Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/882

* FOLKLORE. 7M FOLK-MUSIC. tures; (5) the plant kingdom; (6) the animal kingdom; (7) human beings in every possible state and activity, whether individually or col- lectively as a community; (S) the spirit world in association with man. Those among whom the lore is to be found may be a tribe, a race or people, inhabitants of a region, a social class, or people representing a call- ing in life. Any or all of these themes of lore existing in any human group may be investigated in accordance with the folklore society's scheme, which takes in serious and seemingly trivial topics alike. The folklorist by his researches may advance our general knowledge of folk-industries, folk-a:sthetics. and folk-soeiology. Scientific in- vestigations of myths and their origin, or the tracing of the migrations of tales, have contrib- uted information in respect to community of descent or with reference to interchange of ideas through geographical proximity or through emi- gration. These have their value to the ethnolo- gist, or they show the anthropologist how similar conditions call forth similar phenomena, as in the matter of kindred nursery rhymes, or count- ing jingles, games, or customs, among totally unrelated peoples of the world. A study which has yielded so much, and may yield such great results, deserves its recognition as a scientific branch of research, if pursued with proper equipment, thorough and correct method, and with judgment. In the earlier days the collectors naturally worked in the field as dilet- tanti, and there was a tendency to look upon the examples of myths, customs, superstitions, or belief, rather as curiosities than as telling some story of human civilization. There was too great an inclination to add to the attractiveness of the picture that was drawn by touching it up or giving it special color ; there was a nat- ural proneness to modernize the legend that was recorded, to introduce material, or make more up-to-date folk-songs than Mere set down. One thing above all is now recognized as essential for the true folklorist : it is fidelity and scrupu- lous care in recording the matter, whatever it be, if he expects it to have any real scientific value. Special caution, moreover, and heed in drawing deductions is indispensable. For ex- ample, in accounting for folk thought and cus- tom, especially the occurrence of the same phe- nomena in regions wide apart, among peoples of different race, or belonging to distinctly different types, the following cautions should be observed: (1) To be sure that the resemblance is actual, and not superficial. (2) To keep in mind that sporadic resem- blances may be purely accidental. (3) To remember that all mankind under sim- ilar environments has thoughts and ways in com- mon, "ii the axiom that like causes produce like effects. (4) To recognize the fact thai the more numer- ous the instances and the more complex the customs under i sideration, the more certainly has there been acculturation of some kind, but caution must be observed in drawing deductions of blood relationship from similarities in sayings and arts. BrjBi tooBAFHY. The number of works, articles, or i realises on tlie various branches of folklore study is immense. For convenience simply, refer be made to Gomme, Handbook of Folk- lore (London, 1887) ; id., Ethnology in Folklort (New York, 1892); Cox, An Introduction to Folklore (London, 1895). The best bibliographic lists may be obtained from consulting the special journals devoted to the subject, such as the Jour- nal of American Folklore, published by the Ameri- can Folklore Society (Boston and New York, 1888 et seep): Folklore, being the transactions of the Folklore Society (London. 189® et seq.) ; Beitrage zur Volks- und Yolkerkunde (Berlin. 1893 et seq.); Mclusine (Paris, 1877 et seq.); Biblioteca de las traditiones espamolas (Mai- drid. 1881 et seq.) ; Archivio per b, studio delle tradizioni popolari (Palermo, 1881 et seq.); Bulletin du Folklore' (Brussels, 1891 et seq.>; Schweizerisches Archiv fiir Volkskundr (Neueha- tel, 1897 et seq.). See also Demonologt; Folk- Music; Ghosts; Max, Science of; Mabbiage; Mortuary Customs. FOLK-MUSIC. Music which is the outgrowth of a people's development, as opposed to national music, which owes its existence to the character- istic compositions of a few individuals. National music, however, may be, and generally is, based on the folk-music of the country. Folk-tunes are the wild flowers in the realm of music. They are valued to-day more highly than ever, both for their intrinsic beauty and as themes for composers with nationalistic tendencies. By way of supple- menting the earlier collections of songs and dances made by private individuals, the governments of several European countries have in recent times borne the expense of gathering and printing what- ever could be found of this indigenous folk-music, while the inventive faculty of composers lias been frequently rejuvenated, during the last eight cen- turies, at this inexhaustible fount of original melody. This is particularly noticeable in the ease of Hungarian folk-music, which has pro- vided material not only for native composers, but also for Germans, especially those Mho made their home in Vienna. Haydn made good use of folk- music, and in more recent times Liszt collected a great number of the Magyar melodies as played by the Gypsies, and used them as the themes for his Hungarian rhapsodies. Even Schubert, the most spontaneous of all melodists, was so struck by the charm of the Magyar melodies that he copied some of them and embodied them in his works. Brahms and others did the same thing. In Russia. Poland. Bohemia, and Scandinavia. Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Dvorak, Grieg, and many others adopted the melody of the people, or fash- ioned their own in its image. Beethoven wen! to Scotland and Ireland for the melodies of some of his songs, and to Russia for the themes of some of his chamber compositions. Nor have Oriental countries been ignored. Puccini trav- eled as far as Japan in one of his operas. Edgar Kelley wrote a Chinese suite, and Ed- ward MacDowell an Indian suite based on ab- original American melodies. The lower the composer descends in the scale of civilization, the more refractory his borrowed material is apt to prove. While primitive music ■ — the music of uncivilized peoples — also comes under the head of folk-music, in the widest sense of the word, it is too different in character and too wide in scope to be treated of under this head. One misconception regarding it may. however, 1 rrected here. It is not true, as commonly assumed, that the vocal music of the lower races