ABSTRACT
In tracing the history of folk-musical scholarship in various countries of Europe in the last chapter, some of the national characteristics were noted in passing, such as the rhythmic features of Hungarian tunes, and some, such as the phrase structure of southern Slavonic tunes, were actually illustrated. These features of interval, mode, phrase-length, form and behaviour produce so rich a variety of musical effect and national flavour that it may be worth setting them out on a panorama of Europe. It is not, it could not be, claimed that these samples provide formulae of scientific or statistical validity for every nation in Europe. Not every nation will be represented in this brief concourse and every nation has plenty of tunes that do not show these features, but if using the comparative method one can account in musical terms for the impression one gets of national differences at an international festival it is worth a little technical analysis, whether or not it casts any psychological light on differences of national temperament. Such national differences would afford but a risky guide to political behaviour but they add riches to European life, for, as someone once said, it is better for all to be different and at amity than all alike and at enmity. And cosmopolitanism tends to be colourless. Another though similar (and equally superficial) examination of folk instruments may lead to the opposite conclusion that all Europe is one if it is compared with Africa with its drums, Asia with its partiality for strings and Indonesia with its gamelan. So let us take a quick survey of tunes and instruments. I scratched the surface of this anthropological approach to folk-song in a former book 1 and shall take the liberty of quoting some of the examples again and adding a few new ones.
