Country in Central Europe. From 1018 the territory of the Slovaks was part of Hungary and in 1526 it was brought, together with Bohemia and Moravia, under Habsburg rule. The administrative division into the Austrian (Cisleithan) region and the Hungarian (Transleithan) region was created after declaration of the dual monarchy in 1867. In the Hungarian region a policy of aggressive oppression of minorities (including the Slovaks) was promoted, eroding the conditions for the development of Slovak culture. After 1918 the territory of Slovakia was incorporated into the new state of Czechoslovakia and was able to build its own cultural identity. In 1993 Slovakia became an independent state.
RICHARD RYBARIČ/ĽUBOMÍR CHALUPKA (I), OSKÁR ELSCHEK (II)
The first mention of music in the territory of present-day Slovakia dates from the end of the 8th century, when the Christianization of the central European Slavs began. In 863 the Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius came to the Great Moravian Empire and laid the foundations of Slavonic liturgical chant, formed by the synthesis of Eastern (Byzantine) and Western (Latin) elements. After the incorporation of the territory of the Slovaks into Hungary in 1018 Western Gregorian chant became predominant. One of the most important monuments of Gregorian chant, equal in importance to the Nitra Gospel (11th century, with ekphonetic neumes) and the Pray Codex (late 12th century, with notation pointing to French and Italian models), is the Bratislava Missal (c1341). Like numerous liturgical manuscripts of the 15th and 16th centuries (e.g. the Spiš Gradual and Antiphoner of Juraj of Kežmarok, c1426; some four antiphoners from Bratislava and two large graduals from Košice, 15th and 16th centuries), the Bratislava Missal contains examples of indigenous liturgical music (sequences, tropes, rhymed offices etc.). Sacred songs were also sung in the vernacular. Secular music in the Middle Ages was largely practised by minstrels, the igrici who were at the same time musicians, dancers and jugglers. The earliest evidence of their existence dates from the 13th century.
Polyphony was cultivated chiefly in the larger towns such as Bratislava (also known as Pressburg and Pozsony), Kremnica, Levoča (Leutschau, Lőcse), Kežmarok, Spišské Podhradie, Bardejov and Košice, between the 15th and the 17th centuries. The repertory up to the end of the 15th century consisted of a large number of antiquated pieces (organa, conductus, polytextual motets), as in the Trnava manuscript (c1400) or in fragments from Spiš and Košice (c1460–70).
Bratislava, which became a coronation city in the 16th century, held its dominant position in the cultivation of sacred music. From St Martin's Cathedral the extensive polyphonic collection of Anna Schuman has been preserved, which contains antiphons, responses and hymns written in white mensural notation. The Franciscan library also houses a collection of 16th-century polyphony. The inventory lists from St Martin's Cathedral (1617, 1700) and from the Protestant church (1651, 1657) point to an influx of 17th-century Italian music, which came to western Slovakia via Vienna. Information on musical life of the second half of the 17th century can also be found in the inventory lists from other centres in Slovakia (e.g. from the Piaristic monasteries in Svätý Jur, Prievidza, Podolinec and churches in Pruské and Prešov).
The regions of Spiš and Šariš in eastern Slovakia provide important source materials documenting the cultivation of music in the 16th century and the 17th. The music collections from Bardejov and Levoča include motets, masses and vocal concertos by Franco-Flemish composers, Italian and German music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque and works by local composers. The major composers of polyphony in Slovakia were Johannes Ján Šimbracký (d 1657, organist in Spišské Podhradie between 1646 and 1648), whose music was influenced by Lutheran German musica poetica (e.g. that of Michael Praetorius and Schütz); Zachariáš Zarewutius (c1605–1667), organist in Bardejov, 1625–67; Samuel Marckfelner (1621–74), organist in Levoča; S.F. Capricornus (1628–65), music teacher and Kapellmeister in Bratislava from 1649 to 1657, who developed the South German and Italian stile concertato; Johann Kusser (1626–96), Capricornus's successor in Bratislava; and N.M. Pollentarius (d 1681), music director in Kremnica. Vernacular hymns, sung by the congregation in unison, played an important role in the period of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, not only in the confessional conflict but also in the development of the Slovak language and Slovak culture, including art music. Some of these hymns were transmitted orally, others in manuscript hymnbooks, such as the Ľubický spevník (Ľubica Hymnbook) and the Prešov Gradual, but most in printed collections, such as the hymnbook of J. Silván (1578), the Protestant Cithara sanctorum (1636) and the Cantus catholici (1655).
In contrast to vocal polyphony, Baroque instrumental music drew much of its material from folksong and dance. The most important collections, such as the Vietoris manuscript (c1675–9), Pestrý zborník (a tablature book from Levoča, c1675), the Eleonora Susana Lányi collection (1729), Anna Szirmay-Keczer's collection of songs and dances (1730) and two Uhrovec manuscripts (1730, 1742), contain, in addition to local and foreign dance music, a large number of arrangements of folksongs for keyboard, wind and strings as well as for ad lib groups.
This was paralleled in sacred music by the late high Baroque forms of the sacred aria and pastorella (a particular type of the central European Christmas carol) for smaller vocal and instrumental ensembles, which were also greatly indebted to folk music. Most of the principal exponents of these forms were west Slovak Franciscans. Some of them, such as Paulinus Bajan (1721–92) and Georgius Zrunek (1734–89), were musicians of merit. Their music was intended for a broad rural population. On the other hand, the music of F.X. Budinský (1676–1727), Pantaleon Roškovský (1734–89) and Gaudentius Dettelbach (1739–1818) contains strong Italian traits.
Music of the Classical era was swiftly and favourably assimilated in Slovakia. Contemporary copies and even some autographs of works by the major composers are common in Slovak libraries. Except in Bratislava and Košice, where most of the aristocracy lived, the church remained the centre of musical life; and the majority of local composers were orientated towards sacred music.
During the Classical period Bratislava, owing to its proximity to Vienna and its political and economic importance, was one of Europe's leading musical centres. Whereas previously musical patronage had been dispensed by members of the royal family, the wealthy aristocracy (notably the Esterházy, Grassalkovich, Erdödy, Apponyi and Pálffy families) and the ecclesiastical establishment, now the bourgeoisie began to take a dominant role in the spread of musical culture, through the municipal societies organizing public concerts and theatre performances. Bratislava's flourishing musical life was stimulated by the high quality of the city's music education and music journalism (notably in the Pressburger Zeitung), by distinguished local instrument makers and by a number of able composers, including Anton Zimmermann, cathedral organist and master of music to Cardinal Josef Batthyany in the mid-18th century, who composed symphonies, concertos and chamber music, among other works; Georg Druschetzky (Jiří Družecký), renowned for his music for wind instruments and his operas and other works for the theatre; the keyboard player and composer F.P. Rigler; J.M. Sperger; and F.X. Tost.
In the region of western Slovakia music was intensively cultivated in the towns (Skalica, Malacky, Trenčín, Prievidza, Pruské, Žilina), in religious centres (Trnava, Nitra, Svätý Jur) and in the residences of the nobility (Dolná Krupá, Hlohovec, Želiezovce). Many well-trained musicians and composers lived and worked in the region (Augustin Smehlík, Norbert Schreier, Alojz Schliester etc.). Musical activities of central Slovakia were particularly developed in the mining centres (Kremnica, Banská Štiavnica, Banská Bystrica); composers there included František Hrdina, Anton Hiray and Anton Aschner. The cultural tradition in the region of Spiš developed in Levoča, Kežmarok, Ľubica, Spišská Kapitula, Spišské Podhradie, Podolinec and other towns, and was influenced by the co-existence of different nationalities (including a substantial German population) and faiths. Most local compositions were backward-looking in style, adopting a Baroque rather than Classical idiom. In eastern Slovakia, where there was little bourgeois or aristocratic patronage, musical life was dominated by the church. The sacred works of several local composers, notably Ľudovít Skalník, Jozef Janig and, especially, F.X. Zomb, organist and teacher in Košice, were valued throughout Slovakia.
The development of musical nationalism in Slovakia was closely connected with the study and cultivation of folk music in other European cultures. A number of manuscripts and printed books containing folksongs and national hymns date from the 1830s and 40s. The culmination of this activity was a three-volume edition of Slovakian folksongs, Slovenské spevy (1880–1926), containing more than 2000 songs. Folksong formed the basis of the popular choruses and songs of several amateur composers (Blažej Bulla, Štefan Fajnor, Miloš Francisci, Ľudovít Izák, Jan Kadavý, Milan Lichard and Miloš Ruppeldt) and of Ľudovít Vansa, who trained professionally in Prague. The first important Slovak nationalist composer was Ján Levoslav Bella (1843–1936), who composed orchestral, chamber and sacred music as well as the opera Wieland der Schmied. Most of his compositions, however, do not realize the ideas about Slovak music expounded in his theoretical writings (1873). He succeeded in creating a synthesis of his professionalism and a Slovak nationalist spirit only in a few works of the earliest and latest (after 1920) creative periods.
Musical associations and choral societies were important disseminators of music during the 19th century. They cultivated both sacred and secular music, often in the same programme. The choral societies in the country towns of Martin, Liptovský Mikuláš and Tisovec were particularly significant for their propagation of nationalist musical ideals. Several composers, notably Ján Egry, Leopold Dusšínký, the brothers Andrej and František Žaškovský, Alexander Kapp and Oldrich Hemerka, composed church music in an international idiom which was widely performed throughout Slovakia. The church music society of St Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava, founded in 1828, had a particularly high reputation. Although the teaching of music developed mostly on a private basis, the first Slovak public music school had been opened in 1775 in Bratislava. During the 19th century some towns tried to set up municipal music schools, and in 1830 a school modelled on the conservatory in Prague was opened in Trnava.
The spirit of Slovak musical nationalism was developed in the works of Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský (1881–1958), who composed mainly church music and lyrical song cycles, and in the chamber and orchestral music of Mikuláš Moyzes (1872–1944). Viliam Figuš-Bystrý (1875–1937) was the composer of the first Slovak opera, Detvan. Frico Kafenda (1883–1963), a pianist and teacher trained in Germany, wrote mainly chamber music in a late Romantic style. Alexander Albrecht (1885–1958), a friend of Bartók and director of the church music society at St Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava, from 1921, cultivated a more progressive idiom.
The professionalization of Slovak musical culture had profound and far-reaching effects. The establishment of various musical institutions on a national basis started soon after the creation of the first Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. These included the opera ensemble of the Slovak National Theatre (1920), Hudobná a Dramatická Akadémia pre Slovensko (Music and Drama Academy in Slovakia, 1928) and the Bratislava RSO (1929), as well as the department of musicology at the Comenius University in Bratislava (1921). From the late 1920s a progressively orientated group of composers emerged, whose works often aimed at a synthesis between the tonality of traditional Slovak folksong and modern modal harmonic structures. This group included Alexander Moyzes, Eugen Suchoň, Ján Cikker, Ladislav Holoubek, Andrej Očenáš, Dezider Kardoš, Šimon Jurovský, Jozef Kresánek and Tibor Frešo.
The stylistic development of Slovak music in the second half of the 20th century was accompanied by a gradual removal of the doctrines of socialist realism enforced during the period 1948–89 when Slovakia belonged to the Soviet bloc. In the 1960s a group of avant-garde composers emerged who drew their inspiration from a broad spectrum of 20th-century European music, especially from the Second Viennese School, the Darmstadt School and the Polish avant garde. This group includes Ivan Hrušovský, Roman Berger, Pavol Šimai (who emigrated to Sweden in 1968), Miro Bázlik, Juraj Pospíšil, Ilja Zeljenka, Jozef Malovec, Ivan Parík, Dušan Martinček, Ladislav Kupkovič (who emigrated to Germany in 1969), Peter Kolman (who moved to Austria in 1977), Tadeáš Salva, Jozef Sixta, Juraj Beneš and Juraj Hatrík. From the 1980s a number of composers, including Vladimír Godár, Iris Szeghy, Martin Burlas, Peter Zagar, Peter Martinček and Daniel Matej, wrote in an essentially postmodern idiom.
The position of music in postwar society was closely connected with the systematic state control of culture in Slovakia. The communists decreed that music should be widely accessible to all strata of society, and developed institutions to this end. The position of Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, was reinforced as the centre of national music life, and new institutions were created, notably the Slovak PO, the High School of Musical Arts (both established in 1949), the State Music Publishing House (1951, from 1970 OPUS) and the Slovak Music Fund (1954). From 1951 musicological research was concentrated in the Institute of Musicology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. After the fall of communism in 1989 the Union of Slovak Composers became the Slovak Music Union representing the interests of composers, performers and musicologists. The Slovkoncert Music Agency organized concert life in Slovakia and arranged foreign tours for Slovak artists.
These institutions have helped to form a new generation of composers, performers and musicologists in Slovakia. These include the conductors of the Slovak PO (Ľudovít Rajter, Ladislav Slovák, Bystrik Režucha, Ondrej Lenárd), the chorus directors Juraj Haluzický, Štefan Klimo and Ladislav Holásek, and Bohdan Warchal, conductor of the Slovak Chamber Orchestra; the pianists Michal Karin, Rudolf Macudziński, Klára Havlíkova, Eva Fischerová-Martvoňová, Helena Gáfforová, Peter Toperczer, Marián Lapšanský and Daniela Varínska; the organists Ferdinand Klinda, Ivan Sokol and Ján Vladimír Michalko; the string players Tibor Gašparek, Peter Michalica, Juraj Alexander and Jozef Podhoránsky; the early music ensemble Music Aeterna; the Moyzes Quartett; and the singers Lucia Popp, Edita Gruberová, Peter Dvorsky, Sergej Kopčák, Magdalena Hajóssyová, Peter Mikuláš and Martin Babjak.
Jozef Kresánek, professor of musicology at the Comenius University in Bratislava from 1956 to 1980, was the founder of modern musicological research in Slovakia. His distinguished contemporaries and successors have included the music historians Richard Rybarič and Darina Múdra, the ethnomusicologists Ladislav Leng, Alica Elscheková and Oskár Elschek, the acoustician Miroslav Filip and the theorists Ladislav Burlas and Peter Faltin. The results of their research were reflected in the journals Slovenská hudba (‘Slovak music’, founded 1957) and Hudobný život (‘Musical life’, founded 1969) as well as in the annuals Hudobnovedné štúdie (‘Musicological studies’), Musicologica slovaca (founded 1955) and Hudobný archív (‘Musical archives’, founded 1974).
The cultivation of folk traditions has been an important aspect of contemporary Slovak music. In addition to the presentation of authentic folk music at festivals and competitions, folksong has also been cultivated in stylized forms by the Slovak National Folk Ensemble and the youth ensemble Lúčnica.
The establishment of the Opera of the State Theatre in Košice (1945) was followed by similar opera companies in Prešov (1948) and Banská Bystrica (1959). After World War II a network of primary music schools was created throughout Slovakia, conservatories were founded in Žilina, Košice and, later, in Banská Bystrica, and music teaching to degree level was established at institutes in Trnava, Nitra, Banská Bystrica and Prešov. Regular concert life began in the eastern and central regions of Slovakia with the formation of the State PO in Košice (1969) and the State Chamber Orchestra in Žilina (1974). The principal monuments of Slovak music are held in the music department of the Slovak National Museum in Bratislava, the J.N. Hummel Museum in Bratislava, the Literary and Music Museum in Banská Bystrica, the Museum of Keyboard Instruments in Markušovce and the Matica Slovenská in Martin.
The most important international festival in Slovakia is the Bratislava Festival, established in 1965. The Central European Festival of the Performing Arts has been held annually in Žilina since 1990, and the Festival of Historic Organs takes place each year in various churches throughout Slovakia. Smaller summer festivals are held in Bratislava and in other towns, especially spas. Other recent festivals include the Biennale Melos-Étos, devoted to new music, and a festival of contemporary chamber music organized by the Slovak section of the ISCM.
See also Bratislava; Košice.
A. Hořejš: O slovenskej hudbe [On Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1928)
F. Zagiba: ‘Geschichte der slowakischen Musik von den frühesten Zeit bis zur Gegenwart’, Leipziger Vierteljahrschrift für SüdostEuropa, iv (1940), 272–95
F. Zagiba: Dejiny slovenskej hudby od najstarších čias do reformácie [History of Slovak music from the oldest time up to the Reformation] (Bratislava, 1943)
J. Andrić: Slovačka glasba [Slovak music] (Zagreb, 1944)
Z. Bokesová: Slovenská hudba [Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1947)
K. Hudec: Vývin hudobnej kultúry na Slovensku [The development of musical culture in Slovakia] (Bratislava, 1949)
L. Burlas, L. Mokrý and Z. Nováček, eds.: Dejiny slovenskej hudby [History of Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1957)
I. Hrušovský: Slovenská hudba v profiloch a rozboroch [Slovak music in profiles and analyses] (Bratislava, 1964)
L. Mokrý and J. Tvrdoň: Dejiny slovenskej hudby [History of Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1964)
L. Mokrý: ‘Slovenská hudba’ [Slovak music], Československá vlastivěda, ix/3, ed. M. Očadlík and R. Smetana (Prague, 1971), 315–86
Slovensko, iv: Kultúra, ed. K. Rosenbaum (Bratislava, 1974–)
I. Mačák, ed: . Pramene slovenskej hudby [Sources of Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1977)
R. Rybarič: Dejiny hudobnej kultúry na Slovensku [History of musical culture in Slovakia], i (Bratislava, 1984)
D. Múdra: Dejing hudobnej kultúry na Slovensku [History of musical culture in Slovakia], ii (Bratislava, 1993)
Ľ. Chalupka, ed.: The Year of Slovak Music (Bratislava, 1996)
O. Elschek, ed.: Dejiny slovenskej hudby [History of Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1996)
J. Kalinayová, ed.: Poklady hudobnej minulosti [Treasures of the musical past] (Bratislava, 1996)
D. Orel: ‘Hudební prameny na Slovensku’ [Musical sources in Slovakia], Príspevky k praveku, dejinám a národopisu Slovenska, ed. J. Eisner, J. Hofman and V. Pražák (Bratislava, 1931), 59–79
E. Zavarský: Súčasná slovenská hudba [Contemporary Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1947)
Š. Hoza: Opera na Slovensku [Opera in Slovakia] (Martin, 1953–4)
J. Potúček: Súpis slovenských hudobnoteoretických prác [A catalogue of Slovak writings on music] (Bratislava, 1955)
R. Rybarič: ‘Slovenská neuma’ [Slovak neumes], Hudobnovedné štúdie, i (1955), 151–79
J. Terrayová: ‘Súpis archívnych fondov na Slovensku’ [A list of archival musical funds in Slovakia], Hudobnovedné štúdie, iv (1960), 197–328
Ľ. Ballová: ‘K problematike tanečnej hudby na prelome 17.–18. st. zachovanej na území Slovenska’ [Slovak dance music of the 17th and 18th centuries], Hudobnovedné štúdie, v (1961), 142–82
Anfänge der slavischen Musik: Bratislava 1964
L. Mokrý: ‘Hudba na Slovensku v rokoch 1945–65’ [Music in Slovakia in the period 1945–65], Slovenská kultúra 1945–65, ed. K. Rosenbaum (Bratislava, 1965), 75–94
J. Potúček: Hudobný život na Slovensku v r. 1901–1918 [Musical life in Slovakia in the years 1901–18] (Bratislava, 1965)
L. Mokrý: ‘Počiatky hudobného baroka na Slovensku’ [The origins of Baroque music in Slovakia], Hudobnovedné štúdie, vii (1966), 97–108
J. Potúček: Súpis slovenských hudobnín a literatúry o hudobníkoch [A list of Slovak music and literature about musicians] (Bratislava, 1967)
J. Ďurovič: Príspevky k dejinám slovenskej hymnológie 16. a 17. storočia [Contributions to the history of Slovak hymnology of the 16th and 17th centuries] (Bratislava, 1969)
J. Klimo: Slovenské robotnícke spevokoly na Slovensku [Slovak workers' choirs in Slovakia] (Bratislava, 1973)
V. Čížik: Slovenskí koncertní umelci [Slovak concerts artists] (Bratislava, 1974–6)
A. Móži: Slovensko-maď'arské hudobné vzť'ahy: Szlovák-Magyar zenei kapcsolatok [The Slovak-Hungarian musical relations] (Bratislava, 1977)
M. Cesnaková-Michalcová: Premeny divadla (inonárodné divadlá na Slovensku do roku 1918) [Changes of theatre (non-Slovak theatres in Slovakia up to the year 1918)] (Bratislava, 1981)
J. Sopko: Stredoveké latinské kódexy v slovenských knižniciach [Medieval Latin codices in Slovak libraries] (Martin, 1981)
O. Gergelyi and K. Wurm: Historické organy na Slovensku [Historical organs in Slovakia] (Bratislava, 1982)
I. Mačák, ed.: Osobnosti európskej hudby a Slovensko [Personalities of European music and Slovakia] (Bratislava, 1982)
T. Ursínyová: Cesty operety: Vývoj slovenského hudobno-zábavného divadla [Development of Slovak operetta theatre] (Bratislava, 1982)
L. Burlas: Slovenská hudobná moderna [Modern Slovak music] (Bratislava, 1983)
M. Kresák: Husliarske umenie na Slovensku [Violin maker's art in Slovakia] (Bratislava, 1984)
V. Čížik: Slovenskí dirigenti a zbormajstri [Slovak conductors and choirmasters] (Bratislava, 1986)
J. Sopko: Kódexy a neúplne zachované rukopisy v slovenských knižniciach [Codices and incomplete manuscripts in the Slovak libraries] (Martin, 1986)
L. Burlas: Pohľady na súčasnú slovenskú hudobnú kultúru [Views on contemporary Slovak musical culture] (Bratislava, 1988)
I. Vajda: Slovenská opera (Bratislava, 1988)
B. Banáry: Slovenské národné obrodenie a hudba [The Slovak national revival and music] (Martin, 1990)
Ľ. Chalupka: ‘Quellen und Mitteln des Innovationsprozess im slowakischen Musikschaffen des 60er Jahres’,Musaica, xxi (1991), 65–83
E. Duka-Zólyomiová: ‘Hudobné nástrojárstvo v 2. polovici 18. storočia a na začiatku 19. storočia na území dnešného Slovenska’ [Musical instrument making of the second half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century in the territory of present-day Slovakia], Musicologica Slovaca et Europaea, xvii (1992), 55–64
J. Potúček: ‘Slovenský hudobný život v rokoch 1863–1875’ [Slovak musical life in the years 1863–75], Hudobný archív, xii (1994), 45–70
I. Wasserberger: ‘Vývoj slovenskej populárnej hudby v rokoch 1920–1944’ [Development of Slovak popular music in the years 1920–44], SH, xx (1994), 203–16
J. Kalinayová and others: Musikinventare und das Repertoire der mehrstimmigen Musik in der Slowakei im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert (Bratislava, 1995)
A. Čierna: ‘Elektroakustická kompozícia na Slovensku’ [Electro-acoustic composition in Slovakia], SH, xxii (1996), 67–111
N. Hrčková: Tradícia, modernosť a slovenská hudobná kultúra [Tradition, modernity and Slovak musical culture] (Bratislava, 1996)
L. Kačic, ed.: Organová hudba na Slovensku v 17. a 18. storoči [Organ music in Slovakia of the 17th and 18th centuries] (Bratislava, 1996)
J. Lexmann: Slovenská filmová hudba 1896–1996 [Slovak film music, 1896–1996] (Bratislava, 1996)
D. Múdra: Musikalische Klassik in der Slowakei in Zeitdokumenten (Bratislava, 1996)
P. Faltin: ‘Slovenská hudobná tvorba v rokoch 1956–1965’ [Slovak musical creation of the period 1956–65], SH, xxiii (1997), 175–210
Z. Martináková: ‘Súčasná slovenská hudba z konca tisícročia’ [Contemporary Slovak music from the end of the millennium], SH, xxiii (1997), 234–52
M. Hulková: ‘Die Zirkulation von Musik und Musiker in 17. Jahrhundert in der Slowakei’, Musicologica Olomucensia, iv (1998), 77–84
J. Kalinayová: ‘Hudba na spoločenské príležitosti: príspevok k otázke amatérskeho muzicirovania na Slovensku v 17. storočí’ [Music for a special occasion: a contribution to amateur music-making in the 17th century in Slovakia], SH, xxiv (1998), 345–61
E. Szóradová: ‘Klavichordy a čembalá na Slovensku’ [Clavichords and harpsichords in Slovakia], SH, xxiv (1998), 309–44
Slovakia is situated at the intersection point of western and eastern European cultural areas. This is reflected in its folk music, which is based on east European elements but contains many features of west European origin, especially in the newer style. Slovak folk music has served as a bridge between the folk music of the two areas by introducing styles and elements of west European melodies and harmonic and tonal principles to Hungary, the Ukraine and other areas. Through transformation and assimilation, it has acquired a remarkable stylistic variety. Bartók, referring to central European folk music in general in a letter of 1911, wrote: ‘in this country, it seems, the Slovak people is the richest in folk song. In almost every village they know different songs’. Slovakia in its central European position unites old European styles and new European folk music developments. Old Slav and non-Slav elements are balanced in its history and presence.
6. Instruments and instrumental music.
Slovakia, §II: Traditional Music
The sources for Slovak folk music are manifold. In the Middle Ages there was a social group of folk epic singers called igric or igrec (‘player’) who performed mainly in villages but also at court. They can be traced in 12th- to 18th-century sources, which describe various ordinances, prohibitions and penalties against them. 15th- and 16th-century sources show greater interest in folksongs and were frequently cited in editions of spiritual songs and to a lesser extent in folkdance music: many central European sources mention such dances as the haiduc and ungaresca.
Collecting on a large scale began in the 17th and 18th centuries, some results of this activity being the Vietoris manuscript, a collection of harpsichord pieces (see Burlas, Fišer and Hořejš), a collection by Anna Szirmay-Keczer of violin pieces (see Kresánek, 1967) and four manuscripts from Uhrovec containing almost 800 melodies (see Terrayová, 1990). In the 19th century such groups as the Friends of Slovak Songs began systematically collecting and editing folksongs; they collected about 5000 Slovak folksong melodies including 2000 published in the Slovenské spevy, available in a new edition. Similar work was done from the 1870s onwards by the Matica Slovenská. Among later important collectors were Bartók, H. Bím, A. Halaša, Janáček, J.E. Jankovec and Jozef Kresánek. After 1950 extensive fieldwork was started by the ethnomusicology department of the Institute of Musicology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and in the folk music department of Bratislava Radio. 26,000 Slovak folksong melodies had been published by 1995; there is also a stock of 90,000 folk music transcriptions and more than 110,000 recorded folksongs and instrumental melodies in the archives. Study is aided by computers. Historic and regional studies have been supplemented by basic methodological studies in folk music analysis, systematization, comparison and cross-cultural relations. Electronic melographic and spectrographic devices are used for transcription and sound analysis, as are graphic and written kinetic dance notations. Instrumental folk music, folk instruments and folkdance receive great attention and are widely documented on film and video.
Slovakia, §II: Traditional Music
The many different styles of contemporary Slovak folk music may be classified according to their historical strata, regional characteristics and folk music genres. (Style in this context refers to a group of melodies or melodic types with a similar or identical musical structure.) These are discussed in a hypothetical chronological order.
The ‘magico-ritual style’, whose recitative-like melodies have a tonal skeleton of a 2nd or 3rd, is represented by about 2200 songs, 1.5% of all the Slovak folksongs collected. 51% of them are in a free melodic form based on simple motivic formulae and short repeated lines; 31% show two- or four-section structures with four to six syllables per line. Melodic structure and content are largely determined by the texts. These songs are associated with ceremonies for the winter and summer solstices and with harvest and funeral rites. Children’s songs and play songs are also found in this style, which is similar to eastern Slav ceremonial songs and more generally to the European children’s repertory. Melodic types are not clearly differentiated; they consist of static formulae moving around a tonal skeleton, as shown inex.1. All transcriptions are of recordings in the sound archives of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
The ‘peasant style’ is characterized by the interval of the fourth which acts as the skeleton or frame for the melody: the central tone and the note a 4th above are the most important notes of the melody. 4–5% of collected Slovak folksongs (about 5000 melodies) belong to this 4th-tonal style. The frame of a perfect 4th is sometimes extended to more complicated forms, such as that juxtaposing two 4th frames, authentic and plagal; this is common in the ‘5th formation’ of dance-songs (i.e a phrase repeated a 5th lower).Ex.2 is representative of this style, with rhythmically expanding cadences (i.e. note values increasing towards the end of a phrase). It cannot be organized into regular bars and, as in 75% of the songs in the peasant style, it has four sections. 62% of these four-section melodies are isometric with six-syllable lines; their form varies (e.g. AABB, ABAB, AABC or ABCD). The tempo of performance is crotchet = c100, the prevailing durational values being a crotchet and a quaver. Types of song in this category are harvest and hay-making songs, wedding and christening songs, and laments and lullabies. The most beautiful and characteristic melodies are the trávnice, the hay-making or meadow songs, whose texts are predominantly based on subjects drawn from nature, as in ex.2.
The ‘shepherd style’ developed between the 14th century and 18th, with a melodic structure built on the framework of a 5th. It represents 30% of the collected Slovak folksong repertory. This style is partly a continuation of earlier traditional Slovak peasant styles and partly the result of acculturation from the period of the ‘Valachian colonization’. The mountain regions of central and north Slovakia were sparsely inhabited and insufficiently exploited economically. The nobility therefore encouraged sheep-rearing by giving various rights and privileges to shepherds when they settled in these regions. These privileges brought to Slovakia Valachian shepherds from Romania (13th to 15th centuries), the Ukraine (15th to 16th centuries) and the northern side of the Tatra mountains (17th to 18th centuries). Every wave of immigration brought new cultural elements which were assimilated and transformed, as the mountain areas were mostly settled by Slovaks from the plains and lowlands. This new economic, social and cultural development resulted in the Valachian musical style. The social and economic hardship of the 17th century, deepened by the Turkish wars, brought misery to the country and greater oppression for the serfs; the result was an increase in feudal warfare. One of the most spontaneous forms of protest against the ruling class was flight into the mountains where bands of outlaws and robbers were formed. The songs and dances that arose out of these circumstances greatly influenced the shepherd culture and indeed represent some of the most beautiful examples of this style.
The shepherd style is characterized by the following structural features: the intervals of a 5th, or a 3rd and a 5th, form the framework of the music, remaining unchanged throughout; the melodic line is usually descending; augmentation of note values takes place as the melodic line proceeds, with notes of longer value at cadences; 62% of the melodies are in the F mode, robber songs are often in the G mode, and the C and D modes are also fairly common; closed forms are unknown, but there is a tendency towards periodic forms, in which a phrase is repeated with slight variation, for example AA'B or ABB'. In later examples of the shepherd style, the characteristic range of a 5th is expanded, probably as a result of the influence of instrumental music (on the bark horn, flute and string ensembles) and polyphonic singing. Contact with more recent songs or songs of Western origin has also exerted some influence.
In 55% of these songs the melodic stanza consists of four six-syllable lines, of which the second and the fourth are rhythmically augmented so that lines one and three are of two bars, and lines two and four of three bars (see ex.3). The robber dance-songs are built on conjunct or overlapping 5th structures: authentic (ex.4a), plagal (ex.4b) or a tone apart (ex.4c). These melodies consist of five or six lines with the form ABC, repeated a 5th lower, and a bimetric syllabic structure, for example 8 + 6 + 6 + 8 + 6 + 6. 20% of the shepherd songs show such a bimetric structure, as in ex.5 (6 + 6 + 7 + 7 syllables). The example is rhapsodic in character, and shows how the melody may be subtly varied from one stanza to another.
The origin of melodies constructed on a 5th is probably connected with the earlier 4th-tonal types, as transitional types are common. The interval skeleton of a 5th was extended to 3rd–5th and further to 4th–6th structures. Two- and three-part homophonic singing, in which, however, both heterophony and polyphony may occur, is another characteristic feature of this style.
Besides robbers’ and shepherds’ themes there are narrative, ballad and love motifs, as well as songs connected with weddings, christenings, harvest and other such events. Dance-songs are typical of the shepherd style; for example the haiduc (robber) dance odzemok, the bear dance and sheep dance, as well as the Christmas carols and songs to Christmas plays enacted by shepherds.
The last stage of Slovak folk music development consists of a harmonic-melodic style refered to as the ‘new song style’. This style originated in the 16th and 17th centuries, attaining stability and its principal features in the 19th century. The birth of the new style was accelerated by various factors: the influence of Baroque art and popular music; folksongs of Western (German) origin; market songs from Poland, Bohemia and Moravia; and, in the late 19th century, the urban music of Gypsies.
The final note of a melody functions also as the main note of an arched melodic structure, in what is termed ‘contrary fifthing’, that is, the transposition of a phrase (A) a 5th higher (A5); this arises from the new (to this tradition) tonal relationship of the tonic and dominant. The formal types AA5BA and AA3BA have become very common, showing a preference for a closed formal structure with the repetition of the first phrase at the end. The syncopated or ‘pointed’ rhythm (seeex.6) appears in about 30% of the new songs and is applied in a free, often improvised, manner. Isometric and bimetric structures occur approximately equally in four-line melodic stanzas. It is characteristic for the third line to have a different number of syllables from the other three (e.g. 12 + 12 + 10 + 12 or 14 + 14 + 12 + 14) and to employ some rhythmic and metric contrast. The number of syllables has increased beyond the six to eight of the earlier styles and now lies between eight and 25 syllables to a line, thus allowing a new type of longer melody. In contrast to the smooth melodies with small intervals of the earlier styles, melodies of the new style show a free use of large intervals (see ex.7).
Another aspect of these new songs is their changed thematic content and social function. Representative genres are ballads, love songs, military and recruiting songs, and humorous, social and emigration songs. This new song style at present constitutes 60–70% of the collected Slovak folksong repertory.
Folk music of the 20th century showed some new elements: for example, in the richness of polyphonic singing in all parts of Slovakia, and in the merging of traditional forms with modern popular dance-songs of the 1930s and 40s. Another significant change was the emotional style of performance. The texts of the songs were closely related to everyday life.
In the 1940s and 50s new folksong genres came into use: songs about Slovak national rising, partisan songs, songs about the cooperatives in villages and about industrialization and the events changing rural social structure. The texts of these new genres of folk poetry are sung to traditional melodies selected from the earlier and new styles. This technique of singing new texts to older melodies was also common in the revolutionary work songs of the 19th and 20th centuries. There has been a conscious revival of folksong and music in ensembles in towns, schools and among young people as well as on radio and television programmes. A new powerful revival began in the late 1960s associated with folk music instruments and instrumental music. Festivals, folk music meetings, seminars, competitions, jamborees and other events were an important part of this revival. Rediscovering, imitating and reconstructing older traditions were the basis of the folk music revival, and the function and character of folk music changed due to the musical transformation of different styles. Cooperation between folk music practice and folk music research influenced this process.
Slovakia, §II: Traditional Music
Different music areas or dialects have developed in response to particular regional, cultural, social, geographical and musical conditions. They consist of a special configuration of the known historical styles, whereby individual stylistic elements are integrated in a relatively new formation. There are four main regions, which are divided into the sub-styles of smaller regions, valleys and villages with folk musics of their own.
The significant feature of west and south Slovakia is that the earliest magico-ritual and 4th-tonal peasant styles are found in their most typical and developed form. This is because from the 5th century this region was the oldest central cultural area of the western Slavs. The shepherd style plays an inferior role there. The new song style predominates though it shows many common elements with the melodic formulae of the earlier styles, for example, melodies of small range with five to six notes, two- or three-line structures and short motifs. The influence of western European elements is strongest in this area. 8% of the region’s melodies originate in the earlier styles, 30% are 5th-tonal but without clear connections with the shepherd style and 60% belong to the new repertory.
The
mountain regions of north and central Slovakia constitute the largest and
richest music area. 60% of the songs there originate in the shepherd style, and
in some villages of north Slovakia (e.g. Terchová) almost 60% of the songs are
in the F mode. In the north the ‘Podhalan tonality’ (d–f
–g–a–b–c'–d'–e'–f'), based on the natural scale
of flutes without finger-holes, is characteristic, while the G mode is favoured
more in central Slovakia. The origin of these modes in Slovak folk music is
connected with folk instruments (the shepherds’ horn, flutes without
finger-holes and the fujara, a duct flute with three finger-holes). In
this region partsinging and parlando performance play an important role.
East Slovakia forms the third music area. 80% of the songs are performed in tempo giusto. The melodic structure is characterized by repetition, transposition and the sequential repetition of miniature motivic formulae. An important aspect of these songs is their use for accompanying dance. The melodies on the whole are longer and have a greater range than in other areas. Cadences of a 4th are typical and therefore hypomodes (i.e. plagal) predominate. Closed forms such as AABA or ABBA are most common. The rhythm is organized exclusively in two-beat bars, as is characteristic of 90% of Slovak folksongs. In east Slovakia, the alternation of 2/4 and 3/4 metres occurs in the karičky, a round-dance performed by girls, without instrumental accompaniment. In this region archaic tonal elements are coupled with a feeling for harmony and modern formal principles.
The regions of Gemer and Spish are characterized by their texture of musical styles and form an independent regional style. They are situated between the north and central mountain regions and the east Slovak region; thus there is an integration of elements of the shepherd style with east Slovak modern folksong style. More than 20% of Gemer songs show hypomodal features. In Spish remarkable rhapsodic melodies alternate with dance in tempo giusto. The fluctuation between fixed metric and free performance has resulted in many 5/8 and 7/8 melodies; they are performed slowly in a rhapsodic and declamatory manner.
In all the regions mentioned the predominance of one style is the result of stylistic integration due to the coexistence of other regional and historical styles. These are not isolated from each other, the cross-currents between the different styles being a typical feature of Slovak folk music.
Slovakia, §II: Traditional Music
Slovak folksongs cover a wide variety of functions and thematic content. In general there is no static dependence of a single text on a single melody, but certain text groups are connected with a melodic type or style. A firm connection between music and texts exists only in a few old-style songs and in the popular or composed songs of the 19th century. Individual performers may tend to relate certain melodies in specific texts, but this is not an indication of regional practice. Some songs are performed only during their respective ceremonies or events, among them songs for the ceremonies of ‘burying winter’ (morena, smrt, kyselica), the advent of spring and summer (St John’s Day), laments, Christmas carols, lullabies, harvest and wedding songs. These song genres are homogenous both in musical and textual structure although there are melodies of great historic and typological variation among them. Their function, performance and similarity of content give them common unifying features.
Slovakia, §II: Traditional Music
As Slovakia is in central Europe, it has come into close cultural contact with its nearest neighbours and also with wider areas of east and south-east Europe. The earliest musical styles show similarities to the magico-ritual melodies of the east and south Slavs (Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes), indicating that they are remnants of a common Slav folk music style. The 4th-tonal peasant style (see §2 above) shows some relation to this ancient Slav style but can be qualified as the first stage of development of specifically Slovak folk music (starting in the 5th and 6th centuries). The 15th- and 16th-century musical style was built on this basis. Economic conditions and migrations, however, led to the introduction of foreign music, partly from east Europe and the Balkans, and partly through the German miners’ colonization in the 13th and 14th centuries. Under these new influences there arose a new style, which would be expected to be heterogeneous, but since the beginning of the 18th century (according to historical sources) it has, in fact, been one of the most homogeneous Slovak folk music styles in which it is difficult to differentiate single elements of foreign origin (Romanian, Ukrainian etc). This form of the shepherd style was brought from Slovakia to the Tatra region of south Poland and to south-east Moravia by Slovak colonists in the 18th century. After the defeat of the Turks, more Slovak colonists travelled in thousands to south-east Europe to settle depopulated areas, especially north and south-east Hungary, west Romania, north Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria. In this way new areas of Slovak culture were established, which developed relatively independently in the 19th and 20th centuries as a result of cultural contact with their foreign ethnic surroundings.
During the 18th century Slovakia played a central role in the distribution and transformation of the new style in middle Europe. Important new relationships supplemented the older ones, and Bartók, characterizing these relations in 1934, estimated that 38% of Hungarian folk melodies were of Slovak-Moravian origin (although 15% of Slovak folksongs developed under the influence of the new Hungarian music style, which should be understood not as an ethnic style but as a style of the multi-ethnic Hungarian state). Cross-cultural relationships vary regionally within Slovakia: the folk music of west Slovakia has a close affinity with that of south Moravia; east Slovak folk music is related to that of west Ukraine; and cross-influences between Slovak and Hungarian folk music can be seen mainly in south Slovakia and north Hungary. The regional development of Slovak folk music is partly based on these ethnically differentiated relationships.
Slovakia, §II: Traditional Music
There are more than 200 different types of folk music instruments in use in Slovakia, spread over the central and western territories. The richest is the aerophone group with a predominance of duct flutes, of which 35 types have been discovered. These include flutes without finger-holes and others with two, three, five or six holes; they are made of wood, bark or metal with a single or double bore. The most typical is the koncovka (end-blown flute) without finger-holes, where closing and opening of the end and overblowing are used to change the pitch. A rare European folk instrument of the duct flute group is the fujara which is more than 180 cm long and has three finger-holes. The little shepherds’ flute with six finger-holes is widely distributed over the country and has its own typical repertory and playing technique. The dvojanka (a double duct flute) and the transverse flute are both played with great virtuosity and expressiveness (see illustration).
The single reed is found in the drček and fanfarka (clarinet-like instruments) and in the gajdy (bagpipe), which has a long bass drone pipe and a chanter with five or six finger-holes. The most common form of bagpipe has a double chanter, that is, a counter-pipe joined to the melody pipe. A rarer type of bagpipe has two supplementary drones (‘little drones’), so that these instruments can produce four- or five-part music. Some double-reed instruments are played by children, especially the trubka made of various materials, such as bark or corn stalks. Bark and wooden trumpets are found all over Slovakia but are becoming more rare.
There are about 50 different idiophones in Slovakia, some of which are regarded as musical instruments proper, others merely as children’s toys. Membranophones are rare.
Bowed string instruments used are the violin and double bass, the short oktávka (octave-violin), shlopcoky (scuttle-shaped violin) and kôrová basa (‘bark bass’), a double bass whose ribs are of bark. Struck and plucked string instruments are the cymbal (dulcimer) and zither.
Instruments are played solo, in combinations such as bagpipe and flute or bagpipe and violin, or in diverse ensembles of bowed string instruments consisting of first and second violin, counter-violin or viola and double bass. In east and south Slovakia this ensemble is completed by the dulcimer and in west Slovakia by the clarinet or trumpet. Brass bands with about eight members play as folk music ensembles in the villages of west Slovakia.
Solo instrumental genres serve various functions. They may act as a signal (horns, bone flutes or rattles), as an acoustic accompaniment to ceremonies (clappers, rattles or bells), and above all in a purely aesthetic function for self-entertainment (fujara or flutes). The only solo instrument used for dance accompaniment is the gajdy. All the string ensembles serve for entertainments in which dance predominates, but singing and other forms of entertainment are also included.
Instrumental
music mainly derives from the song repertory. Pure instrumental melodies are
rare, although the vocal melodies are substantially transformed in motivic
content, melismatic variation and rhythm, and often have a shifting tonal basis
when played on instruments (see ex.8; the central note in this example moves
between a' and g', while the melody is built on the 4th–6th-tonal
frame of a'-d'-f').
A regional style of ensemble playing has developed in Slovakia. Its special characteristics include a richly ornamented leading voice performed on the first violin, sometimes supported by a second violin playing in 3rds or presenting a new decorated melodic line, as in ex.9, where there are two main melodic voices. The other bowed instruments supply a chordal harmonic accompaniment. The cymbal (when used) provides both melody and harmony in arpeggiated figurations, enriching the instrumental colour of the ensemble.
Slovakia, §II: Traditional Music
J. Silván: Písně nowe na sedm žalmú kajícýchy jiné žalmy [New songs on seven psalms of repentance and other psalms] (Prague, 1571/R)
M. Sucháň: Písně světské lidu slovenského v Uhřích v hudbu uvedene [Secular songs of the Slovak people in Hungary, with music] (Pest, 1830/R)
L. Fǔredy: Národní nápěvy ku zpěvankám od Jana Kollára [Folk melodies of the song collection of Jan Kollár] (Pest, 1837/R)
J. Kadavy, ed.: Slovenské spevy [Slovak songs] (Turčiansky sv. Martin, 1880–1907; rev. L. Galko, 1972–89)
J. Blaho: Záhorácké pjesňičky [Záhorácké songs] (Bratislava, 1948–70)
K. Hudec and F. Poloczek, eds.: Slovenské ľ’udové piesne [Slovak folksongs] (Bratislava, 1950–64)
C. Zálešák: Pohronské tance [Dances of the Hron region] (Martin, 1953)
L. Burlas, J. Fišer and A. Hořejš: Hudba na Slovensku v XVII. storoči [Music in Slovakia in the 17th century] (Bratislava, 1954), 157–208
J. Kovalčiková and F. Poloczek: Slovenské l’udové tance [Slovak folkdances] (Bratislava, 1955)
L. Galko, ed.: Ľudové piesne z Liptova a Oravy [Folksongs from Liptov and Orava] (Martin, 1958) [after the collection of Josef Czupra, mid-19th century]
B. Bartók, ed.: Slovenské l’udové piesne [Slovak folksongs] (Bratislava, 1959–70) [vol. iii unpubd]
K. Plicka: Slovenský spevník [A Slovak songbook] (Bratislava, 1961)
C. Zálešák: Ľudové tance na Slovensku [Folkdance in Slovakia] (Bratislava, 1964)
J. Horák and K. Plicka: Zbojnické piesne slovenského l’udu [Highwaymen’s songs of the Slovak people] (Bratislava, 1965)
J. Kresánek, ed.: Die Sammlung von Tänzen und Liedern der Anna Szirmay-Keczer (Prague, 1967)
S. Burlasová: Ľudové balady na Horehroní [Folk ballads of the Hron valley] (Bratislava, 1969)
O. Demo and O. Hrabalová: Žatevné a dožinkové piesne [Mowing and harvest songs] (Bratislava, 1969, 2/1971) [with sound disc]
K. Ondrejka, ed.: Deti det’om [Children for children] (Bratislava, 1973–93)
E. Muntág: Zbierka piesní a tancov z roku 1730 [Collection of songs and dances from 1730] (Martin, 1974)
K. Ondrejka: Základné pohybové jednotky tradičných tancov Liptova [Motion units in the traditional folk dance of Liptov] (Lipt Mikuláš, 1975–77)
S. Stračina, ed.: Stredoslovenské l’udové piesne-Orava [Folksongs from central Slovakia-Orava] (Bratislava, 1978) [incl. 3 LPs]
A. Elscheková and O. Elschek: Slovenské l’udové piesne a nástrojová hudba-antológia [Anthology of Slovak folksongs and instrumental music] (Bratislava, 1980/R)
O. Demo: Z klenotnice slovenských l’udových piesní [The treasure of Slovak folksongs] (Bratislava, 1981)
Š. Lami: Slovenské l’udové balady v Mad’arsku [Slovak folk ballads in Hungary] (Budapest, 1981)
S. Stračina and V. Gruska, eds.: Panorama l’udovej piesňovej a hudobnej kultúry-Liptov [Panorama of the folksong and music culture of Liptov] (Bratislava, 1981) [incl. 4 LPs]
S. Stračina and I. Medlen, eds.: Panorama l’udovej piesňovej a hudobnej kultúry-Pohronie [Panorama of the folksong and music culture of Pohronie] (Bratislava, 1981) [incl. 4 LPs]
S. Burlasová: V širom poli rokyta [In the field is a widow] (Bratislava, 1982–4) [ballads]
O. Kovačičová: Piesne z Brezovej [Songs from Brezova] (Bratislava, 1986)
S. Stračina and I. Kovačovič, eds.: Panorama l’udovej piesňovej a hudobnej kultúry-Podpol’anie [Panorama of the folksong and music culture of Podpol’anie] (Bratislava, 1986) [incl. 4 LPs]
S. Burlasová: L’udová pieseň na Horehroní [Folksong in the Hron valley] (Bratislava, 1987)
Š. Lami: Ked’ si ja zaspievam: Zbierka slovenských l’udových piesní v Mad’arsku [When I will sing: a collection of Slovak folksongs in Hungary] (Budapest, 1988)
S. Stračina and I. Kovačovič, eds.: Panorama l’udovej piesňovej a hudobnej kultúry-Kysuce [Panorama of the folksong and music culture of Kysuce] (Bratislava, 1990) [incl. 4 LPs]
J.M. Terrayová, ed.: Uhrovská zbierka tancov z roku 1742 [The Uhrovec collection from 1742] (Martin, 1990)
E. Krekovčová: Slovenské koledy [Slovak carols] (Bratislava, 1992)
M. Mázorová and K. Ondrejka: Slovenské l’udové tance [Slovak folk dances] (Bratislava, 1993)
M. Nemcovová: Chorovody a dievčenské tance z výchovného Slovenska [Round and girls’ dances from east Slovakia] (Košice, 1993)
A. Elscheková: Slovenské l’udové spevy [Slovak folksongs] (Bratislava, 1994)
K. Plicka: ‘O sbieraní l’unových piesní’ [On the collection of folksongs], Sborník matice slovenskej, ii (1924), 49–59
B. Bartók: Népzenénk és a szomszéd népek népzenéje [Our folk music and the folk music of neighbouring peoples] (Budapest, 1934, 2/1952; Ger. trans., Ungarische Jahrbücher, xv (1935), 194–258; Fr. trans., Archivum europae centro-orientalis, ii (1936), i-xxxii, 197–232
M. Lichard: ‘Príspevky k teórii slovenskej l’udovej piesne’ [Contributions to the theory of Slovak folksong], Sborník matice slovenskej, xi–xii (1934), 1–58
K. Hudec: Slovenská l’udová pieseň [Slovak folksong] (Bratislava, 1949)
J. Kresánek: Slovenská l’udová pieseň so stanoviska hudobného [Slovak folksong from a musical aspect] (Bratislava, 1951)
A. Elscheková and O. Elschek: O slovenskej l’udovej piesní a l’udovej hudbe [Slovak folksong and folk music] (Martin, 1956)
J. Kresánek: ‘Bartóks Sammlung slowakischer Volkslieder’, Studia memoriae Belae Bartók sacra, ed. B. Rajeczky and L. Vargyas (Budapest, 1956; Eng. trans., 1959), 51–68
L. Leng: Slovenský l’udový a l’udová hudba [Slovak folksong and folk music] (Bratislava, 1958)
S. Burlasová: ‘Kotázkam hudobného folklóru Slovákov v Rumunsku’ [Questions on the folk music of Slovaks in Romania], Slovenský národopis, viii (1960), 628–40
O. Demo: Ludová vokálna a inštrumentálna hudba v Púchovskej doline [Vocal and instrumental folk music in the Puchov valley] (Bratislava, 1961)
L. Leng: Slovenský hudobný folklór [Slovak musical folklore] (Bratislava, 1961)
A. Elscheková and O. Elschek: Úvod do štúdia slovenskej l’udovej hudby [Introduction to the study of Slovak folk music] (Bratislava, 1962/R)
J. Potúček, ed.: Hudobná folkloristika na Slovensku v rokoch 1851–1938 [Folk music studies in Slovakia 1851–1938] (Bratislava, 1965–)
L. Leng: Slovenské l’udové hudobné nástroje [Slovak folk music instruments] (Bratislava, 1967)
I. Mačák: Zoznam slovenských l’udových hudobných nástrojov [Catalogue of Slovak folk instruments] (Bratislava, 1967)
A. Elscheková: ‘Technologie der Datenverarbeitung bei der Klassifizierung von Volksliedern’,Methoden der Klassifikation von Volksliedweisen: Bratislava 1965 (Bratislava, 1969), 93–122
L. Leng and O. Elschek, eds.: Variačná technika predníkov v oblasti západného, stredného a východného Slovenska [Variation technique of the first fiddlers in the region of west, central and east Slovakia] (Bratislava, 1969–74/R)
L. Leng: ‘Ľudová hudba Zubajovcov’ [Folk music of the Zubaj ensemble], Musicologica slovaca, iii (1971), 25–140
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O. Elschek: ‘Hajdukentänze in Geschichte und Gegenwart’, Historische Volksmusikforschung, i (1979), 45–71
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A. Elscheková: ‘L’úbostná lyrika v gemerskom l’udovom speve’ [Lyrical love songs in the Gemer region], Národopisné štúdie, iv (1981), 245–330
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A. Elscheková: ‘Uspávanky a detské zabávanky na Gemeri’ [Lullabies and children’s entertainment songs in Gemer], Vlastivedné štúdie Gemera, v (1987), 88–151
O. Elschek, ed.: Hudobnofolklórne druhy a ich systémové súvzt’ažnosti [Musical folklore and its systematic relations], Musicologica slovaca, xiii (Bratislava, 1988)
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O. Elschek: ‘Musical Instruments and Groups’, ibid., 98–102, 219–25
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