Except for a few casual remarks in the specialized works of historians, linguists, travelers, and ethnographers, the musical folklore of Kirghizia received virtually no attention in pre-Revolutionary publications. But, even though the scattered observations of pre-Revolutionary nonmusician scholars failed to convey a comprehensive idea of this folklore, they continue to provide valuable source material in terms of vivid first impressions of the people's musical life. All of the reports refer to improvisational song-creation as the most typical characteristic. And all remark upon its popular nature, traditionalism, and ties with the soil.

Survey courses in world musics survive on aphorisms, and one of the favorite characteristics appended to Asian music in such studies is its great interest in improvisation. The major problem with this saying is that it is not true. While it may apply to certain forms of South Asian music and be a part of the Southeast Asian polyphonic stratification structures, it is a rare thing in the music of East Asia. Thus, when I was asked to speak on Japanese music for a symposium on improvisation held by the University of Chicago, I was genuinely hesitant, because I simply could not think of examples upon which to base such a discussion. This study is the result of my search.

A recent article by Jairazbhoy in Ethnomusicology is perhaps the first cogent account of the oboe in India. Here I wish to offer a few comments on his paper and give some supplementary material and ideas.

Rāgī faqīrs are devotees who perform Shah Jo Rāg, a musical tradition for singing Sufi poetry at the shrine of poet-mystic Shāh ‘Abdul Latīf Bhiṭṭāī (1689–1752) in Sindh, Pakistan. Focusing on the life experiences of my teacher Manthār Faqīr, I historicise various subject positions that contemporary rāgī faqīrs refer to as faqīr (devotee), fankār (performing artist), kārīgar (skilled artisan), and artist. Through Manthār Faqīr’s performances, I analyse sonic manifestations of his complex subjectivities that at times shift, at times coexist, to demonstrate how he deploys sounded strategies emerging from different subject positions to balance devotion, artistry, legitimacy, and livelihood.

This article presents a historical overview of traditional music studies in Chile, pointing out some of the main achievements and problems. It describes the origins of traditional music studies through the establishment of the Chilean Folk Society in 1909 and then offers a periodisation of studies during the twentieth century, followed by a critical review of the preference for facts over processes. Finally, it explores the renaissance of traditional music studies during the last 30 years (1990–2020), analysing 123 dissertations about traditional music and the concepts of “tradition” they employ. It concludes that Chilean folk studies have changed from a scientific to a humanistic approach, using the idea of tradition as a comprehensive concept and the idea of folklore as behaviour or performance.

In 2022, Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa of the Socialist Party held a celebration of Brazilian music at his residence in Lisbon for the Bicentennial of Brazilian Independence a month before the presidential elections between Bolsonaro and Lula. In contrast to Bolsonaro’s right-wing rallies, Costa featured acts that were feminist, antiracist, and leftist. In this diplomatic event, musical performances criticised Bolsonaro’s Brazil and supported Lula’s campaign, imaginatively aspiring for an alternative Brazil despite the organizers’ directive not to protest. I show how the performers strategically and affectively advanced a comprehensible political critique in this crucial moment of Brazilian political history.

On 28 September 1990, the city of Qufu, Confucius' home town in northeastern China, celebrated the philosopher's 2541st birthday with the performance of a reconstructed ceremony of ritual offerings, music, and dance. Presented on the terrace of the Hall of Great Achievements (Dacheng dian) of the Confucian Temple in Qufu, the performance was propitious but controversial. While most of the participants and audience appeared to have approved the ceremony as efficacious, some critics contested that it was inappropriately ‘touristy’ and included many inauthentic details. A few even condemned the performance as a misrepresentation of historical sacrifices to Confucius. As a music scholar invited to attend the performance, I found the contrasting reactions and criticisms enlightening because they represent a characteristically vigorous Chinese tradition of pursuing historical truth with its proliferation of written documents about the Chinese past. Above all, the reactions and criticisms highlighted, for me, the roles music performances played in historical understanding of the musical past.

Die ungarische Volkstanzforschung unserer Tage ist die organische Fortsetzung jener am Anfang des Jahrhunderts begonnenen Forschungsarbeit, deren erste bedeutende Zusammenfassung das Werk Marian Réthei Prikkels: A magyarság táncai (Die Tänze des Ungartums), Budapest, 1924, ist. Sein unvergängliches Verdienst ist die Erschliessung des äusserst bedeutsamen historischen Quellenmaterials und der Entwurf der Konturen eines umfassenden Bildes. Seine Mängel zeigen sich in erster Linie darin, dass das neuere Tanz- und Tanzmusikmaterial unerschlossen blieb. Um die Beseitigung dieser Mangelhaftigkeit machte sich Sándor Gönyey als erster verdient; er machte die ersten Schritte zur zeitgemässen Fixierung des lebendigen Volkstanzes, als er sich in seiner Sammelarbeit ab 1926 eines Kinoapparates bediente. Die Ergebnisse der Sammlungen Sándor Gönyey und die Tanz- und Tanzmusikforschungen von László Lajtha werden in ihrem gemeinsamen Aufsatz, im Tanzkapitel des IV. Bandes A magyarság Néprajza (Ungarische Ethnographie), 1937, zusammengefasst.

Among the vast and varied song repertories of North American Indians, there is a category of songs that has received little attention from ethnomusicologists and anthropologists: the native melodies with English words. A number of these songs have been heard with amusement by workers in the field, and a few have been recorded, but to my knowledge no one has attempted to study the significance of this material and its relation to the societies that have produced it. Despite the paucity of recordings and information that precludes a comprehensive study of these interesting songs, this paper is offered as an initial and tentative effort to give form and interpretation to this material, with the hope that others may be stimulated to carry out further investigations and research.

Die Umsiedlungen im Gefolge des Zweiten Weltkrieges haben die wichtigste Quelle für die Kenntnis des älteren deutschen Volksliedes fast zur Gänze verschüttet. Ich meine jene Melodien, die seit den achtziger Jahren des vorigen Jahrhunderts in deutschen Sprachinseln Süd- und Osteuropas aufgezeichnet werden konnten (Suppan, 1962-63). Heute sind nur noch wenige ergänzende Einzelstücke von ähnlichem Wert und Alter aufzulesen. Von einem solchen Relikt, das die beiden Freiburger Volkskundler J. Künzig und W. Werner 1961 in Süddeutschland auf Tonband festhalten konnten und in dankenswerter Weise dem Referenten zur Verfügung stellten, soll hier die Rede sein: es handelt sich um das Fragment einer siebenbürgisch-sächsischen Totenklage, die der ältesten Schicht zugehört, die bisher in diesem Raum erfasst werden konnte.

Similar to the situation in many other cultures of Asia, in Japan dance and music have always been closely related. If one looks at the history of Japanese music, many genres of music such as gagaku and noh accompany dance. Research in dance, however, has not kept pace with research in music, and it is only recently that studies of dance began to be recognised as an academic discipline. The learned society for dance research, buyō gakkai was founded only in 1976, while the society for research in Asiatic music was established in 1936 and the musicological society of Japan in 1952. Many universities offer degrees (B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.) in musicology and ethnomusicology, but only a few universities, such as Ochanomizu University,2 offer degrees in dance or the study of dance. The faculties of education of some universities3 offer dance classes as a part of physical education.

In general, it can be said the Oriental has a deeper sensitivity to delicate timbres than has the Occidental. In the folk and traditional music of Japan there are innumerable exquisite combinations of timbre which make it possible to achieve delicate forms of musical expression without the help of other musical elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony and counterpoint.

In Japan's primitive conception of aesthetics, music was closely related to nature. We can find many examples wherein the actual sounds of nature have been sublimated to musical expression. This is especially true in the field of theatrical music.