Songs of the Copper Eskimos 25 



explanation that they were not remembered and therefore that burden syllables 

 were substituted, or else that the singer forgot to sing over again the first verse 

 with its words, neither of which statements is capable of proof. 



Sub-Group 3. Prelude Effect 



A third great division of the pisiks I have labelled "prelude effect." In 

 these songs the start is made directly with the verse; usually the latter is sub- 

 divided. But musically a real prelude exists, for part of the tune employed for 

 the first half of the first verse is not repeated. Thus in No. 24 which is the first 

 song, the first part of the first verse contains the musical phrases A and B while 

 the refrain is composed of phrases C, D and E with an extension. The second 

 part of the verse, instead of repeating the A phrase, brings in a new one, F, 

 which is substituted for the A throughout the remainder of the song. This, in 

 principle, is very different musically from what occurs in the second group of 

 songs, which we have just discussed. Here in reality there was no musical pre- 

 lude, but merely a humming over, or trying but the tune with burden syllables. 

 In this third group there is in reality a musical prelude, which, however, is not 

 recognized as such in the structure of the word phrases, and probably not by the 

 singers themselves. While groups one and two might formally be classed 

 together, group three is a distinct class, in the songs of which there is a funda- 

 mental difference in structure from the standpoint of composition. 



No. 25 is in principle like No. 24 but the refrain is short. Both songs have 

 two-part verses with the refrain after each part. In No. 26 we find the interesting 

 difference that while the song has the two-part verse, the first part of the first 

 verse has its own musical content and refrain; on the other hand, the second 

 part and both parts of the succeeding verses are alike and different from this 

 musical prelude which constitutes the first part of the first verse, poetically. 

 Still another design is exemplified in No. 27. The prelude is composed of A and 

 B while the refrain is the phrase C. In the second half of the first verse, however, 

 the verse part is composed of the phrases D and E, both being different from the 

 prelude phrases. In the first part of the second verse the D is retained as the 

 first phrase while the second is the B phrase of the prelude, and this alternation- 

 continues for the remainder of the song. 



No. 28 is decidedly complicated in structure. The verses are two-part and 

 the same refrain is used throughout. The second half of the first verse is com- 

 posed of the phrases C and B', where the first half was A and B. The second 

 verse in both parts is like the second half of the first. But the third introduces 

 D to replace the C phrase in both parts. The D is also retained in the first half 

 of the fourth, but with the second half a return is made to the C and B plan. 

 The fifth verse has two D phrases in the first half and D and B in the second, 

 while the sixth again has D and B for both parts. At first it seemed as if the 

 plan of phrases, ran in three verse parts, but this breaks down with the last half 

 of the fourth verse. 



No. 29 has three verse parts with the same refrain throughout, but in the 

 first verse, while the B phrase of the verse is retained, each section has a different 

 first phrase. In the second verse the parts are all like the second part of the 

 first verse. The third verse has the first two sections like those of the second 

 verse, but the third part reverts to the corresponding section in the first verse 

 for its first phrase while the second phrase is a combination of two phrases 

 taken from the first verse, which, after all, is a not inartistic finish. 



In Nos. 30 and 31 the songs have undivided verses and in each the 

 refrain serves for the whole song. The first and second verses are different in 

 phrase structure, however, as far as the verse proper is concerned, but neither 

 song is long enough for any definite conclusion. It is probable that since the 

 first verse is different from the second that the musical prelude is present. 



