The Morphology of 'Polish Rhythms' in Oskar Kolberg’s 'Mazowsze Polne', in the Light of Research Using Music Information Retrieval

Ewa Dahlig-Turek

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the results of research into ‘Polish rhythms’, that is, triple-time ‘descending’ rhythms, in traditional music from volumes 24 and 25 (Mazowsze Polne [‘Field’ Mazovia]) of Oskar Kolberg’s Dzieła Wszystkie (Complete works). Research into part of that material, confined to mazurka rhythms, with up to four or five syllables per measure, was carried out in 1959–60 by Jan Stęszewski (cf. ‘Morfologia rytmów mazurkowych na Mazowszu Polnym. Studium analityczne’ [The morphology of mazurka rhythms in ‘field’ Mazovia: an analytic study], part I Muzyka 4/4 (1959), pp. 147–159; part II Muzyka 5/2 (1960), pp. 29–53). That excellent study, based on analysis of song material, presents a comprehensive overview of mazurka rhythms in relation to the texts’ metrical structure. However, the limitations of manual data processing meant that the research was only applicable to that particular set of data; a different subject would require preparing the material from scratch.

Modern methods of analysing and processing collections using digital technology (Music Information Retrieval) open up broad perspectives for working on large repositories of material. Hence the second aim of this paper is to give representative examples of the use of the WebEsAC application, designed for working with the EsAC (Essener Assoziativ Code) in which all the works contained in Kolberg’s regional monographs have been transcribed (a project financed by the grant ‘Preparing music records from Oskar Kolberg’s Collected Works in Music Information Retrieval mode and making them available for scientific research’, no. 0238/NPRH4/H1a/83/2015). WebEsAC-based statistics of ‘Polish rhythms’ in Kolberg’s Mazowsze Polne complement the picture of triple-time rhythms in that region presented by Jan Stęszewski, and at the same time foreshadow future research, which, if applied to Kolberg’s entire collection, will make it possible to map the rhythmic properties of Polish musical folklore.

Thanks to the possibility of filtering and searching through the musical material, the WebEsAC app may prove to be a valuable tool not only for ethnomusicologists, but also for music historians studying references to traditional music in the output of selected composers.