Vocal and arranging solutions for broadcasting Kuban Cossack folk songs: methodology and practice

Mironova Anastasiya Vladimirovna ORCID: 0009-0003-8757-6765 Lecturer, Department of Musical Art Management, Russian Gnessin Academy of Music 121069, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Povarskaya str., 30-36 anastasiamironova.98@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The resettlement of Cossacks at the end of the XVIII century to the Kuban lands opened up new performing possibilities of the Kuban Cossack folk song. These cultural zones of local singing traditions filled their origins with the introduced folk singing features of the Black Sea and linear original sources. The preservation of a large number of folklore song documents today makes it possible to embody them in an updated range key, thanks to vocal and arranging solutions. At the same time, the research is based on the analysis of the music collections of A. D. Bigdai ^[1], G. M. Kontsevich ^[2], V. G. Zakharchenko ^[3], which are multifaceted objects of study due to the volume of material on musicological concepts, theatrical and song canons, vocal and performing fundamentals.

Modern musicologists, folklorists, choir directors, singers, exploring folklore sources, introduce new forms of traditional performance style in terms of conveying traditions, melodies, and texts to the modern audience. The scientific issues of structuring song documents and their integration into the dominant features of folk singing art are revealed in the works of S. A. Sabrekova ^[1], I. A. Albanov ^[2], I. I. Silantieva ^[3], A.V. Pchelintseva ^[4]. When analyzing the song heritage, "highlighted signs of qualitative characteristics" appear ^{[5, p.74]}. A significant factor in introducing an innovative reading of a musical document is its versatility in assessing the performing accent features of the soloist's personality ^[6]. An example is the analysis of the song material of collections using the following tools:

1. Execution from the perspective of taking into account the genre of the source, its time frame of creation for male or female interpretation.

2. Mechanisms of translation according to the parameters of variable possibilities by a specific musical language.

3. Personal performance style, including sound formation, intonation, expressiveness.

The key to understanding folklore musical performance evidence can be put forward a phenomenological approach to preserved primary sources according to genre specification.

Table 1. – Genre and performance component of music collections by A. D. Bigdai, G. M. Kontsevich, V. G. Zakharchenko

Soloists, leaders of folk Cossack collectives carefully study songs of Kuban performance of encompassing genres, transforming them with diverse stylistic foundations for artistically directed presentation with deep elements in modern broadcasting ^[7]. It is natural that performance is a constantly changing process, depending on the transformation into historical, cultural conformational states ^[8].

In the present, the broadcast of an authentic song sheet music source, recorded by folklorists and processed by singers with vocal and arranging solutions, is determined by the original improvisational reading. The reading intended by folklorists during recording is indicated, for example, "moderately", "marching", "calmly", "unhurriedly" and is embodied by the performer. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. The scheme of transmission of a folklore document

A comprehensive analysis gives a new reading to the song samples. This schematicity was determined by the respondents at the beginning of the recording of musical material by collectors. The small collection "Songs of the village of Kavkazskaya, recorded by Anastasia Ivanovna Sidorova" includes songs of the linear Cossacks recorded by V. G. Zakharchenko ^[9]. Such historical songs as "At dawn it was, brothers, at dawn", "How the thunder struck from the cloud", "It was good for us at the campaign", "We, the Kuban people, well done, nice guys", "The evening is quiet, bad weather", "The Moscow fire was noisy, burning". Military-household vocal samples – "The snows turned white, the whites turned white", "Fortune, my fortunina", "The dawn began to study", "Quiet waters from the Danube and wash the banks", "What are you thinking about, a serviceman", "There is no outgrowth from a dry oak", "There were falcons flying to the side"". A significant layer (13 songs), lyrical compositions, for example, "The sun has disappeared behind the mountain", "Because the birds are sad", "Walk, girl, while Volushka is given", "Everything will rush over time". Calendar songs – "The Virgin Mary washed the robe", "Generous Evening, good evening". Comic and dancing, "How will I go to my father in the meadow", "How the snowballs fell and on the steep banks", "The other side tortured youth" ^[9].

The "Story of A. I. Sidorova about the wedding ceremony of the village of Kavkazskaya and the songs performed at the same time" ^{[9, p. 131]} stands out separately. The songs reflect the wedding complex in all its depth, where vocal samples with "talking" names are recorded. At first, the girl is free, "Alexeyushka walks at will", then there are "Pimps", where "Yes, oh, Claudine father / yes, dear, yes he drank, yes, oh, Claudius". Then the "Parties" take place, in them "From week to week of Godin", "And my will passed, rolled". The "wedding day" is marked by a certain ritual of actions:

Oh, the sun has gone down for the mists / the clear has gone down for the mists

Oh, yes, the child Klavdyushka is sitting on the thoughts / Vladimirovna is sitting on the thoughts

Oh, she's thinking. / She's thinking big

Oh, yes, my mammy / yes, the white belle fell on the braid.

When the bride's relatives were following the groom, they sang: Oh, bird cherry, my bird cherry / Bird cherry-soul, scarlet flower/ He's aley, aley, aley / aley, chipurets. The groom and his relatives "brought out" a lyrical narrative: "Yes, there is a green buckthorn on the mountain / All the oak trees are my green / Yes, there is no one to chop down the wood / Yes, there is no one to praise the green / Yes, our Alexeyushka is not at home / Our Alexeyushka went to the wine city / Took the gold rings to sell / There are red girls on the table / If you want to cheat, don't cheat, I won't sell / Lucky, oh, I'll give it to Klavdyushka for free." The bride's relatives demand a ransom from the groom: "Oh, the boyars' yard is full / oh, the new canopy has fallen down." Next, they give a ransom to the bride's relatives and after the "friend" buys the table, buys the bride's braid, go to church to get married. At the wedding itself, songs are sung praising the matchmaker "Svashenka has arrived", "Oh, my matchmaker": "Oh, my matchmaker, my joy / you come to me, I'll tell you" ^{[9, p. 181]}.

V. G. Zakharchenko, having recorded rare songs of the linear Cossacks, notes: "Anastasia Ivanovna was an extremely talented master of improvisation" ^{[9, p. 6]}. The introductory article "Song wealth", the collection "Songs of the Village of Kavkazskaya", by V. G. Zakharchenko, is dedicated to folk improvisators, has a deep scientific significance. Let's outline the main points of the folklorist's research:

– Improvisation of a folk performer is a "type of musical thinking", the folklorist notes "amazing mastery of performance", "deeply feeling and understanding the song".

– The singer from the people is himself a good improviser performer "who creates it momentarily", "a truly folk master", "a talented improviser master".

– Observance of the traditional features of the area is necessarily reflected in the "artistic expression" of the translator, he is "the creator and keeper himself."

– "Improvising a song is an ever-changing process." From V. G. Zakharchenko's communication with the informant A. I. Sidorova: "Sometimes the changes concerned two or three notes, and sometimes each verse became a new and new version" ^{[9, p. 10]}. It follows from this that a competently developed musical, artistic, poetic, spiritual song hypostasis has been dynamically determined and traditionally sounded in modern performance thanks to a variety of creative arrangements.

One of the methods of arranging solutions proposed to the performer for practical implementation is the multivariance of musical and poetic samples collected by A. D. Bigdai. "Songs of the Kuban Cossacks: songs of the Black Sea Cossacks" ^[10], "Songs of the Kuban Cossacks: songs of the line Cossacks ^[11]. In the collection of the Black Sea Cossacks, the folklorist captured in the genre of historical songs the variants of the tune "Oh, on the mountain, that woman to reap", in the genre of military household and marching songs, the variants of the tune "Zasvystaly Kozachenki", "Yihav Kozak for Kuban" and the text version of this song "Oh, Yihav Kozak ta cherez bayrak" are noted. In the genre of lyrical songs, a text variant is marked in the samples: "Pyite, luda, gorilochka", "Oh, there was a pike-fish", "Batko soapy"; a variant of the tune: "Ne shchebechi, soloveiko", "Manesenky solovetsko", "Vesely kozachenko", "Oh, gorey chaitsi". In the genre of comic and dance songs of the collection of Black Sea Cossacks, there are more singing options than text options. This is due to the specifics of the genre, in which the musical basis remains unchanged. In this regard, in the section there is one text version of the song "Oh, fervor, fervor, the cap was ruined", the variants of the tune: "Pid guy, guy, pid Labedyn", "There was a man's wife", "Buv Grytsko wise", "Oh, the nobility, the nobility in whom the daughters", "Zhurylasya having got his bid." In addition to the notes to the songs, A. D. Bigdai attached to the collection a "Dictionary of local dialect words and expressions" ^{[10, p. 431]}.

The application fully reflects the dialect of the Kuban Cossacks, captured in songs for further broadcast. In the present, professional and amateur artists are popularizers of dialect-style traditional performing basics. They themselves, in turn, study the specific Kuban Cossack dialect and its features. So, in particular, the Kuban dialect includes words with the letter "y" in the broadcast songs: "yihav", "yshov", "yily"; at the end of the word a soft sign: "znosyt", "lytayut", "fix", "shumyt"; replacing the letter "i" with the letter "y": "Hrystos", "zazvonyly", "zazhurylys"; the use of a soft sign at the end of the verb: "znosyt", "litayut", "fix"; nouns and adjectives in diminutive and affectionate use: "manesenky", "amazing", "bilenky".

The performance of the songs of the linear Cossacks also requires taking into account the peculiarities of the Don dialect, reflected by A. D. Bigdai in the collection of songs, where they are sung: "merry", "far away", "green", "rosno", "on gorushka", "yasmen", "rosno", "to grieve" ^[11].

Variants of the melodies and lyrics of the song "My Valley, dolinushka" are very popular among performers and viewers today. The song belongs to the round dance genre, this correlation allows vocalists to use vocal variation techniques in performance: lengthening of the vowel sound, interpolation of the consonant sound, word breaks, which in the round dance allows you to restore breathing. The performers are "indicated" the tempo of the round dance song, "mobile".

The main idea of the song is for the girls to meet young people: "The valley is wide / the expanse is far away / the fog is spreading / the dawn is breaking / the sun rolled out onto a green meadow / as the girls walked on this meadow / well done beckoned / with you, darling, it's more fun to be with you." See Figure 2.

Figure 2. Valley, dolinushka (A variant of the melody and text). A fragment.

The next version of the song is performed "slowly", here: "the grass grew-rushitsa", "the white fog spreads", "the dawn of ala is engaged", "the girls are red". See Figure 3.

Figure 3. Valley, dolinushka (A variant of the melody and text). A fragment.

The lyricism appears in the text version, since not everyone could find a mate: "the cuckoo is cuckooing / the girl is grieving." As a kind of continuation of girlish sadness, we consider songs that tell about the female share: "Why are you crying, girl", "I don't see anything nice anywhere", "You're leaving, my dear", "Oh, let go, for God's sake".

The variant of the melody and lyrics of the song "How the Peacock flew" continues this theme by constantly varying the melody and text. See Figure 4.

Figure 4. How the peacock flew (A variant of the melody and text). A fragment.

In the work, the performer "lives" the drama of the daughter-in-law and her young husband, vocally and deeply interpreting: "How the peacock flew through three fields / The peacock dropped a feather in jail." The speech selection of the key words of the song is clear: "I feel sorry for the fellow", "my head rolled" ^[11]. Today, performers bring a strong sound delivery, a dramatic temperament, the repetition of two lines enhances the emotionality of the performing reading of the song. Lyrical songs occupy a worthy place in the repertoire of professional and amateur groups, find a response from the audience: "The sun is new", "Kalyna, malyna, what are you doing?", "Oh, Katenka fed the land of vikonts", "Lytila soroka", "Lytila zozulya", "Ne shchebechi, soloveiko" ^[12].

Table 2. – Interpretation of the song by vocal arrangements

Kuban Cossack singing techniques precisely follow genre categories and are methodically worked out. Schematically, this reading stands out:

– the scientific and theoretical basis of the traditional features of performance: active articulation, singing, similar to colloquial speech, dialect singing.

– the metaphorical nature of the song component, the specifics of performance by genre are taken into account.

– individual singing characteristics of the soloist: singing range, timbre, voice power.

Today, professional and amateur artists bring their own interpretation of Kuban Cossack folk songs, in particular, spiritual works, the main confessional foundations of the Kuban Cossacks. Theatrical and vocal – arranging solutions recreate such musical documents as: "Oh, You, God of soap", "Oh, our God, God of soap", "Oh, siv Khrystos that evening", "Shchedryk-vedryk" ^[13]. The technique of folk Cossack singing is being introduced in children's schools of folk art, and the practice is honed at competitions and festivals where folk songs are played, for example: "Because of kamyanoi Mountain", "Oh, you are my mountains", "Woven mugs", "Like our hundred", "Axis bach, yaka ya" ^[14]. Professional groups, including, thanks to unique soloists, popularize not only widely known, but also poorly performed sources. The historical song "Let's remember, brothers, this is the time"; The military "Oh, let's remember, brothers, we are Kuban"; The marching "Oh, on the mountain the coward's descent"; The drawling "Gay, bulls, what are you doing"; The lyrical "Star, I'm sorry, it's time for me to sleep"; The comic "Meadow I'm going; Wedding "In the Kuban, in the village" ^[15].

In the present, not only the study and introduction of songs from already well-known collections collected by folklorists takes place, but new information is also actively recorded. The author of the study regularly records traditional sources from respondents of the Novokubansky district, Krasnodar Territory. In particular, the song recorded by informants, amateur artists of the Kubanochka ensemble, the village of Prochnokopskaya, "Not one track in the field" stands out. The vocal source is distinguished by the performing melodiousness of the linear Cossacks: "Oh, there is a path in the field / Oh, the path has fallen / Oh, the path has overgrown / Oh, bitter aspen" ^[16]. The song "Don't make noise Urup river" was recorded from the folk stage group "Kalinushka" of the village of Rodnikovsky, Novokubansky district. The vocal work of the lyrical genre is performed without musical accompaniment, praises the love of a Cossack girl for a young Cossack: "Don't make a noise Urup-the river in the wind is sedge / I fell in love with a boy, slender, tall" ^[17].

Thus, the active work of folklorists, ethnographers, musicologists, artistic directors, soloists of collectives on various research articles, including vocal arrangements, the Kuban Cossack song continues to live and broadcast from the stage. Summarizing the present study, we emphasize. Folklore musical documents of A.D.Bigdai, G.M.Kontsevich, V.G.Zakharchenko, new recorded song sources, are continuously studied according to genre elements in male and female broadcasting, modified by vocal and arranging solutions, actively interpreted for popularization to the modern listener.

^[1] Thanks to the associate efforts of V. G. Zakharchenko, musicologists, heads of choral groups, soloists, readers got acquainted with the "Songs of the Black Sea Cossacks" (I vol., 1992), with the "Songs of the Line Cossacks" (II vol., 1995), A. D. Bigdai – folklorist, composer, popularizer of the Cossack folk song.

^[2] V. G. Zakharchenko made efforts to release "Folk songs of the Cossacks: from the repertoire of the Kuban Military Singing Choir" (2001), G. M. Kontsevich – folklorist, composer, regent of the Military Singing Choir (1892-1906).

^[3] V. G. Zakharchenko – folklorist, composer, artistic director of the Kuban Cossack Choir (1974–present).