Kdrath] IROQUOIS MUSIC AND DANCE 49 



Summary 



These selections sufl&ce for a demonstration of the variations possi- 

 ble even in traditional cj'-cles. The tonality and range are usually 

 identical in different versions of the same song, tliough they vary 

 greatly between individual songs. Tempi may vary. Rhythm and 

 meter may mutate a song almost beyond recognition, though as a 

 rule these changes consist in ornamental features or shifts of accent. 

 Structures remain identical except for the insertion of repetition of 

 certain phrases and except for the flexibility permissible in adg'Wf and 

 Yeidos Throwing songs. Melodic contours usually confine modifica- 

 tions to small phrases, though occasionally whole sections can be 

 inverted. 



It is significant that the variations are boldest in the upper registers, 

 and rarely affect the nuclear part of the song, that is, the phrases on 

 the main tone and secondary note. Compare the initial mutations 

 and terminal constancy of Tonawanda Buffalo 3, Bear 3, Quavering 11. 

 The final Eagle Dance songs furnish an exception. 



The study of personal variations bears on the problem in several 

 ways. First of all, it shows the singers' respect for tradition, even in 

 their own compositions and in the secularized Show songs. Yet it 

 shows the creative spirit continually at work in ways which enrich 

 the melodies while preserving the tonal and formal skeleton. The 

 enrichment seems to conform to personal tendencies and to go hand 

 in hand with the vocal quality (Records, Fenton, 1942, 1948; 

 Kurath, 1956). 



634-599 O— 64- 



