Traditional Inuit Songs from the Thule Area

by Michael Hauser

Overview

This study provides a comprehensive description of the rich song culture of the people in the Thule area, the Inughuit. Transcriptions and scientific processing of 134 traditional songs recorded by archaeologist and folklorist Erik Holtved in Thule in 1937 – as well as a collection of Inughuit songs recorded in 1962 by Bent Jensen and the author – constitute the nucleus of this work. The songs and their texts are presented and notated in full length – including analyses of a representative stanza from each song. Based on the transcriptions, different form and melody types are revealed. Furthermore, descriptions are given of singing methods, drum construction and handling, and performing habits, as well as historical and recent data.Several other collections are notated and analyzed: recordings from Uummannaq-Upernavik in 1912, from the Copper Inuit areas in 1914–16, and from Baffin Island in the 1960s–70s. The study sheds important light on the characteristic traits of the form and melody types of the Inughuit and how these are linked to certain Inuit groups in Canada, documenting particular areas of origin and migration routes of these groups. Many of the songs are presented on the enclosed CD.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788763525893
Publisher:	Museum Tusculanum Press
Publication date:	01/15/2010
Pages:	1560
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 2.10(d)

About the Author

Michael Hauser is an ethnomusicologist. He has previously taught at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen. His ethnomusicological studies rest firmly on a life-long interest in and admiration of the tradition and heritage of Inughuit culture.

Editorial Reviews

This superb work is the product of several lifetimes of research, distilled for future students and for the descendants of the Inuit singers.- Reference & Research Book News, May 2010.

These volumes are marvelously researched, and Hauser’s passion and excitement for the Inughuit people, their culture, and their music are evident with every word. He speaks in the first person and shares stories and experiences of his relationship with the musicians behind his recordings. ... In many cases, he includes a photograph of the musician along with a biography—a case in point of Hauser’s genuine devotion to his subject.This book is an excellent reference for anyone studying ethnomusicology particularly of Canadian Inuit communities. It is an intense look at the musical form of Inughuit music and in that respect is primarily targeted toward ethnomusicologists. However, it also has a lot of relevant information for linguists and anthropologists in terms of the historical, scientific, and cultural data. Hauser’s inside perspective on Inuit culture, the photographic images he includes, and the CD of his and Holtved’s recordings make these volumes a fascinating study for both the average Arctic enthusiast and the serious scholar of Arctic culture.- Kate Schutz, ARCTIC, September 2010.

Michael Hauser’s two-volume publication offers an immensely rich study of the traditional drum-song of the Inuit, primarily the Inughuit from the Thule area, and from other arctic areas, e.g. Baffin Island. ... a monumental piece of work in more than one sense: by its sheer physical proportions, by the huge number of transcriptions and analyses, by the effort put into it – Hauser has worked on more than 800 hours of recordings – and by the meticulous and thorough processing of the data. It is a veritable must-have for future researchers in the field of Inuit songs as well as for those who care to know what to listen for, or is looking for something specific, when venturing into the recording collections.- Tore Tvarnø Lind, Danish Yearbook of Musicology 38, 2010/11.

From the Publisher