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Dissertation Final.pdf (2.13 MB)

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Exploring the Structure of Germanic Folksong

Brinkman, Andrew
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1590774494540657

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Music.
The history of musical development in cultural groups across Europe is vast and varied. We know, for instance, that groups of people use music as a way of both creating social cohesion and differentiation or exclusion (Hagen & Bryant, 2003). The relationship between cultural group identity and musical characteristics is one that has gathered some attention in European folk music scholarship over the years. However, the question of how musical features act as a reflection of unique cultural groups needs further exploration. Additionally, the Essen Folksong Collection, one of the only large databases of Western folk music, has seen extensive overuse over the past few decades, thus eliciting further inquiry into the representativeness of the Collection itself. In this dissertation, I attempt to provide an in-depth analysis of the Essen Folksong Collection as a representation of 19th-century German folksong by exploring its origins, how scholars have used the Collection, and what the Collection still has left to tell us about the nature of Western folksongs. In particular, I discuss the somewhat unclear background of the Essen Collection and how Helmuth Schaffrath and his colleagues in Essen, Germany first came upon the materials that make up the Essen Collection. Afterwards, I provide a small meta-analysis of the research that has cited the Essen Collection, pointing out three general topic trends. Finally, I provide an exploration of the relationship between basic statistical properties of the Essen Collection and their geographical spread across the German region. By taking this long look at the history and usage of the Essen Collection, we can begin to better understand how empirical research in folksong studies has been shaped by the past and how best to approach it in the future.
David Huron (Advisor)
Daniel Shanahan (Advisor)
Ryan Skinner (Committee Member)
177 p.
Music
Music; Music Theory; Empirical Musicology; German; Central European; Ethnomusicology

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Citations

  • Brinkman, A. (2020). Exploring the Structure of Germanic Folksong [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1590774494540657

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Brinkman, Andrew. Exploring the Structure of Germanic Folksong. 2020. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1590774494540657.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Brinkman, Andrew. "Exploring the Structure of Germanic Folksong." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1590774494540657

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1590774494540657
493
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.