7/8¹³ or to 3/4¹⁴ or extended to 5/4.¹⁵ These changes in rhythm are in part caused by the nature of the text, as, for example, in the two renditions of the final measures of song 142. The shortening of the phrase ‘a¹’ in song 236 when contrasted to ‘a’ is worthy of remark: the two distinct elements of phrase ‘a’ have been welded together in ‘a¹’, where the end of the first becomes at the same time the opening of the second. For a number of songs no rigid metric scheme can be established, notwithstanding the fact that a regular meter may be recognized as underlying their rhythmic form; one may note in this regard the

9 Songs 117, 129, 135.

10 Songs 181, 187, 224.

11 E.g., songs 133, 164-166.

12 E.g., songs 131, 152, 253.

13 E.g., songs 115, 126, 194.

14 E.g., songs 149, 150, 240.

15 Songs 125, 142, 185, 202.

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4/4 measure in song 119, the 3/4 measure in song 161, and the 6/8 measure in song 167. Occasionally different texts are set to the same melody, and because of this the meter becomes changed, as can be seen when comparison is made between songs 120 and 121, 140 and 141, 221 and 222. Songs in free rhythm are much less frequent in Town Negro music than in that of the Bush. However, they do occur.¹

1 As, for example, in songs 179, 210, 229, 232, 248.

h. Formal Structure of the Songs.

Essentially the same formal characteristics are found in the Town and Bush songs. Very short melodies, restricted to an exact or varied repetition of a short theme, are rare;² on the other hand, songs which fall into two phrases are very much in favor.³ Frequently the second phrase is a variant of the first; in 131 and 203 the end is varied, while in 139-141 and 213 the second phrase, in contrast to the first, is transposed a fifth lower. From the varied repetition of the form ‘a b’, constructions such as those to be noted in songs 144, 170, 192, 194, 207 and 241 result. A somewhat richer cyclical construction is found in 125, 129, 132, 171, 209, and 231. Songs which comprise a number of phrases often originate from the basic form ‘a b’ by a single or manifold repetition, strict or free, of one or the other of the two members; thus, we see the three-fold ‘a b b¹’ in song 114, ‘a a b’ in 119, 188, and 199, ‘a b a’ in 127 and 247, the four-fold ‘a a¹ b b’ in 161, ‘a a¹ b a²’ in 219, ‘a a¹ a b’ in 179 and divers others of greater number, as in 118, 123, 232, 245, and 248. Similarly the repetition of individual elements of the fundamental set of phrases ‘a b c’⁴ and ‘a b c d’⁵ result in enlargements such as ‘a a b b b c’,⁶ ‘a b b¹ b¹ b² c c¹ c² c³’,⁷ and ‘a a b b b b¹ a a b² b¹ b² b¹ c c d d¹ d¹’.⁸

2 Songs 113, 115, 122.

3 Songs 148, 159, 189, 235, among others.

4 Songs 165, 180, 183, 190.

5 Songs 134, 186, 195.

6 Songs 116, 117.

7 Song 205.

8 Song 208.

i. Alternation of Solo and Chorus, and Polyphony.

Songs in which there is alternate singing by solo and chorus are frequently found, as was the case with the Bush Negro music. The part of the chorus, in varied forms, represents a repetition, more or less strict, of the entire song, which has been initially sung by the leader;⁹ transposition of the choral part in song 166 a fourth higher than the rendition by the soloist is to be observed. In song 128 the repeated and varied opening phrase ‘a’, and in 250 the last motif of ‘a’ is repeated by the chorus. More frequently,

9 See songs 163, 165, 183, 187, 199.

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Plate XXIV. Town-Negro Agida drum.

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Plate XXV. A Bush-Negro Agida drum.

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however, the chorus represents a continuation of the solo part.¹ In songs 153 and 202 the solo of the precentor, which remains the same throughout, is alternatingly answered by two different choral themes as was the case in the Bush-Negro song 77; in 184 and 223 the solo part is varied as well.² In some songs chords are produced by the overlapping of the solo and chorus.³ In song 215 the chorus carries a drone above the singing of the solo part. Chords occur in the choral parts as well as in songs for chorus alone. These are, in the main, the major second,⁴ the minor third,⁵ the major third,⁶ and the fourth⁷. In only one instance each do we find a tritone, a major sixth,⁸ a minor sixth,⁹ and a minor seventh.¹⁰ Parallels are rare; we do, however, find parallel thirds in songs 158, 206, 233, and 255, as well as one instance each of parallel fourths, fifths, and major seconds in 203 and 255. The polyphony in song 253 is noteworthy; it originates, however, in the possible unintentional overlapping of the phrases ‘a’ and ‘b’.

1 As in songs 138, 210, 217.

2 Cf. Bush-Negro songs 72, 73, 89.

3 As, for example, in songs 152, 201, 220.

4 E.g., songs 178, 204, 211.

5 E.g., songs 163, 165, 222.

6 E.g., songs 209, 211, 219.

7 E.g., songs 217, 227, 244.

8 Song 211.

9 Song 244.

10 Song 240.

j. Tempo.

In many cases the tempo accelerates as the song proceeds.¹¹ Occasionally, while the tempo is constant within the verse, the repetition is sung faster.¹² In song 178, however, the tempo of the duet is slower than that of the solo. The strong rubato in songs 156 and 190 is to be remarked.

11 E.g., songs 115, 121, 150.

12 As in songs 139, 159, 251.