SUMMARIES
“The Sound of Eastern Sadness…”: Arab Themes in Zionist Music and Dance in Palestine before 1948
Agnieszka Jeż
In this article, I address the boundaries of identity in Zionist music and dance in Isreal and the diaspora in the first half of the 20th century. As a tool for shaping cultural and national identification meant to unify a diverse society, the repertoire began to include Arabic themes, most often as contrafacta of songs, inspirations and motivic borrowings, or choreographic arrangements. These were usually integrated with the musical material or the structure of the dance, and their new users were aware of the origin of these elements. This process took place in two ways: as a result of local interactions or as part of a pre-planned process of searching for an idiom of „new Jewish music” and its hypothetical sources in the music of the Orient. Repertoire transformations were accompanied by political events, which reflected ethnic tensions between Jews and Arabs. In this repertoire, Zionists alternately regarded the Palestinian Arab population as adversaries, as irrelevant, or as possible neighbors. The diversity of these attitudes, largely dependent on the faction that a given stream of Zionism represented on the broad ideological spectrum, was reflected in the repertoire and its function, as well as in narratives of cultural identity. In this article, I will discuss these attitudes using examples of songs and dances that draw motifs from local, Palestinian culture, especially in those situations where music and dance crosses cultural boundaries.
Keywords: Zionism, Arabic Music, Palestine, debka, Israeli Dance.
Relations between Lithuanian and Polish Folk Songs: An Overview
Rimantas Sliužinskas
Studying the history of Lithuanian and Polish folk music (and Baltic and Slavic music more broadly) is perhaps the most challenging part of understanding how the folk melodies of our countries are connected to those of other historically related and intertwined nations and cultures. To reveal these connections in a variety of ways, much more work remains to be done by (I hope) a new generation of Lithuanian and Polish ethnomusicologists. I believe that they will be increasingly closely linked by joint research projects and will be interested in more active and consistent cooperation within the common space of the European Union, making for a more optimal exchange of their research results. This is a necessary condition for comprehensive comparative ethnomusicological research, with all necessary prerequisites already in place to fully realize its scientific potential.
The connections between Lithuanian and Polish folk songs are noticeable in many ways including analogous threads of song lyrics, the lyrics themselves, melo-rhythmic arrangements of melodies, or even identical melodies. There are still many undiscovered elements here that we – Lithuanian and Polish ethnomusicologists – should discover together. In this article, several identical melodies of Lithuanian and Polish folk songs are presented, together with their research perspectives. Developing a joint project in Poland for the systematic comparative study of our songs would provide an excellent opportunity to unite the expertise of Lithuanian and Polish ethnomusicologists.
Keywords: ethnomusicology, comparative musicology, Polish-Lithuanian folk music relations, music traditions on cultural borderlands.
From Theorist to Practicioner – on Breaking Racial Taboos and Methodological Barriers in Western Research on Gamelan
Dawid Martin
The article explores the evolution of Western ethnomusicological approaches to Indonesian gamelan, focusing on the shift from purely theoretical study to active musical practice (‘bi-musicality’). It traces this methodological transformation through the lives and work of three pioneering figures: Adriaan Holle (1832–1879), a Dutch tea planter who joined a Sundanese gamelan, transcribing and sharing repertoire; Walter Spies (1895–1942), a German artist in Java and Bali who studied and performed gamelan with court musicians and collaborated in documentation and arrangement; and Bernard IJzerdraat (1926–1986), Kunst’s student who founded Babar Lajar, the first European gamelan ensemble that influenced Mantle Hood’s formalization of bi-musicality at UCLA.
Their careers illustrate how crossing from theory into practice not only advanced ethnomusicological method but also transformed the perception of the ‘Other’ from a passive subject of study to an acknowledged artistic authority and collaborator. This shift, accelerated by post-war decolonization, laid the groundwork for contemporary intercultural dialogue in ethnomusicology.
Keywords: bi-musicality, gamelan practice, ethnomusicological research, Indonesia, colonialism.
The Heligonka Tradition in Małopolska and Its Revival at the Turn of the 21st Century
Tomasz Nowak, Michał Pastuch
This article discusses the history, specificity, and process of revival of the heligonka tradition in Małopolska. The heligonka – a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven, free reed aerophone type – gained popularity in the region in the late 19th century, primarily due to its simple construction, portability, and powerful sound, which perfectly suited the needs of rural music. After a period of prosperity in the first half of the 20th century, the instrument was almost completely replaced by the accordion. However, in the last decades of the 20th century, its gradual revival took place, supported by ethnomusicological circles and cultural activists. A key figure in this process was Aleksandra Szurmiak-Bogucka, whose work led, among other things, to the heligonka’s presence at prestigious festivals and the establishment of the first schools.
The authors analyze the heligonka’s revival in the context of the six-stage model for the revitalization of traditional music (Bithell and Hill, 2014), pointing out both successes and potential threats. The text is based on years of field research and interviews with musicians.
Keywords: heligonka, revival, musical tradition, ethnomusicologist, engaged ethnomusicology
Dance Heritage of Certain Minorities in Kraków and Lesser Poland in Terms of State, Ethnic, and Cultural Borders
Krzysztof Hliniak
Dance is one of the most important forms of human expression and seems particularly suited to transcending boundaries between people, ethnic groups, and nations. It is also an important means of defining one’s own identity and an element thereof.
The issue of boundaries in the context of the dance heritage of national or ethnic minorities is visible, among other things: in situations where a minority distinguishes itself from others through dance and thus defines its own territorial scope; when defining what choreotechnics and dance stylistics belong or do not belong to its cultural heritage; and in self-perceptions and those of the majority society regarding the minority and its dance heritage.
In the interviews summarized in this article, respondents highlighted local distinctiveness performance techniques and stylistics that were meant to demarcate their group from others. They expressed the need to define the boundaries of their own dance heritage to identify differences from the dance practices of other groups. They were critical of attempts to cross or blur the boundaries of what they considered acceptable in their own dance heritage. Most respondents were aware that their group’s heritage had developed within a specific cultural context and was subject to various influences, including those from their immediate neighbors.
The transcendence of boundaries regarding how minorities think about themselves and the majority society about minorities, as advocated by many respondents, seems particularly important in the context of researching and preserving of their dance heritage for the future, the national and social changes of recent years, and the rise in xenophobic sentiments facing European societies.
Keywords: intangible cultural heritage, Kraków, national and ethnic minorities, dance.
Musical traditions as a Motive for Cultural Activities: The Example of Polish Migrants from Bosnia
Piotr Dahlig
The article is a contribution to the topics: music and migration or cultural identity of minority groups. It is based on field research between 1987 and 1993 among Poles who came from Bosnia to Lower Silesia in 1946–1947. Their grandparents were encouraged by Austrian authorities to settle down in Bukovina and Bosnia at the turn the 20th century. After World War II, resettlement of about 17,000 Bosnian-Poles took place on according to a Yugoslav-Polish agreement. Such double migration reavles how Balkan traditions were absorbed by Poles in the first decades of the 20th century, and have been mixed with the musical heritage of southern and eastern Polish lands. In Bosnia, Polish inhabitants adopted chain dances, such as kolo and began to play plucked instruments such as tamburitza, bugaria (guitar), and berda (contrabass). However, they also maintained their own set of instruments: the 1st and 2nd fiddle (typical of Lesser Poland), bowed bass, and laced drum. If such Polish instrumental ensembles played for Serbs, they used the tamburitza instead of fiddle. A vocal repertoire of Bosnian Poles remains bilingual up till now. They perform the Balkan repertoire in multiple parts, the Polish one in unison. At contemporary stage performances, they regularly present a song in Bosnian (Serbo-Croatian) language and demonstrate their unique competence in dancing kolo. They continue both the stylized manner of presenting folk tradition (i.e. the ensemble ‘Jutrzenka’ which celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding in 2023) and local activities and festivals organized by culture centers with participation by several village groups always under the rubric of Balkan roots and connections.
Keywords: music and migration, Bosnian Poles, kolo, tamburica, ethnic minorities, repatriation.
Radio AI: An Ethnomusicological Study of OFF Radio Kraków’s Experiment with Artificial Intelligence
Maciej Adam Kierzkowski
This article examines the October 2024 experiment conducted by Off Radio Kraków, which introduced AI-generated radio presenters and employed algorithmic tools for producing spoken content and selecting musical repertoire. Announced as a study of human-algorithm collaboration, the project triggered an extensive public debate concerning the authenticity of mediated musical broadcasting, the ethical limits of automation, and the implications for labour conditions within the creative industries. The article reconstructs the motivations behind the project — both commercial and cognitive — together with its implementation and public reception, revealing a collision between two dominant discourses: technological enthusiasm and criticism focused on the dehumanisation of public service media and the erosion of audience trust. The analysis addresses the impact of AI on notions of authenticity, musical diversity and creative agency, situating these issues within broader ethnomusicological debates on the mediation of music, transhumanism, algorithmic homogenisation and the role of human expertise. The article also highlights methodological challenges arising from the study of musical practices co-produced by humans and algorithmic systems, emphasising the need to integrate digital ethnography and critical AI studies into the contemporary ethnomusicological toolkit.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, radio, authenticity, alogorithm, transhumanism, digital ethnography.