Cultural heritage preservation has been a topic of concern to music scholars, particularly ethnomusicologists working with endangered music cultures (Ruggle and Silverman 2009, Howard 2001). Scholars have acknowledged the importance of safeguarding the components that constitute a music tradition; Keith Howard, for example, says that it is common to find efforts to “preserve and promote local cultural difference,” yet he acknowledges that preserving intangible cultural heritage without change is “not an option as society evolved” (2012, 2). Preservation of cultural traditions is a delicate topic, as on one hand, keeping traditions intact might slow or stop the dynamism of the culture and prevent its advancement. This scenario does not provide a sustainable model for music traditions, rather it condemns them to disappear or remain captured in one form only. On the other hand, we might question the dynamics of power, asking who has the right to write about and choose what will be preserved through time? Do members of the traditions have the same preservation priorities as collectors? How do they want this preservation to take place?
In 1964 composer and ethnomusicologist Peter Crossley-Holland articulated valuable ideas around preservation and renewal of traditional music that remain current today. Crossley raises concerns about the impact that western industries and culture might have on traditional music as well as the importance of using technology to enrich and strengthen regional traditions rather than intentionally modifying or changing these traditions. Technological innovations allow traditions to be preserved in a particular moment in time, reflecting the current values and the principal artist of the tradition, contributing to easier accessibility and dissemination of cultural traditions and practices. Digital preservation of traditional practices can also support the integration of knowledge into formal and informal training and education and can provide a platform for advocating and benefitting members of the culture.
In his discussion of folk music preservation, Crossley-Holland questions what is worth saving and how to save those materials. These two questions resonate with the entire development of this project as well as the planning of each of its components (i.e., the website, YouTube channel and complementary written report). The topics discussed and presented are those that shape Vélez music and are relevant for the members of the tradition. This project strongly reinforces that “preservation of folk music becomes renewal” (Crossley 1964,16); preservation increases the possibilities of continuity and prioritizes the voices and knowledge of the principal actors and knowledge keepers of the tradition.
This four-part master’s research project was under the supervision of Music professor Anna Hoefnagels, Canadian ethnomusicologist specializing in First Nations music and current Director of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies at Carleton University. This project is presented to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs at Carleton University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Music and Culture.