Measure for measure for measure...

[Bob Wiener <wiener...>]

Thanks to Josh and Judith for sharing their thoughts.

Judith's following observation is one of the ideas that caught my eye.  Could 
both of you, and other list members as well, elaborate?  I am particularly 
interested in the possibility that music in general, and transmitted folk music 
in particular, may be affected not only by artistic choices in composition, but 
by performance choices necessitated by limitations of the performer (and then 
cultivated).  (Perhaps analogous to making lemonade out of lemons.)  Two 
possible examples are Django Reinhardt's jazz guitar fingerings and the 
ubiquitous folk singer's break (am I right Robert?).  (I believe that it is 
also said that the meringue was based on the movements of a limping dancer.)

Is the style of performance of an early performer more likely to be followed if 
the performer is the composer?  We're probably more likely to know the answers 
to these questions for more recent composer/performers for whom we have 
recordings, but I'd be fascinated by older examples.

(BTW, I imagine that there would be numerous examples of performer strengths, 
such as range (e.g., vocal or trumpet) being highlighted and exploited.)

Bob



> ...the problem which occasionally arises in the Sephardic songs is that even 
> an isometric meter can be broken when the text in a verse demands this or the 
> performer decides to get fancy and stretch out a note or two.  (Josh)

This IS a problem, but for me even more problematic is figuring out when the 
performer is "getting fancy", i.e. deliberately, or when s/he is being 
forgetful or running out of breath etc, as is often the case with older people 
whose memory, teeth, hearing and respiratory capacity are not what they were, 
or simply people who were never considered or considered themselves 
particularly good singers until someone (usually an ethnomusicologist or 
Hispanist) asked them to record the songs for archival/analytic posterity.  
(Judith)