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“Play What I Sing”: Economical Potential of the Bearers of Folk Music Tradition in the Cultural Memory of the Czech Lands
Uhlíková, Lucie ; Pavlicová, M.
The economic conditions of folk musicians or their remuneration have been mentioned rather inconsistently in sources and literature of the Czech lands. The participation of musicians in ceremonies, traditions and customs of the calendar, or family occasions was one of their natural activities in rural communities. There are relatively frequent references to paying for a song (which involved leading the singing) and playing according to a demonstrated song, which was widespread in the context of folk dances. Musicians played not only for money, but also for food, drink, or special benefits in kind. For itinerant musicians and singers, musical performances were a major source of their livelihood. Many outstanding rural musicians also earned a living by teaching various instruments. From the end of the 19th century, folk musicians and dancers found more occasions to present themselves to the public, which increased an interest in the financial issue of their production. With the coming of brass music bands and other novelty groups, older traditional rural music groups lost not only their cultural capital, but their economic capital as well. Gradually, however, the emerging folklore movement strengthened the position of folk musicians, including their financial rewards. The question of the remuneration of folk musicians has resonated in cultural memory, thus adding to the unbiased image of traditional folk culture.
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The Value of Folk Song
Toncrová, Marta
The author examines the value of folk song in the context of the development of views of folk songs in the history of the Czech lands. Because the oldest evidence of Czech secular folk song has been documented in the form of various Church prohibitions, it is obvious that the Church perceived the value of folk songs differently from that of common people. The opinions of the members of the educated social strata gradually became visible in the period of the Enlightenment and in the 19th century, nevertheless, because of their highly estheticized and moralizing approach, they judged numerous folk songs very negatively. With the development of the Czech national movement, which started in the 1820s, we can observe a close attitude towards folk songs from professional musicians, collectors, and composers, which was reflected not only in music creation, but in literature and fine arts as well. At the turn of the 20th century, because of the gradual establishment of folkloristics (ethnography) as a science, there appeared a distinctive change of view on the whole sphere of musical folklore. Systematic field research allows us to understand the attitude of folk singers to their songs, as well as the rather strict differentiation of songs according to their functions and “values”: distinguishing old and new songs, valuable and less valuable, female and male, ceremonial or work-related, as well as dance songs, songs worth recording by a collector, and songs that were performed on special occasions only.
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“Play What I Sing”: Economic Potential of the Bearers of Music Tradition in the Cultural Memory of the Czech Lands
Uhlíková, Lucie ; Pavlicová, M.
The economic conditions of folk musicians or their remuneration have been mentioned rather inconsistently in sources and literature of the Czech lands. The participation of musicians in ceremonies, traditions and customs of the calendar, or family occasions was one of their natural activities in rural communities. There are relatively frequent references to paying for a song (which involved leading the singing) and playing according to a demonstrated song, which was widespread in the context of folk dances. Musicians played not only for money, but also for food, drink, or special benefits in kind. For itinerant musicians and singers, musical performances were a major source of their livelihood. Many outstanding rural musicians also earned a living by teaching various instruments. From the end of the 19th century, folk musicians and dancers found more occasions to present themselves to the public, which increased an interest in the financial issue of their production. With the coming of brass music bands and other novelty groups, older traditional rural music groups lost not only their cultural capital, but their economic capital as well. Gradually, however, the emerging folklore movement strengthened the position of folk musicians, including their financial rewards. The question of the remuneration of folk musicians has resonated in cultural memory, thus adding to the unbiased image of traditional folk culture.
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