»Vti vishi kakor ta odsgoraj«

Abstract

In the majority of older Slovene song books, only the texts are published and a note added stating that the poem is to be sung to the tune of some other well known song. The publishers have availed themselves of the fact that in folk-songs text and melody are not inseparable but are at times inter changable. (Example I) It appears that the exchange of two melodies sometimes depends on similarities in the beginnings of their respective texts. (Ex. II), provided they are based on the same metric pattern or that their text is such that the metre can be interpreted in various ways according to the peculiarities of the Slovene language, in which the accent is mobile. (Ex. III). Under the same conditions, one melody can be used for songs having different contents and functions, whether they come from the same region or from different regions, with corresponding variations. (Ex. IV–VI) In answer to the question whether any given song has its own particular melody, three songs are quoted, aech with its most characteristic melody, which is found linked to the same text even in places that are geographically widely separated. (Ex. VII–VIII).