Istrian scale

Musical scale

Istrian scale

Istrian mode on C.[1] [heptatonic] Playⓘ

Stylistic origins| Croatian music
Cultural origins| Istria and Kvarner
Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Country| Croatia
Reference| 00231
Region| Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription| 2009 (4th session)
List| Representative
Sopilas: small/thin/high and great/fat/low (Playⓘ) Istrian scale in Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor (1922), 1st mvt., bars 13–20 (Playⓘ); flat fifth marked with asterisk[1]

"Istrian scale" refers both to a "unique"[2] musical scale and to the folk music genres from Istria and Kvarner which use that scale.[3] It is named for the Istrian peninsula. Istrian folk music is based on a distinctive six-tone musical scale (the so-called Istrian scale), and the peninsula's two-part, slightly nasal singing. The two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale, a traditional singing practice characteristic of the Istrian region and the north Adriatic coastal area and islands, was inscribed in UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.[4]

Genres include kanat and tarankanje; techniques include nasal tone, variation and improvisation, and resolution to the unison or octave; and instruments include double reeds such as sopele, shawms, bagpipes, and other instruments such as flutes and tambura lutes.[3] It was first named by Ivan Matetić Ronjgov early in the twentieth century,[2] assisting his study and notation of Croatian music.

## Description[edit]

Non-equal-tempered,[2][5] the scale could approximately be notated as: E-F-G-A♭-B♭-C♭ [hexatonic] (see: enharmonic), the first six notes of an octatonic scale on E. It may be thought of in various ways, such as the Gregorian Phrygian mode with lowered 4th, 5th, and 6th degrees (on E: E-F-G-A♭-B♭-C♭-D [heptatonic]).[6] Performances feature diaphony and the Phrygian cadence (in E: F and D moving to E).[6]

Sopilas

Though, "relative intonation var[ies] considerably from example to example [and between instruments],"[5] the scale has also been described as derived from just intonation: subharmonics seven to fourteen (approximately D, E, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C, D')(Play with one voiceⓘ and with two voicesⓘ).[7]

In Haydn's String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5,[2] something like the Istrian mode, but without its top note, is found.[1] Uroš Krek's Inventiones ferales (1962) uses the scale, "in a disguised manner".[8] Tartini may have studied the scale,[2] and Bartók took note of the scale.[7] Karol Pahor's cycle of 15 pieces, Istrijanka (1950), was the result of study of the Istrian mode, as was Danilo Švara's Sinfonia da camera in modo istriano (1957).[9] The Istrian mode occurs in Josip Štolcer-Slavenski's Balkanofonija (1927).[10]

Throughout the areas of Istria and the Kvarner Gulf the distinctive vocal singing has spread, consisting of alternating half and whole steps, which, particularly in older singers' and instrumentalists' renditions, are untempered. The songs are sung by pairs of singers (male, female, or mixed) in a characteristic two-part polyphony in minor thirds (or major sixths) with a cadence to a unison or an octave. Singers distinguish the higher (na tanko "thin") part from the lower (na debelo "fat").[11]

## See also[edit]

* hr:Ča-val
* Descant

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Van der Merwe, Peter (2005). Roots of the Classical, p.227-8. ISBN 978-0-19-816647-4.
2. ^ a b c d e Thammy Evans, Rudolf Abraham (2013). Istria: Croatian Peninsula, Rijeka, Slovenian Adriatic, p.17. ISBN 9781841624457.
3. ^ a b "Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale", UNESCO.org.
4. ^ Antos, Zvjezdana; Fromm, Annette B.; and Golding, Viv (2017). Museums and Innovations, p.78. Cambridge Scholars. ISBN 9781443862561. Cites: [1].
5. ^ a b Marušić, Dario. "Reception of Istrian Musical Traditions", Musicology 7/2007 (VII) ("Reception of Istrian Musical Traditions", doiSerbia).
6. ^ a b Žganec, Vinko; Sremec, Nada, eds. (1951). Hrvatske narodne pjesme i plesovi. Vol. 1\. Zagreb: Seljačka sloga. p. 228.
7. ^ a b Ruland, Heiner (1992). Expanding Tonal Awareness, p.43. Rudolf Steiner. ISBN 9781855841703. Described by Kathleen Schlesinger on the Greek aulos
8. ^ (2001). Muzikološki zbornik: Musicological annual, Volumes 37–39, p.86. [full citation needed]
9. ^ Ray Robinson, Regina Chĺopicka, eds. (2003). Studies in Penderecki: Penderecki and the avant garde, p.137. ISBN 9780911009118.
10. ^ Samson, Jim (2013). Music in the Balkans, p.381. Brill. ISBN 9789004250383.
11. ^ Rice, Timothy; Porter, James; and Goertzen, Chris (2017). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe, unpaginated. Routledge. ISBN 9781351544269.

## Further reading[edit]

* Bezić, Jerko. "Yugoslavia, Folk Music: Croatia", New Grove Dictionary 2:594.

## External links[edit]

* "Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale" (UNESCO), YouTube.com.
* "Few words about traditional Istrian Music and Dance", Istria from Smrikve.
* "The folk music of Krk Island", Gold and Silver Dots.

* v
* t
* e

Musical scales (list)

Main Western|

* Major
* Minor
* Pentatonic
* Diatonic
* Chromatic

Other types|

* Bebop
* Blues
* Diminished scale
* Distance model
* Double harmonic
* Enharmonic
* Enigmatic
* Flamenco mode
* Harmonic
* Harmonic major
* Harmonic minor
* Jazz
* Jazz minor
* Major Locrian
* Phrygian dominant
* Ptolemy's intense diatonic
* Scale of harmonics
* Symmetric
* Synthetic mode
* Synthetic scale
* Whole tone

Ethnic origin|

* Algerian
* Arabic
* Double harmonic
* Major Locrian
* Quarter tone
* 17 equal temperament
* Brazil
* Escala nordestina
* Gamelan
* Pelog
* Slendro
* Gypsy
* Hungarian major
* Hungarian minor
* Istrian
* Japanese
* Jewish nusach
* Neapolitan
* Persian
* Romanian major
* Ukrainian Dorian

Non-octave|

* Alpha
* Beta
* Gamma
* Delta
* Bohlen–Pierce

Modes|

* v
* t
* e

Modes in Western music

Gregorian|

| Authentic|

* Dorian
* Phrygian
* Lydian
* Mixolydian

|

Plagal|

* Hypodorian
* Hypophrygian
* Hypolydian
* Hypomixolydian

Other|

* Ionian
* Hypoionian
* Aeolian
* Hypoaeolian
* Locrian
* Hypolocrian
* Pentatonic
* Reciting tone

Diatonic|

* Ionian (I) (natural major and ascending melodic major)
* Dorian (II)
* Phrygian (III)
* Lydian (IV)
* Mixolydian (V)
* Aeolian (VI) (natural minor and descending melodic minor)
* Locrian (VII)

Jazz minor|

* Jazz minor (I) (ascending melodic minor)
* Dorian ♭2 (II)
* Lydian augmented (III)
* Acoustic (IV)
* Aeolian dominant (V) (descending melodic major)
* Half diminished (VI)
* Altered (VII)

Harmonic minor|

* Harmonic minor (I)
* Ukrainian Dorian (IV)
* Phrygian dominant (V)

Harmonic major|

* Harmonic major (I)

Double harmonic scale|

* Double harmonic (I)
* Hungarian minor (IV)
* Oriental (V)

Number of tones|

* Monotonic (1)
* Ditonic (2)
* Tritonic (3)
* Tetratonic (4)
* Pentatonic (5)
* Hexatonic (6)
* Heptatonic (7)
* Octatonic (8)
* Decatonic (10)
* Chromatic (12)

* v
* t
* e

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Croatia

* Festival of Saint Blaise
* Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale
* Klapa multipart singing of Dalmatia, southern Croatia
* Lacemaking in Croatia
* Gingerbread craft from Northern Croatia
* Međimurska popevka, a folksong from Međimurje
* Nijemo kolo, silent circle dance of the Dalmatian hinterland
* Bećarac singing and playing from Eastern Croatia
* Sinjska alka, a knights’ tournament in Sinj
* Spring procession of Ljelje/Kraljice (queens) from Gorjani
* Traditional manufacturing of children’s wooden toys in Hrvatsko Zagorje
* Procession Za križen (‘following the cross’) on the island of Hvar
* Annual carnival bell ringers’ pageant from the Kastav area
* Festivity of Saint Tryphon and the Kolo (chain dance) of Saint Tryphon, traditions of Croats from Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor) who live in the Republic of Croatia

Shared|

* Mediterranean diet
* Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques
* Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock
* Lipizzan horse breeding traditions
* Falconry, a living human heritage

Need of Urgent
Safeguarding|

* Ojkanje singing

Good Safeguarding
Practices|

* Community project of safeguarding the living culture of Rovinj/Rovigno: the Batana Ecomuseum
* Tocatì, a shared programme for the safeguarding of traditional games and sports

* v
* t
* e

UNESCO Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity: Music

* Aka polyphony
* Albanian folk iso-polyphony
* Angklung
* Aqyn
* Arabic maqam
* Arirang
* Ashiqs of Azerbaijan
* Azerbaijani tar
* Baul music
* Bećarac
* Bigwala
* Biyelgee
* Bistritsa Babi
* Bumba-meu-boi from Maranhão
* Byzantine music
* Dainichido Bugaku
* Beijing opera
* Candombe
* Cante Alentejano
* Cantonese opera
* Cantu a tenore
* Ca trù
* Cremona violins
* Doina
* Duduk
* Eshuva
* Fado
* Frevo
* Fujara
* Gagaku
* Gagok
* Garifuna music
* Georgian vocal polyphony
* Gong culture
* Guqin
* Gwoka
* Hua'er
* Hudhud chants
* Jongmyo Jereyak
* Iraqi Maqam
* Istrian scale
* Kgal Laox
* Khuumii
* Klapa
* Koodiyattam
* Khorasan Bakhshi
* Kumi odori
* Kunqu
* Lhamo
* Long song
* Maloya
* Meshrep
* Morin khuur
* Mugham
* Muqam
* Nanyin
* Nhã nhạc
* Nongak
* Ojkanje singing
* Pansori
* Pirekua
* Quan họ
* Qudud Halabiya
* Radif
* Reggae
* Rebetiko
* Sama
* Samba de roda
* Seto Leelo
* Shashmaqam
* Silbo Gomero
* Slovácko Verbuňk
* Song of Sana'a
* Sosso Bala
* Sutartinės
* Táncház
* The Song of the Sibyl
* Tumba francesa
* Vallenato
* Vedic chant
* Wayang kulit
* Xi'an guyue
* Xoan singing

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template