Toward an anthropological approach to musical empathy

This chapter proposes an anthropological approach to musical empathy, relying on Alfred Gell’s notion of agency. It is claimed that: (1) musical emotions are best approached as empathetic phenomena, as opposed to cognitive acts involving the decoding of a message; (2) it is possible to distinguish between different types of musical empathy, depending on the type of agency relationship: “empathy with the musical being,” “empathy with the artist,” “empathy with musical memory-images,” and “intersubjective musical empathy”; (3) the representation of a network of agency can reveal the role played by the performance context in the emotions attributed to music; (4) The notion of agency makes it possible to consider “personal” tunes as “distributed persons,” as opposed to signs of persons; (5) the highly ornamented de jale (“sorrowful”) tunes can be seen as “sonic agents,” or “sonic beings” arousing in the listeners feelings of attachment, rapture, and loss.

The professional ethics of the Roma musicians of Ceuaş

Chapter 1 describes how the Roma musicians of Ceuaş conceive of their professional activity. In their opinion, when they are paid to perform they should “provide a service” and must endeavor to give satisfaction to everyone present. The chapter focuses on how musicians perceive their relationship with their clients. This is based on a key prescription: “to stay in your place.” This expression means abiding by a certain moral code, as much as it implies a particular standard of behavior. Musicians should both “keep their word” and “stay calm”: they should fulfill their contractual obligations without allowing themselves to get carried away by the atmosphere of revelry. This strict professional ethics is not specific to the musicians of Ceuaş and can be observed in other Roma communities of eastern Europe.

Performing sorrow

This chapter analyzes the slow “sorrowful” (de jale) tunes that Roma often associate with crying. Three musical parameters characterize this repertoire: (1) the rhythmic and temporal structure (irregular aksak or unmeasured rhythm); (2) the slight asynchronies between the melody and the harmonic accompaniment, which creates a swinging effect; and (3) the complex elaboration of the melodic line, in particular the addition of ornaments and passing notes to create an effect that is known locally as “sweetness.” The analysis is supported by empirical measurements of timing durations, obtained by tracking the musician’s bow’s movements with motion capture techniques.

Musical emotions in the Roma community of Ceuaş

In this chapter, the three contexts of musical tears (professional service, parties in the Roma neighborhood, funerals) are compared in order to determine whether they have any characteristics in common. The analysis of their differences leads to a concentric model illustrating three different modes on which musical emotions are experienced: “making emotion,” “sharing emotion,” and “expressing emotion.” The analysis of their similarities brings out three invariants of musical emotions: an aesthetic system (sorrowful tunes), “personal” tunes, and a specific way of being (milos, i.e., compassionate, empathic). It is argued that such invariants, since they are unaffected by the performance context, should be viewed as the “focal points” or “deep structures” of the relationship between music and emotion. While this result is local in scope, it makes it possible to sketch a few cross-cultural comparisons.

Funerals and the politics of emotion

This chapter presents a detailed ethnography of the funeral rituals of the Roma of Ceuaş. It describes how a funeral ceremony unfolds and how musicians participate in it. The ethnographic description points to the instable and open-ended distinction between the “relatives” (neamuri) of the deceased and the “outsiders” (străini). These two groups interact on an essentially emotional level: the former are under pressure to express their grief to the latter, who are themselves on the lookout for these expressions of feeling. The chapter highlights the key differences between the tears of the neamuri, who cry “with full throat,” and those of the străini, who “cry inside.” The final part of the chapter presents an interpretation of the Roma funerals. Ritual actions, including wailing and playing music, seek to nudge the relationships between the living and the dead, and the neamuri and the străini, toward the positive emotional poles of piety and pity (milă) and away from the negative poles of fear and shame (laja).

Introduction

This chapter introduces the ethnographic context of this research: a small Hungarian and Roma village of central Transylvania (Romania) called Ceuaş or Csávás [h]. It describes the daily life of the Roma and their relationships with the Hungarian peasants living in the same village. The second part of the chapter discusses how the topic of musical emotions can be approached from an anthropological and ethnomusicological perspective, and what concerns it raises. The final part presents the methodological choices the author made in order to understand why the Transylvanian Roma cry with music.

Village celebrations

This chapter presents a detailed ethnography of the professional activity of the Roma musicians of Ceuaş. Two village celebrations are analyzed: a Hungarian banquet and a Roma wedding. The description focuses on the interactions between the musicians and their clients, on the repertoire played, and on the participants’ emotional experiences. It is argued that the “service” that Roma musicians provide to their customers is generally the same whether they are playing for a Gaje or Roma audience. The comparison between the two gatherings suggests that they share a similar structure, fostering increasingly affective communion between the guests. By the end of these events, musicians arouse bittersweet feelings in their audience by playing slow “table” songs.

How to make music work, how to arouse emotions

This chapter proposes some more general thoughts on the professional activity of the Roma musicians of Ceuaş. First, the following question is addressed: How do the professional relationships that form the context of musicians’ work affect their mental representation and organization of the musical repertoire? It is claimed that Roma musicians base their approach and organization of music on its potential efficacy. The more the musicians can tailor their music to their customers’ “national,” “regional,” or “personal” preferences, the more effective their action. The chapter then focuses on how musicians arouse bittersweet emotions in their clients. This is achieved through finely calibrated “personal tunes” that bring the past alive with a rush of memories and eventually make customers cry. Finally, it is argued that during the “service” there can be moments when musicians openly express their emotions. Musicians’ emotional involvement can be interpreted either as a form of freedom, depending on the circumstances, or as an extreme form of subordination to their clients.

After the “service”Time to party in ţigănie

This chapter describes the parties that take place in the Roma neighborhood of Ceuaş when professional musicians come back from the “service.” Both familial celebrations and an opportunity to rehearse, these “after-parties” arouse intense emotions in the musicians themselves. These gatherings mark a complete reversal in the musicians’ attitudes and relationships: after serving their customers and arousing their emotions, the musicians now shift their focus onto their own personal lived experiences and memories.

Other occasions when musical emotions can arise in ţigănie

This chapter presents a detailed ethnography of other situations in which musicians—either professional, semiprofessional, or amateur—, cry openly while playing music. These are smaller celebrations and spontaneous parties in the Roma neighborhood of Ceuaş. The chapter first describes a baptism, and then more intimate musical gatherings taking place at the musicians’ homes. The comparison of all these situations reveals the main factors that trigger the musicians’ emotional outbursts: a particular social context (at home with friends), alcohol, and “personal” tunes.