= 
On the Eskimo Music. 15 
As example I may cite No. 21, which begins with recitative with 
a distance almost equal to a third between the tones spoken: 
then follows a melody, the first strophe in which is a melodic 
repetition of the recitative (D—F), whilst the second strophe moves 
downwards (D—B); D is quite distinctly the mean tone, tonus cur- 
rens, of the melody: 
In Nos. 6 and 10 the rise of the 
melody (a second) is most prominent 
after the tonus currens, whilst the fall 
(a fourth) is of subordinate importance 
and has not obtained any definite tonal 
form. It is perfectly clear, that the 
mean tone of the spoken words becomes 
the tonus currens of the melody, not 
only when the East Greenlander in- 
troduces these intermediate forms be- 
tween recitative and song; but even 
when ordinary speech comes immedi- 
ately before a song, it is often the case 
that the tonus currens of the song is 
at a height which almost corresponds 
to the fall in tone in the last syllable 
spoken. 
Often the SODE is interrupted by Fig. 4. Two men in juridical drum- 
a rhythmic shout, in which case there contest, at the moment of butting 
is sometimes an intermediate transition one another. (Rültel phot.) 
from song to shout (e. g. No. 69). The 
tone immediately before the shout is sometimes given staccato. In 
these rhythmic, modulated shouts we undoubtedly have the oldest 
form of music, the first artistic expression of joy or pain of primi- 
tive folk. ! | 
| Е. Boas? has shown that quite the same recitative forms as 
those mentioned here prevail among the Central Eskimo — rhythmic 
prose and melodies beginning or ending with rhythmic recitative. 
т Cf. О. Bockel, Psychologie der Volksdichtung, рр. 2—3 (Leipzig 1906). 
"Е. Boas, The Central Eskimo, р. 648—49; H. Rink and Е. Boas, Eskimo tales and 
songs (Journ. of American Folklore II), pp. 123 etc. 
