Evgenia S. REDKOVA St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
2, letter "A", Glinka str., Saint Petersburg, 190068 Russian Federation
Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology department
PhD in Arts
e-mail: e_redkova@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-4073-3308
Ekaterina K. FILATENKOVADepartment of Cultural Affairs of the City of Cherepovets
35a., Sovetsky Ave., Cherepovets, 162602 Russian Federation
Leading Specialist
St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
2, letter "A", Glinka str., Saint Petersburg, 190068 Russian Federation
Postgraduates Student of the Department of Ethnomusicology
katerina-2205@mail.ru
“Bayu, Bayu, Bain’ki, Little Children are Sleeping”, or how to Sing a LullabyAbstract: Peculiarities of performing lullabies have not practically been the subject of special attention of researchers, although this aspect is extremely important in the context of solving problems of preserving traditions of the folk culture and updating the cultural memory today. Authenticity in the transmission of ethno-cultural traditions implies reliance on traditional norms of folklore performance. The material for this work is based on the expedition records made on the territory of the Vologda region in 1991-1994, 2002-2008 and 2018by employees of the Cherepovets and Sheksna centers of traditional folk culture, as well as the results of surveys and audio recordings of lullabies performed by modern urban residents of Cherepovets.The analysis of traditional musical samples, their functions, musical and stylistic features revealed the nature of the sound and the context of their everyday life. The comparative analysis shows that a significant part of the lullabies performed by the tradition bearers – female rural residents who adopted them from their mothers and grandmothers, are dynamic, active, energetic. Discussions about the nature and typicality of such a sound, which largely contradicts modern ideas about the nature of lullaby singing, made authorslook for comments from women who practiced putting their children to sleep with lullabies.Surveys have confirmed changes in the hierarchy of functions of lullabies, due to modifications of the cultural paradigms that affect folklore texts. In this sense, the performing manner turns out to be an important mechanism ofactualizing the genre in the constantly changing socio-cultural reality.Researchers have previously emphasized the improvisational nature of the genre (creation of texts based on traditional poetic cliches, musical and rhythmic formulas directly at the moment of performance).Along with other features of lullabies, their performing manner demonstrates certain adaptability that allows responding to the situation (including individual characteristics of the children and changes in their condition) without significant transformations of the text in the process of singing.
Key words: folk traditional culture, intangible ethno-cultural heritage, lullabies, performing style, performing manner, "maternal" folklore, children's folklore, folklore of the Vologda region.
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For Citation: Redkova, E., Filatenkova, Е. (2023) “Bayu, Bayu, Bain’ki, Little Children are Sleeping”, or how to Sing a Lullaby. International Journal of Cultural Research, 1 (50). 148–161. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2023_1_148
DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2023_1_148