And they sang like this long ago: musical folklore of the Old Believers of northwestern Belarus

“And Long Ago They Sung This Way…” is a unique publication dedicated to the musical folklore of the Old Believers of Podvinnia. The book contains 45 authentic songs, transcriptions, ethnomusicological comments in Belarusian, Russian and English, as well as rare interviews and photos. The earliest recordings are from 1963, and the oldest singer was over 100 years old. A unique touch to the living tradition of Belarusian culture.

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The book is the result of a purposeful and long-term study of the musical folklore of the Old Believers of the Western Podvinnia. It consists of three sections: “Volachobnye pesni”, “Krutukha, chorovody, pahadushki”, “Lyric songs”. Each of the sections has a thorough ethnomusicological commentary in three languages - Belarusian, Russian and English. The transcriptions of expeditionary conversations and song-poetic texts of songs are made in the local Old Believer dialect. The collection contains 45 musical and text transcriptions of folk songs (published for the first time), each of which can be listened to in an authentic performance. The earliest audio recording dates back to 1963, and the oldest singer whose voice can be heard in the publication was born in the 1890s. The book is illustrated with photographs collected or taken during folklore and ethnographic expeditions.

Fragments can be browsed on Google Books.