Music in eakcationof oral tradition, and the provisional definition adopted by the con-
ference reads as follows : ‘Folk music is music that has been submitted
to the process of oral transmission. It is the product of evolution and
is dependent on the circumstances of continuity, variation and se-
lection.’
This definition does, I think, contain the heart of the matter although
it may need certain qualification. It can, for instance, be objected that
the classical music of the East is also dependent on oral tradition since
it is unwritten. And it might, therefore, seem necessary to add that the
laws and principles inherent in folk music are obeyed unconsciously
rather than consciously. Again, some of us would have wished to
qualify the process of oral transmission by adding the time element, but
this was purposely omitted because of the widely divergent circum-
stances which obtain in different countries.
To come back to the definition: ‘Folk music is music that has been
submitted to the process of oral transmission. It is the product of
evolution and is dependent on the circumstances of continuity, varia-
tion and selection.’ Does this really clarify the conception of folk music
and does it serve any practical purpose? I would answer ‘Yes’ to both
these questions.
I would say that it is by the process of evolution working through
oral transmission (let us add, mainly unconsciously) that folk music
acquires the particular characteristics which differentiate it from other
forms of music. And here I should perhaps explain very shortly what
we mean by the circumstances of continuity, variation and selection,
as applied to folk music.
Continuity is the link with the past which preserves the tradition.
Variation is due to individual creative impulse, for folk music, until
it is noted or recorded, is never crystallised but is always in a state of
flux. And selection, the third element of evolution, represents the ver-
dict of the community which ultimately determines the form in which
folk music survives.
And now let me give the practical implications of our theory. We
believe that, owing to the manner in which it has been conceived, folk
music possesses certain fundamental qualities which make it indispen-
sable both from the point of view of general education and of spe-
cialized musical education. I will briefly enumerate some of these
qualities :
- Folk music, as it has come down to us, is not the product of any
one period, but it is a cumulative expression of many ages. It is
classical music in the sense that it has stood the test of time.