»Po polju že rožce cvetejo …« – A Contribution to the Research of Interethnical Influences in Folk-Song

Abstract

In the introduction the author emphasizes the fact that investigators have devoted most attention to narrative songs as their contents were found to be more interesting. However, those of everyday life, are of no less importance, because they sometimes show the characteristics of origin and development of folk-song. This is well proven by the love-song »Po polju že rožce cvetejo« which originates from the German ballad »Der eifersüchtige Knabe«. Without investigating the German song the author draws our attention to several phases of its development and has discovered the one which was the basis of the Slovene song. The comparison of both songs shows that the text of the original was abbreviated after the transfer to a different national territory. It also entailed a total change of the contents; the original ballad was altered to a love-song. However,, the melody remained much the same, only the rhythm being adapted to that of Slovene songs. From the examples recorded up till now we can infere that the German and Slovene song must have crossed paths towards the end of the last century, for at the beginning of the 20th century the form of the Slovene song was already established and generally known.