Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1974)

Foreward

Edith Fowke

This second issue of our Canadian Folk Music Journal has been financed largely by a grant from the Ontario Council for the Arts, for which we are very grateful.

As with the first issue, the articles were chosen to present a variety of aspects of Canadian folk music. Geographically they range from Newfoundland on the east coast through Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, to British Columbia on the west. Ethnically they cover Anglo-Canadian, French-Canadian, Ukrainian-Canadian, and Salish and Blood Indians.

Again we regret that our coverage of French-Canadian music is not as extensive as we should like, although we are grateful to François Brassard for his fine article on an unusual voyageur song. To those who would criticize this imbalance, we can say only that we cannot print articles that we do not receive. Herewith an invitation to our French-Canadian colleagues to redress the balance in our next issue.

Now a few notes on our contributors:

WENDY B. STUART has a Master of Music degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of British Columbia. She has done fieldwork among the Coast Salish people, which gave her the material for her article. Further information on the subject appears in her book, Gambling Music of the Coast Salish Indians, which was published by the National Museum of Man in 1972 (Mercury Series No. 3, Ethnology Division).

FRANCOIS BRASSARD is a notable French-Canadian musicologist who works in the Archives de Folklore at Laval University, Quebec. For some of his many publications on French-Canadian songs, see the "Reference List on Canadian Folk Music" in our first issue.

ISABELLE MILLS is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

ROBERT WITMER is an Assistant Professor of Music at York University, Weston, Ontario.

ANTHONY PRORACKI and ALAN HENDERSON are third-year students in the Music Department at York University.

MILES KRASSEN is an accomplished musician specializing in Irish traditional music. He has founded the Society for the Preservation of Irish Music in America and written two books: Appalachian Fiddle and Cia whammer Banjo, both published by Oak.

MICHAEL TAFT and JERRY POCIUS are both graduate students working toward doctoral degrees in the Folklore Department of Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland.