Lullabies of Tuvans: based on the field materials of the Novosibirsk Conservatory and the Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

The genre of lullabies of Tuvans has been poorly studied. A precious little number of musical transcriptions of melodies of Tuvan lullabies have been published. This paper presents the results of an ethnomusicological study of a lullaby songs and rocking lullabies of the Tuvans using the recordings made during the expeditions to Tuva by ethnomusicologists and philologists of the Novosibirsk Conservatory and the Institute of Philology of the SB RAS. Some expeditions took place in cooperation with Tuvan colleagues. The analysis of the folk terminology used by the bearers of tradition in relation to this field of folk art has revealed four types of lullabies: lullaby songs, rocking lullabies, throat singing lullabies, and lullabies performed with tongue trembling. The first two types refer to genre characteristics, while the last two specify the timbre specifics of intonation. The study led the author to draw a conclusion about the heterogeneity of the lullaby genre, indicating the multitemporal nature of the appearance of lullaby songs and rocking lullabies of the Tuvans. Of importance is the observation that lullaby style accumulates many genres of ethnic intonation culture. It is through lullabies that a child is introduced to the intonational world of his ethnic culture. This work also provides comparative observations on terminology, cradle words, and the function of lullabies among the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Siberia: Altaians, Shors, Khakas, Yakuts, Siberian Tatars, as well as Buryats and Mongols.