Songs of the Copper Eskimos SSS" 



In the original, triplet rhythms are quite constant and there is a return to 

 the first part of the song for the finish which is all that could be desired, artistic- 

 ally. Although Arjotitciaq tried to remember it in all its appealing beauty, and 

 did very well under the circumstances, it can be seen at a glance that the 

 rhythms gradually escaped him and what he retained was chiefly the broad 

 melodic outline and the comparative time values of the notes. He has also 

 confused the order of the phrases and begins with what was originally the 



«cond, making a semi-cadence on the second degree (just before the phrase B), 

 ^ich in the original version was carried to the tonic and then extended in a 

 final section on the fifth. This, because of the way in which Ariotitciaq paused 

 on the second, became associated with what in the original version is an entirely 

 new section (that after the double bar). In the phrase C, in Ariotitciaq' s song, 

 he has departed considerably from the original tune, although with it before us 

 for comparison we can see that he follows it in skeleton, if he does weave around 

 it some variations of his own. He then closes with the part which originally 

 opened the song but which was also reverted to at the end, but instead of singing 

 through he stops on his favourite second degree at the end of what is the first 

 line in the original version. 



The fact that Ariotitciaq has given three of the five songs from this region 

 and that two end on the second degree, when in one case at least we know that 

 the original version did not, leads to the question if such might be a personal 

 maimerism with some singers. Such a question could not, of course, be answered 

 without considerable observation in the field. 



