Wedding feast in the Moldavian principality in the XVII century – the beginning of XIX century

Feasts were part of the daily life of the inhabitants of the Moldavian principality. The meals organized on the occasion of certain events, accompanied the most important stages of the life cycle, including marriage. The purpose of this article is to present a wedding feast in Moldova in the XVII century – the beginning of the XIX century, based on available sources, which are not rich in the description of the wedding feast ceremonial. We will notice, that the Romanian national traditions and customs were respected, regardless of the social category; the difference consisting in the amounts allocated for the organization of the festive meal, for entertainment, gifts etc. The wedding feasts organized at the Principality Court or at the boyar courts, unlike those held in the families of other categories of inhabitants, were distinguished by luxury and abundance of products, by the quantity and diversity of food and drinks. The variety of dishes, their number and the splendor of the whole feast depended on the economic and financial situation of the families involved. In elite families, the feast lasted several days in a row, in ordinary families – one day. In the families of the elites, in order to entertain the present audience, various amusing activities were organized, while in ordinary families the activities were simpler – fiddle music was played, traditional hora was danced, etc

Discovering Maine’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

This chapter reviews the historic and ongoing research of the state of Maine's intangible cultural heritage and shows how this work addresses the need for conservation, advocacy, education, and stewardship of this heritage. Maine is especially rich in intangible cultural heritage including the knowledge involved in crafting fine Native American basketry, boat building, fiddle music and dance, knowledge of the natural world among fishermen, woodsmen, millworkers, and farmers, folk singing, storytelling and much more. Cultural rights and ownership, the role of community scholars, and the impact of tourism is considered. The chapter concludes by suggesting that culturally-sensitive and engaged research has strengthened our understanding of how the ecosystem is essential to human life and culture.

Show me a strathspey: taking steps to digitize tune collections

Purpose The present paper describes an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) research project into Scottish fiddle music and the important considerations of music digitization, access and discovery in designing the website that will be one of the project’s enduring outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a general review of existing online indices to music repertoires and some of the general problems associated with selecting metadata and indexing such material and is a survey of the various recent and contemporary projects into the digital encoding of musical notation for online use. Findings The questions addressed during the design of the Bass Culture project database serve to highlight the importance of cooperation between musicologists, information specialists and computer scientists, and the benefits of having researchers with strengths in more than one of these disciplines. The Music Encoding Initiative proves an effective means of providing digital access to the Scottish fiddle tune repertoire. Originality/value The digital encoding of music notation is still comparatively cutting-edge; the Bass Culture project is thus a useful exemplar for interdisciplinary collaboration between musicologists, information specialists and computer scientists, and it addresses issues which are likely to be applicable to future projects of this nature.

Nationalist Composers and Fiddle Music: A Reflection of Removal from Traditional Culture, with Specific Attention to Copland and Grieg

The late Romantic period of classical music was characterized by a new enthusiasm for the inclusion of folk music in classical composition. Edvard Grieg and Aaron Copeland are two composers who characterize this period, and both used traditional fiddle tunes from their respective countries in their Nationalist compositions. This essay explores the extent to which folk traditions were honored and exploited in each composer’s music. The author concludes that while Grieg was more successful in authentically portraying the fiddle music of his nation, Copeland’s comparable work became a much more popular Nationalist symbol.