Playing Multipart Music: Solo and Ensemble Traditions in Europe is the fourth volume in the European Voices series published in Vienna by the Research Centre for European Multipart Music. The volumes emerge from the symposia of the same name, held in Vienna since 2005 and drawing an international audience of specialists. Each volume of the European Voices series focuses on one topic or area. The present volume, on the topic of solo and ensemble expressions of multipart music, opens with a dedication from Bernard Garaj to Rudolf Pietsch (1995–2020), who shaped folk music research and taught for four decades at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. The volume comprises ten individual papers divided into the two thematic sections, solo traditions, and ensemble traditions. Twenty-nine audiovisual examples are included with the print version as a CD-ROM but not in the freely accessible online version.

In the introduction, multipart music is defined as “a specific mode of music making and expressive behaviour based on intentionally distinct and coordinated participation in the performing act by sharing knowledge and shaping values” (10). This definition was established for the ICTM Study Group on Multipart Music, some members of which are also active contributors to the European Voices symposia and publications. The editors, Ulrich Morgenstern and Ardian Ahmedaja, name as a core motivation for the present volume the “lack of comparative studies on the issue of folk music performed on instruments in Europe” both in solo playing on multipart instruments (“solo multipart music,” 14) and in instrumental ensembles. Multipart is thus not understood a priori as playing together, but rather refers both to ensembles and to a single person capable of producing multiple voices with one instrument––for example, bagpipes equipped with two chanters (Nicola Scaldaferri), or single musical instruments that are treated as a microcosm of an ensemble, such as a violin where the strings are named after individual voices, with the upper strings as melody voices, and the lower ones as harmony voices (Victoria Macijewska).

The structure of the book, with its division into two parts preceded by an introduction, allows the reader to grasp the subject matter in depth. The first part of the book is dedicated to players of musical instruments, bagpipers, and fiddlers. The studies presented in this section are strongly connected to the materiality of the musical objects; the developments in instrument manufacturing are always taken into account and juxtaposed with observations on the change of social status of the players, as well as the functions of and changes to the musical repertoire (Gaila Kirdienė; Andor Végh and Zsombor Horváth; Danka Lajić Mihajlović).

The second part of the volume considers interaction and instrumentation in ensembles and their sociocultural contexts. Regionally, the case studies are located in Northeastern, Southeastern, and Central Europe. The protagonists are shown as multi-faceted personalities, not only as performers but often also as teachers and “community music managers” (Zdeněk Vejvoda, 250). The portrayals of the performers are combined with analytical studies of their music. Of particular note are the meticulous transcription of example pieces for Romanian brass bands (Speranța Rădulescu) and the detailed historical background of the music discussed in the individual articles, such as the representation of wind music from the Late Middle Ages to the twentieth century in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Rūta Žarskienė, and the historiography of Tyrol since the nineteenth century (Thomas Nußbaumer). Portraits of ensembles blend with technically detailed pictures of the music itself, without denying its embeddedness in the social processes of their environment.

The comparative approach of this volume is evident, and simultaneously each article stands alone as an individual contribution. Comparative aspects become visible in the authors’ relationship to their musical material, as well as in the stories told in the articles. Predominantly working with the historical source material and interacting with performers of long-standing but often endangered traditions, several authors in the section on ensemble traditions trace the displacement of instruments, as well as the shrinking of ensembles for economic reasons. Cases show how groups were reduced or how accordions replaced ensembles because one person could do the job of playing multipart music. Piotr Dahlig describes the tensions within the ensemble: on the one hand, all the musical functions must be fulfilled, but on the other hand, the playing salaries should be divided among as few people as possible.

Playing Multipart Music: Solo and Ensemble Traditions in Europe will be of interest and use to scholars of musical traditions in Europe. The present volume thematically continues the series European Voices with a coherently structured collection of contributions from a clearly defined field of interest. The rich historical source material makes it equally valuable for readers of vernacular music history.