Res Musica 4 (2012)

In this issue there is no one pervading theme, however, some common ground can be found between the articles. One common theme is the nature of contemporary traditional music. This may be determined by the concept of ‘revival’, the very important cultural process which took place in the late 20th and early 21st century in many countries of the world. Thus the Lithuanian ethnomusicologist Daiva Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė writes about the revival of sutartinės, the ancient polyphonic song style, now again popular and practised in many different forms. Research by Latvian scholar Anda Beitāne is dedicated to contemporary developments in the multipart song tradition of Northern Latgale. Nailya Almeeva examines the performance of songs of the Volga-Ural Tatars on the concert stage. Also on the revival theme is the article by Janika Oras and Žanna Pärtlas describing the attempt by students from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre to imitate the traditional Seto singing style. In this article, original recordings of Seto songs and their imitations are analysed by means of acoustic measurements. Acoustic methods are also applied by Taive Särg, who investigates the relationships between the torrõ and killõ parts in Seto multipart songs. Research by Sandra Kalmann also deals with the Seto song tradition; she analyses the tune types used in improvised songs by the famous Seto singer Hilana Taarka. One more piece of research on the Seto theme is the article by Liisi Laanemets, who examines the question of identity in the activities of the Seto choir living beyond the borders of Setomaa. The article by Urve Lippus extends the usual boundaries of the object of ethnomusicological research, being dedicated to the Estonian domestic piano culture in the second half of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

The editors express their gratitude to reviewers, whose diligence ensures the academic quality of the present issue.

Žanna Pärtlas