Volume 25: Mazovia part 2

The Complete Works vol. 25: Mazovia part 2. Wrocław – Poznań 1963, pp. VI+304, one color plate. Photo-offset re-edition; first edition: Cracow 1886.

The second part of the monograph on the Mazovia region completes the ethnographic picture of Mazowsze Polne [Field Mazovia] presented in the preceding part. It includes 395 songs 1370 dance melodies with songs. This material comes mainly from Kolberg’s field research that he conducted in 1841 and in the years 1843-1866. The songs are arranged in 16 chapters, following Kolberg’s method based on the function and the theme of the song. It is worth mentioning that Kolberg clearly separated a group of 33 songs from manors and towns. Kolberg consistently incorporated that kind of output into his work, documenting, thus, some very interesting phenomena, which combined folk, nobility and plebeian culture. Dances, among which he included only instrumental melodies and dance melodies with songs, were arranged according to the meter. Triple time melodies predominate (327); there are only 47 ones of 2/4 time. In the introduction Kolberg discusses songs and melodies included in the volume. The Notes at the end of the volume contain explanations to songs taken from literature (J. Kraszewski, W. A. Maciejewski) and information about the history and character of dances (K. Brodziński, K. Czerniawski, Ł. Gołębiowski). The book comprises a color illustration of folk costumes from Łowicz neighborhood, based on W. Gerson’s drawing.