Mäetagused vol. 87
Summary
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The impact of the intensity ratio between vowels and voiceless plosives on the intelligibility of sung text
Keywords: voiceless plosives, plosive burst, masking, operatic singing, reverberation, text intelligibility, intensity of vowels and consonantsAllan Vurma
Professor of Musicology
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
allan.vurma@eamt.ee
Tuuri Dede
Postgraduate Student
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
tuurielo@gmail.com
Veeda Kala
Postgraduate Student
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
veeda.kala@eamt.ee
Einar Meister
Senior Researcher
Language Technology Laboratory, Tallinn University of Technology
einar.meister@taltech.ee
Lya Meister
Researcher
Language Technology Laboratory, Tallinn University of Technology
lya@ttu.ee
Marju Raju
Researcher
Department of Musicology, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
marju.raju@eamt.ee
Jaan Ross
Professor Emeritus of Musicology
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
jaan.ross@gmail.com
Background. In operatic singing, poor text intelligibility is often a problem. Some voice teachers believe that singers should articulate consonants more strongly to improve intelligibility, while others believe that this should be avoided.
Aim. The objective of this study is to ascertain (1) whether there is a tendency in operatic singing by which, compared to speaking, the intensity of all speech sounds is greater, but the intensity of voiceless plosive bursts increases proportionally less than that of vowels, which may make the recognition of plosives more difficult; and (2) whether pronouncing the bursts of voiceless plosives more strongly would improve their recognition.
Method. The investigation was split into two stages. In the first stage, five classically trained professional Estonian singers (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass) were asked (1) to sing an aria in Italian from a romantic period opera, and (2) to read the text of the same aria. The recordings were segmented on the level of single speech sounds, and the intensity level of each sound was measured with the help of the software Praat. In addition, recordings of sung performances by three Italian singers (two sopranos and a baritone) and examples of spoken text by two different speakers were similarly analyzed.
In the second stage, a perception test with 60 listeners (21 male, 38 female, and one non-binary) was carried out. The listeners were aged between 11 and 74. Seventy-two sequences /a/–/k/–/a/, /a/–/p/–/a/ and /a/–/t/–/a/, sung by a mezzo-soprano on G4, were played to the listeners as stimuli. The listener had to identify the plosive in the middle of each stimulus. The intensity level of the plosive varied in four steps (including one step in which the plosive burst was removed and replaced with silence). To some stimuli sets were added either reverberation (to imitate room acoustics) or pink noise (to imitate masking sounds from accompaniment or ensemble partners); further stimuli sets included the addition of both reverberation and pink noise.
Results. The first stage of the research showed that in the case of the Estonian singers the intensity of the sung vowels was, on average, 14.2 dB greater than that of the corresponding spoken speech sounds, whereas the intensity of the voiceless plosive bursts increased by an average of only 7.1 dB. The intensity difference between sung and spoken speech sounds was similar in the case of Italian vocalists.
Producing the plosive bursts more strongly generally tended to improve the recognition of plosives only when reverberation and/or pink noise were added to the stimuli. The probable cause of lowered recognition is the masking of plosives by the room reflections of the preceding vowels and sounds from the accompaniment and ensemble partners. In the case of /p/, too intense a burst could actually diminish recognition to some extent. The recognition was often above the level of chance even if the burst was removed, indicating that besides the plosive burst some other clues to identify the plosive exist (such as the formants’ glide from the locus of the plosive to the adjacent vowel).
Conclusions. There is no need to pronounce voiceless plosives with exaggerated vigor in singing if the room reverberation is small and there are no masking sounds from other musicians. The exception is /k/, which may remain unidentified if the plosive burst is not perceived. In poorer acoustic conditions, a stronger burst may improve intelligibility. However, the singer should be cautious not to overemphasize the /p/, as this may worsen its recognition.
Bees in Estonian belief lore
Mare Kõiva
Head of the Department of Folkloristics
Estonian Literary Museum
mare@folklore.ee
Keywords: bee, honey, forest beekeeping, home beekeeping, soul epitome, legends, worldview, urban beekeeping, folk medicine, apitherapy, mythology, folklore
The article traces changes in human cognitive and social development using the example of the only domesticated insect, the bee. From the 13th to the 20th century, forest bee-keeping spread, using live trees as beehives, and later also log hives on the ground. The ways of keeping bees changed fundamentally in the 19th century with the introduction of new types of hives, and they also consolidated beliefs in relation to bees. Bees had numerous special names, euphemisms were used when talking about them and in incantations, in which bees were called men/workers or other kinship terms were used, and they were also called domestic animals of the guardian fairies. The article presents beliefs about bees as soul animals and various mythical stories that were associated with the journey of the soul, as well as the popular belief about the connection between the death of the owner and the bees. While earlier on honey denoted an abundant and ideal life in the minds of people, the bee represented a hardworking, loyal person, and bees were the epitome of the motherland in texts expressing national identity. In the foreground is the search for balance between human and other beings, human and the environment, which is expressed, e.g., by the declaration of the rights of bees and the development trends of urban representation.
From Dugina to Crimea: Reactions of the Russian intelligentsia on social media to the events from September 2022 to March 2023
Sergey Troitskiy
Researcher
Department of Folkloristics, Estonian Literary Museum
sergei.troitskii@folklore.ee
Keywords: creativity, media, mental calendar, war in Ukraine, events, Russian intelligentsia, vernacular time
The study that was conducted from September 2022 to April 2023 demonstrates how perceptions of seemingly stable times change in times of crisis (war in Ukraine, repressions, dictatorship, political censorship, etc.). The methodology used in the study allows us to record the reinterpretation of memorable dates and the emergence of new events significant for social media users. The data analysis allows us to form a post facto order of significant events of the end of August 2022 – April 2023. I have conditionally called this order of events a “mental calendar”. The research was aimed at a certain social group of Russian society – intellectuals, who play an important role in the public and media space. The ability to generate narratives, descriptive strategies and interpretive frameworks suggests that the research will allow for a cross-sectional analysis of the perceptions of the entire Russian society. It was fundamental to observe the Russian segment of social networks, those who did not leave and remained in Russia, because this reaction from within demonstrates the plurality of opinions, different survival strategies, etc. This approach yielded important results for understanding what was happening inside the aggressor country, but at the same time had a number of limitations, primarily in the disclosure of the respondents' personal data.
Folkloristics at the University of Tartu in 1941–1944: Continuity of the discipline
Tiiu Jaago
Associate Professor
Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore Institute of Cultural Research, University of Tartu
tiiu.jaago@ut.ee
Keywords: August Annist, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, history of folklore research, German occupation, University of Tartu
The article looks at the teaching of folklore at the University of Tartu during World War II and the German occupation. It covers three academic years, from the autumn of 1941 to the spring of 1944. In previous studies, the period under review has been presented as a disruption: these years were either ignored altogether or described as an aberration in the development of the Soviet university. Yet it is noticeable that, when discussing the contribution of scholars whose professional biography also covers this period, their work is presented in the context of years, not political periods. All three approaches are characterised by the ideology of an authoritarian state: if research done during the German occupation was spoken of positively, it could be interpreted as anti-Soviet.
Therefore, this topic – the everyday life of the University of Tartu during the German occupation and the war – is expected to become relevant. The gap in knowledge needs filling. Was there any activity in folklore at all during this period?
The Chair of Folklore was established at the University of Tartu in 1919, when the Estonian-language university was opened. In the Tsarist era (1802–1917), studying the Estonian language and culture was possible in lectureship courses only. Jaan Jõgever (1860–1924) systematically taught folklore as part of the lectureship course from 1909. In 1919, Jaan Jõgever became the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and one of the leading architects of the structure of the chairs of the Estonian language, culture and history at the university. Walter Anderson (1885–1962), an alumnus of Kazan University, who was already internationally renowned, was invited to the post of professor of folklore. In parallel, courses in Estonian folklore were taught by M. J. Eisen (1857–1934), who had previously worked as a pastor but, as a folklore collector, was a good expert on Estonian folklore. After Eisen died and Anderson left Tartu (in the course of the Umsiedlung in 1939), three alumni of the Estonian-language university engaged in teaching: Oskar Loorits (1900–1961), Elmar Päss (1901–1970), and the literary scholar August Annist (1899–1972). Elmar Päss moved to Tallinn at the end of the 1930s. Oskar Loorits, who was also the director of the Estonian Folklore Archives, became in charge of the chair. Due to conflict with the German occupation authorities, he could not continue working at the university at the end of 1942. However, folklore-related activities at the university continued: literary scholar August Annist delivered lectures and gave examinations in the specialisation. In autumn 1944, when the Soviet university reopened, Eduard Laugaste became the head of the Chair of Folklore. Annist continued as a lecturer of literature but was arrested in the early summer of 1945 and spent the next six years as a political prisoner. After he was released, he did not return to the university.
This excursus reveals that, despite favourable and unfavourable circumstances, the teaching of folklore at the university that had started in 1909 was not discontinued during the war. However, it also shows that in the first half of the 20th century the government’s role was decisive in shaping the independence of the discipline by establishing the institutions. Today, it is important to analyse the development of the discipline, considering the interactions between the state, the institutions and the researcher(s), to gain a complete picture.
In memoriam
Rutt Hinrikus 7.05.1946 – 29.10.2023
Obituaries from the Estonian Literary Museum, Karl Ristikivi Society, and the Estonian Life Stories Association.
William F. Ryan 13.04.1937 – 2.11.2023
Obituary from Andrei Toporkov and Aleksei Chernetsov.
Ottilie-Olga Kõiva 6.02.1932 – 9.11.2023
Obituary from Janika Oras.
News in brief
Birthday greetings
Heino Räim (90), Edgar Saar (85), Asta Õim (80), Anne Hussar (80), Ülo Siimets (75), Kazuto Matsumura (70), Triinu Ojamaa (70), Andres Kuperjanov (65), Krista Aru (65), Eda Kalmre (65), Mall Leman (60), Guntis Šmidchens (60), Peter Pomozi (60), Janika Kronberg (60), Kärt Summatavet (60), Karin Maria Rooleid (60), Janika Oras (60), Anzori Barkalaja (55), Tiina Sepp (55), Hannes Palang (55), Astrid Tuisk (55), Aet Annist (50), Merili Metsvahi (50), Valdo Valper (50), Liisi Laineste (45), Laur Vallikivi (45), Margaret Lyngdoh (40).
Svetlana Tolstaia focuses on time and word
On 14 December 2023 Svetlana Tolstaia celebrates her 85th birthday among Slavists, linguists, folklorists, researchers of religion, and ethnographers from many countries. Irina Sedakova and Marina Valentsova from the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences write about her life’s work.
Traditional culture through a camera lens 2
Mare Kõiva’s overview of the Estonian-Udmurt webinar titled “Traditional culture through a camera lens”, which was conducted in cooperation between the folklorists and anthropologists of the Estonian Literary Museum and Udmurt research centres over Microsoft Teams on 21–22 September 2023.
At the source of living tradition
Mare Kõiva and Nikolai Anisimov write about the international online conference “At the source of living culture”, which took place on 4–6 October 2023.
Impressions from a world conference of ethnologists and anthropologists in India
Reet Hiiemäe and Andrus Tins recall the 19th IUAES-WAU World Ethnology and Anthropology Congress under the heading “Marginalities, Uncertainties, and World Anthropologies: Enlivening Past and Envisioning Future” in New Delhi, India, on 14–20 October, and the post-conference “Anthropology and Digital Cultures” in Hyderabad, India, on 26–27 October.
Calendar
A brief summary of the events of Estonian folklorists from July to December 2023.
The aspect of subjectivity in Aurora Semper’s concert reviews published in different socio-political context
Meeta Morozov
Junior researcher
Department of musicology, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
meeta.morozov@eamt.ee
Keywords: Aurora Semper, concert reviews, music criticism, Postimees, Sirp and Vasar, Soviet time
The article examines the subjective aspect in concert reviews by Estonian music critic, pianist, teacher and music historian Aurora Semper (1899–1982), investigating whether and how different socio-political context influenced the manifestation of Semper’s subjective evaluations and taste in her writings for the newspapers Postimees (1938–1940) and Sirp ja Vasar (1956–1965). The paper focuses on the question of to what extent Semper’s subjective aesthetic understandings developed by the 1930s, such as seeing chamber music at the top of the hierarchy of musical genres, her educational background, including piano studies and the experience of West European musical life, were expressed during the Soviet regime with its demands on re-evaluation of music according to the Marxist-Leninist ideology.
Comparing Semper’s reviews written in the late 1930s and 1960s, enough common features emerge. The found similarities include the preference for chamber music/ensembles and symphony concerts as well as the focus on the performance aspect, interest in historical issues and the observation of the long-term development of the collective/artist. Also, the attitude towards contemporary music is generally supportive and favourable. As a difference, one can notice the absence of stage works’ reviews in Semper’s Soviet-era writings and a stronger ideological message which is not emphasized but which Semper expressed when necessary in her attitudes, as well as the use of language and emphases. It can therefore be concluded that Aurora Semper’s subjectivity, which was strongly shaped by her studies in Europe (Germany, France) in the 1920s, broad mind and curiosity for knowledge, marriage to an intelligent and tolerant writer and politician Johannes Semper, music history teaching experience and a delicate character, became visible in the relatively free press of the independent Estonia in the 1930s and remained generally unchanged, despite the new socio-political context, in the much more rigid and ideologically controlled Soviet years.