Virginia Houpt
Dickinson College
April 15, 1983

FORWARD

The words and thoughts on these pages are a long and awkward explanation of what is simply a marvelous cultural sharing. The Kalmyk people are wonderfully generous with their music and hospitable in their temple and in their homes. Many thanks go to Sara and Alex Goripow for their long hours spent teaching me how to play music like a Kalmyk and introducing me to the rich heritage of their people.

The work towards the writing of this paper was not the beginning nor the end of the sharing of Kalmyk music in this country. In the early 1960’s, Gordon Bok spent a long time with the Kalmyks, learned their music, and played for their dances. Generously, he gave to the Library of Congress tapes including six hours of Kalmyk folk music played by the Kalmyks. From these tapes I have taken a good deal of material for this paper, and it is these tapes, representing weeks of field work, that have made the current project possible. I hope that the opening of the Kalmyk Temple of Philadelphia in the near future will encourage continued emphasis on Kalmyk music and dance, the teaching and performing of which is necessary to its ongoing vitality.

The Kalmyk ancestors were Oirat Mongols, nomadic shepherds of the Dzungarian valley in what is now Northwestern Mongolia. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Oirats were part of the feudal military dominion of Genghis Khan. The Oirats migrated into Russia in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The Kalmyks became a separate group during this migration and settled in the Steppes of the Volga River, northwest of the Caspian Sea. Just after the time of this settlement, Lamaist Buddhism was adopted as the Kalmyk religion.

The Kalmyks continued to raise livestock in a feudal-patriarchal system with some occasional intervention of the Tsarist government. They were active in the Peasant Wars in the eighteenth century, and some Kalmyks joined the Cossack tribes. Russian economic and political intervention in the later nineteenth century brought many Kalmyk farms to poverty level. Because of the exploitation, Kalmyk uprisings, although suppressed, were common at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Tsarist mobilization of the Kalmyks for World War I added to the unrest. Hostility towards Russian communism erupted in the Revolution of 1917, and this occasioned the beginning of the exodus from Russia of many Kalmyks.

The Kalmyks who fled Russia in 1918 dispersed to the countries of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Bolivia, and Turkey. Many others left during the Second World War and, through all the confusion, managed to congregate along with the 1918 escapees at the Displaced Person Camps in Germany. Although reunited, the Kalmyks had no home and were willing to wait at the DP Camps until they could find a country that would take all of them. Because of the Oriental Exclusion Act of 1922 (the “Yellow Quota”), the Kalmyks could not at first be considered for admission into the United States. As time wore on, though, American service organizations such as the Tolstoy Foundation and Church World Service became American representatives for the Kalmyks, and in 1952, 560 Kalmyks were admitted to the U.S.

The admission process was not easy nor was it uncomplicated. The Kalmyks had to be termed Caucasian because of the “Yellow Quota”; this involved a huge and probably farcical study done at the DP Camps by the University of Illinois. The study concluded that the Kalmyks had been sufficiently acculturated to the Russian world to be considered Western. This Caucasian label still exists on all the records of citizenship for the Kalmyks, and many of the Kalmyks are resentful of this false label, for they are proud Mongolians.

Kalmyk settlement in the U.S. was helped by financial and managerial assistance from both the Tolstoy Foundation and Church World Service. For the first two years of their stay in the U.S., the Kalmyks were dispersed in various jobs and living situations throughout the country, but just as they sought out each other at the DP Camps, so they settled together in Philadelphia and in Vineland, New Jersey. The two tribal affiliations of the Kalmyks—Busawa and Derbet—were the best represented clans in the states. Most of the Derbets settled in Vineland where a Temple was built. The Busawa in Philadelphia used the Friends Neighborhood Guild as their meeting place. Many of the Busawa Kalmyks skilled in carpentry are currently building a Philadelphia temple that should be complete by the end of 1983. The geographical separation of the Kalmyk tribes does not reflect a cultural separation; the Kalmyks are a closely knit group.

Currently, almost a thousand Kalmyks live in Philadelphia and Vineland, and hundreds of thousands still live in the Volga delta region. It is there that the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed in 1935. Since there are family connections between the two areas, communication and travel are not uncommon. The U.S. Kalmyks have observed the success of the Soviet plan to subjugate all of the lesser tribes including the Russian Kalmyks. They can prove this in the playing of Soviet-made records of Kalmyk music that have been sent by relatives. Most of the music is orchestrated modern Russian music with

little if any relation to the Kalmyk traditions. The U.S. Kalmyks are resentful of this and are not quiet about their strong anti-communist feelings. They believe that, because of this subjugation in Russia, they are the only people able to carry on the Kalmyk culture.

The Kalmyk’s history shows how a strong and spiritually unified group can withstand intense hardship. That they still consider themselves Mongolians after four hundred years shows that they are a group with a center and are resistant to change. That they have sought each other out as a group shows that they have a great feeling of unity. This proud culture is consciously and actively living out its traditions and protecting its identity amidst a changing environment. One must respect the Kalmyks, for their culture is their home.

THE MUSIC OF THE KALMYKS

Any piece of music from the Kalmyk folk heritage may be placed into the division of long-song (ut dun) or short-song (akhr dun). The long-songs are characterized by long syllables, slow tempo, free rhythm and text usage, and often elaborate ornamentation. They usually tell a tragic story and are always unaccompanied. The short-songs contain short syllables, are fast in tempo, strophic, have a regular meter, and are often danced to. This important distinction between song genres exists also in the music of the Bashkirs and the Tatars, peoples of the more northern Volga and Ural banks. It is probable that these other groups are also of Mongolian ancestry.

The long-songs have a small but special place in the culture of the U.S. Kalmyks. Most of the religious music is of this genre. The singer of the religious songs must be cleansed before the singing, and because this music is only to be sung during the actual religious service, its collection is difficult. It seems that the non-religious long-songs are also highly esteemed. Many of the U.S. Kalmyks are hesitant to sing them because they argue that their performance requires a very special talent. Apparently the older generations were most expressive with the long-songs, but now the songs are slipping further into memory and out of performance. The long-songs are generally performed with a more guttural and suffering voice than the short-songs, and usually neither words nor music are repeated. Because of the lack of long-songs in the current repertory of the U.S. Kalmyks, this genre will not be treated in depth in this paper.

The short-songs encompass the Kalmyk dance music, epic music, and the lighter story songs—usually songs of love. These types will be explained in detail with the transcriptions. It should be made clear that there is no Kalmyk music that cannot be sung. There are words for every piece of music, and the Kalmyks consider their voices the best medium for expression. Some songs, especially the dance songs, are more often played instrumentally, but many Kalmyks prefer to sing them without words rather than play them.

The most significant change in the Kalmyk music that has occurred during the homelessness and traveling of the twentieth century has been in the instruments used. During the years in the Steppes, the primary instrument was the Kalmyk Dombr, a three-stringed, fretted, triangular instrument similar to a balalaika. Also akin to the Tater Dumbra and the Kazakh dömbra, this instrument could either play strummed chords or, less frequently, a picked melody. The chordal playing of this instrument sounds extremely percussive and is used particularly well in the accenting of the driving rhythms of the Kalmyk dance songs. There are still dombr bands in the Kalmyk A.S.S.R.; these bands may have as many as ten or more players of many different sized dombrs. The other instrument of the earlier Russian Kalmyks was a Saratov accordion, a concertina with a high-pitched bell used for accent. This instrument developed from the accordion which was popular in Russia in the nineteenth century. At weddings, the Saratov accordion would be used as a solo instrument, but at dances and gatherings of more than one musician, it would usually serve as accompaniment. Most instrumentalists are men, although there are some women who play.

When the Kalmyks came to the U.S., they adopted the most available instruments, which were guitars and mandolins. Very few original Kalmyk instruments crossed the ocean. The guitars were used almost solely for accompaniment, playing chords in a steady rhythm. The tuning that the Kalmyks use on the guitar is what they call “Russian tuning,” or E-A-D-A-C#-E. The strumming style includes a sudden and percussive damping of the strings with the right hand for accentuation. The mandolin style is much more common, using a pick for melody playing and tuning by fifth. Notes are lengthened by playing repeated short notes in an ostinato rhythm. Tremolo is incorporated on long notes in slow songs. Occasionally a violin is added to the melody, although this is not a sound that the Kalmyks necessarily associate with their music. Instrumental groups ranging in size from two to five or more play for dances or for their own pleasure. The music of the group is not carefully orchestrated; rather, the players play a common song in unison. All of the short-songs lend themselves to instrumental performance, whereas the long-songs are not heard except by a solo singer.

Since about 1965 there have been fewer and fewer instrumentalists among the U.S. Kalmyks. Increasing involvement in American urban culture has left many of the Kalmyks with no time for practice, and the many who work as carpenters may never be able to move their fingers on the mandolin strings as they used to. Records are used now at dances, and musical gatherings are mostly vocal. The Kalmyks realize that this situation endangers the life of their music, especially since none of the younger Kalmyks have learned to play the instruments. In light of this, they are hoping to set up music workshops in the new temple in Philadelphia.

The language of the Kalmyks is called Kalmyk and is important to the study of the music. It is in the Altaic language group and part of the Turco-Mongol branch. The Russian alphabet is used for writing. Kalmyk is spoken in most of the homes of the U.S. Kalmyks, but English is used as the first language in most situations where young people are present. The younger Kalmyks tend to have no noticeable accent and use the native language infrequently. The Kalmyk language is used for lyrics in all the songs, and the lines all rhyme. Syllables will be added especially in the dance songs in order to match words to the rhythm. For example, the dance song, “Sharka Barka” (D1) will be sung:

and “Bitchken Bokshurgas” (A3):

The addition of syllables is used in place of what would be a slur in Western European music. This singing style, especially in the faster dance songs, exaggerates the actual speed of the music, and the song thus sounds virtuostic and almost frantic.

The scales used in Kalmyk music are diatonic without semitones. In almost all cases, the lowest and highest note in a piece is either the tonic note or the fifth. There doesn’t seem to be a strong melodic pointing to the tonic note as in Western European music, so the tonic is defined here by the accompaniment. First and last (cadential) notes of a song are often tonic or dominant. The most frequently played note is usually not tonic, and the third of the scale is just as prevalent in this position as the dominant. Leading tones are used often in some songs and avoided in others, but their use as a preparation for the tonic is similar to that in Western European music. In most cases, the scale used in a song is not a complete diatonic scale. The sixth and/or seventh degrees are the most common missing tones from the scale, and in one song (J1), the scale is pentatonic, missing both the fourth and seventh tones. Minor modes are used infrequently, but are represented here in songs S1, S3, and A3.

The guitar accompaniment to Kalmyk songs is often more rhythmic than harmonic, yet the guitar adds to the music a strong polarity between tonic and dominant. Chords are added to the melody at the player’s will, but the melodies only hint at possible changes in harmony and seem to shun the harmonic ideas altogether. In most cases only the tonic and dominant chords are used. Most of the songs are in a major key, and the few that are minor are mostly sung songs rather than dances. The singing of a harmonic countermelody is new to the Kalmyks in the last forty or fifty years and is probably a result of Western European influence. This harmony is added more to the long-songs than the short and is enjoyed much more by the few singers who have experimented with it than, say, the Lamaist priest who may worry about its appropriateness in the temple. Harmony seems to be relative for the Kalmyks rather than absolute; keys may be interchanged as observed in D7.

The melodies of the Kalmyk songs studied here are largely made up of intervals of a second, making the melodic line generally smooth and flowing. Arpeggiation in the melody is rare, which may be one of the reasons for the gap between melody and harmony. Leaps in the melody usually occur on strong beats and may accent the tonic as in a leap up from the dominant to the tonic. Overall, the melodic contour in the songs is generally a gradual ascending then descending arch or a combination of arches. With the ranges of the songs rarely exceeding an octave, these arches are by definition not dramatic but do add balance to the music.

The meters used in the Kalmyk short-songs are simple-duple, simple-triple, and complex-duple. Studying the mandolin renditions reveals corresponding rhythms which can sum up the rhythmic tendencies (modes) in the short-songs:

The Kalmyk short-songs are strongly influenced by the dances, and this can explain the consistency of rhythm and the lack of any asymmetrical meters in this genre. The melodic performance of the songs usually does not stress the meter, so although the metrical feeling may be strong to the performer, the listener may not have any clue as to what this is until a dombr or guitar is added.

Don’t be you when you play Kalmyk music—you’re too gentle—be a Kalmyk, be the barbarian.

The form of Kalmyk short-songs is well defined in A, B, and sometimes C sections but during performance may not be followed religiously. A group of Kalmyk players with two or more melody instruments must be conscious of the exact form of the piece, but if there is only one melody player, the accompaniment can usually follow a freer form. There is little evidence in Kalmyk music of parallel periods such as those in Russian folk music (A4) and the dances of the British Isles; instead, strict repetition is followed. Exceptions can occur if there is a strong rhythmic ending that is repeated after every formal cycle, as in J1. Kalmyk melodies are often symmetric in form, and sections are always consistent in length—usually AABB where each section is eight or sixteen measures long. Forms of ABB and AAB are also common, but these may have grown out of an alternate performance practice of an original AABB tune. Songs with added C sections take the forms ABC, AABCC, ABCC, and in one instance (song B3), ABACB; section lengths in these songs are often shorter than in songs with only two sections. Upbeats occur in about one third of the songs and are considered vital to them. Some songs, especially the Busawa dance songs, are cyclical, meaning that there is no cadential treatment of the notes at the end of the formal cycle, but more often a song will come to a possible stopping point.

Cadences are usually short descending phrases to the tonic or dominant note. If the cadential note is the tonic, it is often prepared by the leading tone. The rhythmic mode of the piece is with little exception maintained throughout the cadential note if the piece is to be repeated, but if the final cycle is coming to a close, the cadential note will most often be held through the measure. It is not common for this note to be held longer than the measure, nor is it popular to ritard as the note approaches. The songs in simple-triple meter are extraordinary consistent with their cadences. Of the four songs in this meter, only two secondary versions do not fit this formula:

About two-thirds of the cadences in the songs studied are masculine, with the cadential note falling on the first beat of the measure. Feminine cadences were most common in complex-duple meter.

Of all the different aspects of Kalmyk music, the feeling and inner motivation is most important. The most valuable explanation of the music was given by the Kalmyks themselves: “Don’t be you when you play Kalmyk music—you’re too gentle—be a Kalmyk, be the barbarian.” This feeling adds the necessary strength, confidence, and volume that makes the music Kalmyk. It can be concluded, then, that Kalmyk music is vitally linked to Kalmyk history and culture; they are an inseparable unit and must be experienced as one.

THE TRANSCRIPTIONS

Charles Seeger (1953) has written on the problems of “speech knowledge” versus “music knowledge”—of trying to put a musical experience into words. The argument, of course, is that music should be allowed to speak for itself. This issue is especially applicable here. Although the transcriptions of the Kalmyk music were a necessary tool in my learning of the music, they do not suffice in the present explanation of the music. The transcriptions seem to portray dry and uninteresting pieces because they cannot express the timbre, the excitement, and most importantly the strong Kalmyk feeling that underlie all of this music. In annotating these transcriptions, I have tried to bridge some of the gap between the reading of this paper and the actual experiencing of the music. Descriptions of the accompanying dances or the meaning of the words to a song can help to bridge this gap. I hope that these annotations help to express the richness of this music.

The pieces that are transcribed here were mostly taken from instrumental renditions on the tapes that Gordon Bok made for the Library of Congress. These tapes, six hours in all, are a wealth of Kalmyk music in many forms. There is a good deal of informal, or “kitchen table” music recorded—usually two or three people playing a common but un-practiced piece of music. The transcription of this music is not easy because there is usually no definite beginning or end to the informal versions, and often two players will not remember the melody in exactly the same way. Nevertheless, most of the transcriptions here come from these renditions, for this seems to be the purest form of the music. The tape also includes a good deal of conversation in Kalmyk and also the playing of Russian-made records of Kalmyk music. Where a professional recording existed of another version of a song transcribed from the informal portion of the tapes, the professional version was also transcribed for comparison. However, the American Kalmyks have a great distrust for these professional recordings. They resent the Soviet orchestration of many of the old Kalmyk tunes, the misrepresentation of them, and the addition of newer material to the Kalmyk records. I felt that since the current study is about the Kalmyks as American immigrants, these professional recordings should not be considered proper material.

The second source of musical input was a lengthy session with two Kalmyks of the Busawa clan on March 12, 1983, in which I played each of the transcriptions that were previously made from the tapes. The comments and corrections of my renditions were of great value, and these may be found in the annotations. It became clear at this session that the informality of the music on the tapes may have been a hindrance. Some songs transcribed were played on the tapes with such freedom that they were unrecognizable as a previously-transcribed piece. The session with the Kalmyks was most helpful in the sorting out of informal and formal, original and variant.

For each piece of music transcribed, I have included all versions which may be of interest to the reader. In all cases except where it is mentioned in the annotations, what is believed to be the original version of the piece is listed first. The others are listed in order by a number above the meter signature. I cannot be so bold as to seek the “Ur Text” of any of these pieces; rather, when referring to the “original,” I mean that this is probably the piece in its most simple form. There is a good deal to be learned from the versions. Melodic and rhythmic alterations both seem acceptable, but none of these alterations can actually complement the original if the two are played together. Some of the alterations of rhythm, in fact, also throw off the meter by adding or missing a beat here or there. The purpose of the variations, then, is to satisfy the player’s own interest, personal expression, and experimentation.

It is regretful that Kalmyk names are not available for all of the songs. The names exist, but were not accessible before this writing. In cases where the name was available, it is placed on the transcription. For the sake of simplicity and clarity, though, the songs will be referred to by the number on the top right-side of each transcription. This number is accompanied by a letter which should aid in the categorization and immediate description of the songs:

D for a song in the Derbet style
B for a song in the Busawa style
E for a song that can be played in either style
S for a song specific for singing
A for a song specific for dancing
J for the epic Djangar

It must be explained that the transcriptions contained here are not exhaustive directions to the player, and that there are certain Kalmyk musical assumptions that must be taken into account when reading this music. When sung, these songs are strophic, usually having many verses. If the singer is performing with instrumentalists, then there will usually be an instrumental verse in between each of the sung verses. For the singer, then, the song ends when there are no more words, but for the instrumentalist, especially when the song is not sung at all, there is no specific end to the song. In the transcriptions, it is assumed that the piece will be played over and over again, even though the music does not specifically call for that repetition. In cases where the music eventually ends on a note other than the last note written, the word “fine” marks this last note.

The dynamic marking for all of the songs should be a sensitive “forte.” Metronome markings are given for a general feeling since the Kalmyks are not so exact in their tempi. These markings were given to the tunes as they were played on the tapes. The rhythms vary in performance according to the instrument used. Where the transcription was taken from a mandolin rendition, the longer notes, rather than being held out as in a vocal or violin rendition, are repeated. This difference has no aural effect on the music according to the Kalmyks, as long as the instrument is being played comfortably in its own style.

The Derbet Dances

The dance songs of the Derbet clan are characterized by their complex-duple meter. The predictable rhythm is described by the Kalmyks as the “Sharka Barka rhythm,” referring to the name of the first and most popular of the Derbet dance songs. This is wonderfully descriptive, as the spoken words “Sharka Barka” fit this rhythm

exactly. These dances should have a strong, driving quality. When I played the transcriptions for the Kalmyks, they always seemed to ask that the tempo of these dances be faster, and they were happiest when the dances were played close to (dotted quarter note=200). The metronome markings given show what could be acceptable, but should not be taken literally. A little over-dotting of the rhythm is pleasing to the Kalmyks, as long as the quality of the meter is maintained.

The dances to these songs are less likely to be choreographed than others. They are danced to show individual accomplishment of a style of dancing specific to the men of the Derbet clan. This style is characterized by very fast movements of the feet and also the twisting of the legs into difficult but beautiful positions. The foot movements add percussion to the beat, and the dance is usually improvised.

The structure for the Derbet dance songs is usually in the form AABB. The band should play the dance through until the leader calls “last time,” usually during the A section. The band will play through the last strain and hold the cadential note of the final B section. The players, then, must be constantly aware of the structure of the piece. This form and method of performance are not unlike that of the Irish contradances.

It should be mentioned that the last dance in this set (D7) may be more specific to the Kuvuda clan of Kalmyks. There is little representation of this tribe in the United States.

The Busawa Dances

In comparison to the Derbet Dances, the Kalmyks describe the Busawa dance songs as “more stretched out,” “pulling,” “smoother,” and “poetic.” The Busawa dance lacks idiosyncrasies such as the Derbet rhythm and the twisting of the legs, but a Kalmyk will still know a Busawa dance when he hears one. The meter for the Busawa dance songs is always simple-duple. They have a strong circular feel to them and there are no cadences built into the melody. The endings for these dances are thus quite abrupt.

In playing one of these songs for a dancer, one must accent the beat and play strongly. However, if the piece is being played for its musical beauty alone, the player may alter the strong metrical feeling as in the third and fourth versions of B2. In the fourth version, the player seems to have taken this freedom to an extreme and lost the sense of any meter, but version 3 has captured a wonderful syncopation while retaining the meter.

B3 is specifically a men’s dance. For most of the Kalmyk choreographed dances, the women have a more dominant role than the men, and often the men will just stand and beat drums as part of the dance. Here, though, the roles are reversed and the women follow the men.

E1-E2

In these two songs, the difference between the Derbet and Busawa rhythms is underlined. Both songs may be played in either style.

When the first version of El (in Derbet rhythm) was played for the Busawa Kalmyks of Philadelphia, they disagreed mostly on the melody. When they sang the corrected melody, though, their rhythm switched to the Busawa in the middle of the song. The second version here comes from this rendition and another in which they began the song in the Busawa rhythm. It is possible in this case that this slightly different melody belongs to the Busawa version of this song, emphasizing a difference between the two clans that may go much farther than just rhythm. There is not currently enough information to pursue this difference fully.

The dance song Shar’n Narrun Tolygn (E2) is quite popular among the Kalmyks. It is played in the Derbet style more than in the Busawa, and even the Busawa Kalmyks agreed that it should be played in the Derbet meter. Version 4 is similar to version 1, and version 3 is an acceptable variant.

S1 Zeghin Zagan Boltaksn

The title of this song means “beyond the horizon.” It is a song that, because of its static, slower, and uncategorized rhythm, would not be danced to. It is a popular song among the Kalmyks and used to be sung at many concerts.

The second version of this song is a correction of the first (a mandolin rendition from the Library of Congress tapes), and it is probably the original. According to the Kalmyks, the most noticeable fault of the first version was that the A and B sections were reversed. They noted that this confusion was probably caused by the Kalmyk bands’ practice of playing the last section first as an introduction. The other major difference between these versions is that the second is a vocal rendition with many fewer notes. The Kalmyks agree that the voice is much more expressive than a mandolin or guitar, and this is exemplified in the comparison of measures five and six of version 1 and the corresponding measures thirteen and fourteen of version 2.

S2 Shadga Schughun

This song is sung by the women. The title means “ugly bird.” The words tell of a girl who was rejected by the man who was to be her husband. There was little if any love involved because marriages were arranged by the families, but she is deeply hurt by the rejection. She compares herself in the first person to the ugly bird.

The second and third versions are considered acceptable variants of the first. When performing these, the Kalmyks warn that the player should know the original from which he is diverging and only add variations when someone else is playing the original. The fourth version was unacceptable for its incorrect meter.

S3

There is a good deal to be learned from the two versions of this song. It was my feeling that the versions were quite distinct songs until I was corrected by the Kalmyks. Indeed, the rhythms and meters are quite opposite, but a careful look at the melody and structure will reveal the similarity.

From the Kalmyks’ immediate recognition of version 2 as a variant of version 1, it could be concluded that the identity of the song lies in its melody. The meters in this case could not hide the melody, even though different notes were accented. The meter, then, seems to be somewhat more separate from the Kalmyk song than it is from the typical American song.

S4

This is a very old song. It was especially popular among the generation of Kalmyks who were in their 40’s during the immigration in 1952. It is a difficult song to sing, and the Kalmyks consider it quite beautiful. Most Kalmyks will not attempt to sing it unless they have practiced it a good deal— it is not taken lightly. In this sense, this song has something of the character of the long-songs—extremely expressive and held in great esteem.

S5-S6

These are two very old songs of the Kalmyk people.

The first version of S5 is a mandolinist’s interpretation from the Library of Congress tapes. Although quite irregular in meter, it was difficult to distrust because it was played exactly this way twice. When played back to the Kalmyks, they were able to sing it emphasizing the correct meter. This became version 2. Indeed, the first version was missing some beats. Version 2 may be considered the original here.

A1 Tsetsga

This is a dance specifically for 4-6 young, single girls. The title is the Kalmyk word for flower, and in the dance not only do the girls simulate flower picking, but they form a moving circle which folds and opens like a flower. The dance is quite slow with swaying movements.

The song is very old and seems more gentle than the other Kalmyk songs.

A2 Chinya Minya Hoya Setga

This is a dance for one boy and one girl, and it is choreographed to include the singing. The words are an important part of the dance, and there are hand gestures to accent the words as they are sung. One at a time, the two sing to each other the song which, roughly translated, means “my thoughts are as pure as silver for you, whenever I see your face my anxieties are at peace.” Then the dancing occurs, and the end of the last verse, sung in unison, says, “and it’s none of anybody’s business.”

The song is very short, and the instruments play throughout. The alternation of singing, dancing, and playing makes this a beautiful dance.

A3 Bitchken Bokshurgas

This is a slow dance specifically for girls. It is thought of as trite by many Kalmyks who sang this when they were quite young. It was said to be equivalent to “Mary had a Little Lamb.”

A quick ornament added to the last notes of measures two and three is common. This would consist of an upper neighbor added just before the next written note:

A4 Russian Dance Tune

This is actually not a Kalmyk song but a Russian song to dance to. It is included here because it is special to the American Kalmyks. It is the only song in the repertory in which harmony plays a vital role. Most of the harmonization is improvised by a group of three or more mandolinists, only one of whom may be playing the melody.

It is interesting that this Russian tune is the melody with which they can exercise their musical freedom. The Kalmyks are careful not to change their own music. This, of course, is vitally important to the history of the Kalmyk music; it gives confidence about its current authenticity and its pure future.

J1 Djangar

This melody has a place in the heart of every Kalmyk. Considered the Kalmyk National Anthem, it is played while the great epic of the same name is recited. Apparently the epic, in Kalmyk, fills many volumes when written and well over three days when spoken. The entire epic is in rhyming verse, and there is one Kalmyk in the United States who is able to recite it in its entirety.

Because the melody is to be played over and over, one must not play it in a similar manner twice in a row. Although the notes are to remain the same, the style varies as the player swings between two poles of expression. These poles are the poetic, when one plays while remembering the Steppes of the Volga basin (perhaps played softly, introverted), and the nationalistic, incorporating feelings of power (loud, strong, confident). It is explained by the Kalmyks that the feelings behind the music are vital to its flavor—”You must feel like a Kalmyk…”

The repeated figure in and around measure four of this melody is not played consistently by all the Kalmyks. The figure can be repeated three to five times without adding confusion to the melody. One Kalmyk woman mentioned that the addition of an f-natural in the second half of measures 10 and 14 was very important. The measures then read either:

It is interesting to note that this is one of the only Kalmyk songs in a pentatonic mode.

Thanks to olmOCR for help in digitizing this paper.