Volume 6: The Cracow Region part 2

The Complete Works vol. 6: The Cracow Region part 2. Wrocław – Poznań 1963, pp. VI+536, illustrations. Photo-offset re-edition; first edition: Cracow 1873.

The second and largest part of the monograph on the Cracow region consists of a description of family rites (baptism, funeral, four weddings with wedding songs and instrumental melodies), harvest rites and about 900 songs and dance melodies with refrains (the latter preceded by information about the Cracowiak dance). Within the song material, which constitutes the main part of the book, we can distinguish three groups: wedding songs, universal songs and over 160 court and town songs. In sum, the collection of songs comes from over 90 villages and towns of the region. Kolberg recorded some of the texts and melodies himself during his field research; some of them originate in publications (collections of songs of Konopka, ‘Cracowiaki’ by Gorączkiewicz, callendars, leaflets, songbooks); finally, they derive from archives of M. Mioduszewski, an editor of church songs, and of L. Zejszner, a folklore collector. The collection of songs in this volume also includes popular tunes, originating from operettas and vaudevilles, as well as national tunes. The volume is supplemented with 6 illustrations of objects used during wedding and harvest festival.