The Chukchi Personal Song as a Reflection of Musical Thought
🗓️ Thursday, 25 June — 10:10am
- 10:50am
(40 mins)
Presenters
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Abstract
My post-doctoral artistic research, “The Chukchi Personal Song as a Reflection of Musical Thought”, is a continuation of my PhD “Aspects of hearing the music of the indigenous peoples in north-eastern Siberia” completed at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts, Helsinki. My research is a musical expedition into the Chukchi Personal Song. It does not mean simply listening, but rather the understanding created by the interaction of ambiguous and often contradictory hearing and music making. At the core of the research is aural perception and the creation of music based on this. Composing and improvisation are my primary research methods, but I also use film, photography and storytelling.
Between 2004 and 2019, I made seven field trips to northeastern Siberia, Sakhalin Kamchatka and Chukotka, where I recorded the traditional singing of the indigenous Paleo-Siberian peoples. These journeys are the foundation of my research. The audiovisual material consists of over 1400 songs. The Personal Song belongs to the tradition of the indigenous peoples in the Arctic. Amongst the Chukchi it is the tradition for a Personal Song to be given to every child when they are born, together with their name. Later in life, people make their own songs. This makes the song a part of a person’s identity. The Chukchi language, as well as the other Paleo-Siberian languages are severely endangered, which directly affects the Personal Song as well.
The artistic research methods open new paths to study the Personal Song. Combined with the analysis of the musical motifs, I examine the internal logic in the musical structures. This reflects on my experiences and observations as a musician who has grown up in the European tradition of classical music, when presented with the singing of an Arctic nomadic reindeer herder, that changed my musical thinking.
Between 2004 and 2019, I made seven field trips to northeastern Siberia, Sakhalin Kamchatka and Chukotka, where I recorded the traditional singing of the indigenous Paleo-Siberian peoples. These journeys are the foundation of my research. The audiovisual material consists of over 1400 songs. The Personal Song belongs to the tradition of the indigenous peoples in the Arctic. Amongst the Chukchi it is the tradition for a Personal Song to be given to every child when they are born, together with their name. Later in life, people make their own songs. This makes the song a part of a person’s identity. The Chukchi language, as well as the other Paleo-Siberian languages are severely endangered, which directly affects the Personal Song as well.
The artistic research methods open new paths to study the Personal Song. Combined with the analysis of the musical motifs, I examine the internal logic in the musical structures. This reflects on my experiences and observations as a musician who has grown up in the European tradition of classical music, when presented with the singing of an Arctic nomadic reindeer herder, that changed my musical thinking.
Biography
The Finnish composer and violinist Pia Siirala’s PhD was completed at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts, Helsinki in 2024. Her artistic research concentrates on the music of the indigenous peoples in north-eastern Siberia, where the ancient singing tradition is still alive. Pia Siirala made many field trips to those areas, recording over 1400 songs. and has composed several works that are inspired by this ancient indigenous music. Pia Siirala studied at the Sibelius Academy, the Budapest Liszt Academy and at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She is the concert master of Ensemble XXI and has performed in Europe, Russia, Australasia and the US.
