Klang och tonalitet i Aslak Brekkes insjungning av Mælefjøllvisa – “der som før va grøne vòllar som sto gras og blomar på”

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to challenge habitually used concepts in regard to tonality and timbre in unaccompanied traditional solo singing. The article explores ways of interpreting tonal and timbral structures in Aslak Brekke’s recording of Mælefjøllvisa, recorded in 1937, without presupposing any stipulated intonation pattern. The recording is analysed in the descriptive Multi-modal Model for intonation analysis (Jonzon, 2023), according to which the experienced tone place is completely disentangled from measured pitch. With an analytical focus on the phrase instead of the notes, the results suggest that Brekke’s production of tonal patterns is tightly connected to his breathing and muscle work, and to the pronunciation of the very words that form the song he is singing. The descriptive approach allowed for mapping how Brekke’s production of tonality seemingly emerged during his performance, in tonal structures which are not arbitrary, but best described as dynamic and tightly related to timbre. This present contribution does thereby, on a fundamental level, differ from the majority of earlier research into traditional singing, far beyond Scandinavia. The quote in the title can be translated into “where there once were green hills on which grass and flowers grew.” It illustrates what the present article argues, namely that there is a rich source of aesthetic inspiration in other approaches to vocal tonality than those which are common in today’s canonised understandings.