EXAMPLE OF POLYPHONIC MUSIC FREE

Although transcribed examples of choral singing from many regions are provided, the book is aimed at a wider circle of readers interested in the problems of human evolution. Some of the topics discussed in detail are: the origin of rhythm as the main element of hominid defense strategy origin of the human ability to ask questions as the central element of human intelligence the prevalence of stuttering and dyslexia in different regions of the world and correlation with the distribution of choral singing the importance of Indo-European migrations in shaping the musical tapestry of the European continent the problem of polyphony in ancient Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica overtone singing of the Central Asian peoples elements of ancient European polyphony in the musical language of the Beatles vocal polyphony of the Ainus from North Japan, the Georgians from the Caucasian mountains, the Nuristanians from Afghanistan, the Tuaregs from North Africa, pearl-divers from the Persian Gulf, the Lithuanians from the Baltic, the Polynesians from the Pacific and Native Americans. The central theme of the book – the origins of human choral singing – is discussed in the wide interdisciplinary context of the evolution of human intelligence, language and speech.

EXAMPLE OF POLYPHONIC MUSIC FREE

Why do we feel such an urge to join the rhythmic music with rhythmic movements of our body, finger clicking and stomping? Why are the audiences at the classical music concerts sitting in a total silence and cannot even clap between the parts of the symphony, whereas at rock music concerts audiences are free to clap, sing and shout even during the performance? Why do we ask so many questions to small babies and pets, who can not answer them? Why are most of European traditional polyphonic traditions located among mountain ranges? These and many more questions are asked (sometimes for the first time) and fresh and often unexpected answers are given. A group of Azeri women migrated from Karabakh sang in a specific polyphonic mode taking example from the Azerbaijani Mugham 'court' music. In the second example, I present one of my recordings from 1999. Here, similarly to other Turkish Sufi communities, polyphony can be observed only in the bağlama (long-necked lute) accompaniment. Because dedes usually serve on a larger area and are in connection with and learn from each other, the religious repertoire of the Tahtaji communities living far from each other is very similar. The music of the religious zikr ceremony of the Turkish Sufi Tahtaji communities is played by the dede (father) or by the zakir (music specialist). In my paper, I will show a few examples of this phenomenon based on my 25-years Asian research. In some cases, however, art music affects the folk trad ition and we may discover traces of polyphony. However, one can find a common feature: their melodic world does not favor multipart music. The folk music of the Turkic peoples is quite varied, and the relationship between their music is basically different as compared to the relationship between their languages.

Example of polyphonic music