Music and Us: Our New Playlist

    For our last blog I'm going to introduce some folk music from these two regions; the Nordic music of northern Europe and the indigenous music of the Artic and subarctic regions spanning from north-eastern Russia, across northernmost North America and into Greenland (I will use the term Inuit to refer to these groups of people, though they go by many other names across the region.)

    Scandinavia is home to Nordic folk music, one of my very favorite genres. I am going to talk about a very specific type of Nordic folk tradition called kulning, or herding calls. The practice developed mainly in Sweden, but also in parts of Norway and Finland. Kulning is similar to yodeling, it is a type of singing used to call herds of cows and other grazers home from the fields and mountains. Kulning is usually done without accompaniment and is high-pitched with traditional, melancholic, Nordic-style ornamentation. The practice was almost exclusively performed by women. I've included two samples, one includes a video component so one can see the tradition in it's natural setting.

Helle Thun

 

Jonna Jinton

    For modern music of this region, I chose a band I had the privilege of seeing live in concert recently, though it is often said of this group, "they don't give concerts, they hold rituals."  The experimental-folk, pagancore band is comprised of members from Denmark, Germany, and Norway, and they create original songs using a diverse array of very old techniques and instruments, aided by modern technology. Many of their songs last ten minutes or more, so I have chosen a shorter live performance to keep your attention, but the screen does not do this group justice, and I cannot recommend seeing them in person enough. This is Heilung with one of their original songs, Anoana.

    Before the colonization of North America by Europeans, music in Inuit culture was reserved mostly for spiritual ceremonies. There was not a word for music as most think of it in the native tongue, it was included in the word designated for all the sounds of nature and life. One kind of music unique to the Inuit is referred to as Inuit throat-singing. This type of singing developed as a form of entertainment for girls and women, and as part of a competitive game. One participant leads, rapidly firing off various sounds inspired by animals and nature, while the other imitates, only half a second behind, until one of them messes up or starts laughing. 

    Music of this region has changed drastically from exposure to outside influence. Here is a group that brings Inuit throat singing into modern pop culture. Like their indigenous neighbors to the south which we studied in class, Inuit music is very percussion-based, and this group carries that aspect of the music forward. Their blend of traditional throat singing with the addition of a live DJ and electronic dance music has proved to be an award-winning combination. This is Anirniq by Silla + Rise.

Both of these artists are great examples of centuries-old traditions, specifically vocal traditions carried by women, remaining in modern music. 

Music & Rituals

    For my ritual I have decided to speak about something a little lesser known than weddings, graduations, and funerals, although I would imagine at least one or two other students in this class who are from the southeast US have experienced it at some time in their lives. In the Baptist church and in other (mainly protestant) denominations, at the end of most services there is a ritual called the altar call. The altar call practice has been around since the first Great Awakening, but became popularized under the preaching of Charles Finney and the term "altar call" was not coined and widely used until the 1800's. The altar call consists of a designated period of time at the end of service for individuals in the congregation to approach the altar, convert to Christianity, and possibly join the church. Today, the Reverend typically promotes a level of anonymity by encouraging the congregation to keep their heads bowed and eyes closed in prayer except for those who choose to come forward. They may also invite individuals who are under any sort of conviction to raise their hand from their seat to simply request that the Reverend privately pray for them. When the practice first emerged, it was largely debated among Reverends as too high pressure, and apt to lead to a great number of false conversions. The altar call faced a great deal of scrutiny in it's early days, but now most church-going protestants who disagree simply steer clear of churches who uphold the custom. When I was in my early teens my own family became somewhat divided over the necessity of altar calls, excited testimonies, and shouting in praise (all of which have a tendency to happen in the same churches) and we had a bit of a mini-schism. 

    I, being in truth too young to understand the controversy, just wanted to go to church because I was homeschooled and it was my only social outlet. So when my family finally stopped attending, I found another church closer to home that I could get a ride to and continued. This church was much smaller than I was used to and only had one group of musicians who accompanied the services, and I joined it as a vocalist. As well as leading the congregation in hymns each Sunday morning, it was our job to perform the background music for communions, weddings, funerals, and altar calls. During an altar call, singing is usually kept to a minimum in order not to drown out the Reverend and the hymns are played instrumentally for most of the ritual, but the messages of the distinguished and beloved hymns are not lost on the congregation.

Here are two traditional altar call hymns, you may recognize one of them even if you were not raised in a church of any kind. The fact that Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior (Do Not Pass Me By) is one of the most commonly used hymns for this ritual, and was chosen for the scene of the sinking of the Titanic in the 1997 blockbuster film, is no coincidence, it also happens to be one of my favorite hymns.

    I continued to be a part of the church and this practice until my late teens when I began to understand controversy, and I left mine due to one that had little to do with altar calls. I recently got to experience one though. My paternal grandmother passed away a few weeks ago and being the devout Baptist she was, she requested the Reverend run her funeral service like a traditional sermon, complete with an altar call at the end. We used her favorite hymn as the service theme and the altar call song, this is Come and Dine.