ABSTRACT
Tomáš Slavický deals in his paper with the possible ways of searching for the melodies to which Czech broadside ballads might be sung. He begins by addressing the available musical sources of the time (e.g., printed hymn books, manuscripts, and even oral tradition). Importantly, he also addresses the problem of textual and melodic variability. Turning first to extant documented tunes, Slavický declares that the initial step of research into any original melody requires searching out recorded evidence of notated sources of the period in which the broadside ballad was composed. This research should be based not only on extant period-specific printings, but also on tracks of collective memory.
