THE LIVING TRADITION. The Himalayas (RE] ZRG530); Rumania (RG/ZRG531); The Middle East (RG/ZRG532); The Far North (RG/ZRG533. Various Artists. Argo Q RG530-3 0 ZRG530-3 (four 12 in., 32s. 3d. plus 5s. 9d. PT each).

These records are another reminder of how fortunate we are today in being given the opportunity of studying closely music that is strange to us. After hearing the Himalayas record I recalled having read somewhere that with a very little familiarity Indian music begins to sound to Western cars less 'out of tune' than a differently coloured version of our own music. Here we have music from a vast area in which India, Nepal and Tibet meet, together with some from lower ground. There are dances of varied kinds, religious music, martial airs and songs expressive of many emotions. Many of the instruments used are not even familiar by name to most people, although the latest Beatles cult (if such it be) may soon alter this. They include violin-type instruments of various shapes and sizes, horns and trumpets in primitive form and a wide variety of percussion instruments. Numbers that have appealed to me particularly are an unaccompanied love song sung by a group of villagers from Busher, Himachal Pradesh (and how very different it is, by the way, from Amy Woodford-Finden's erstwhile popular Kashmiri Love Song!), an extract from a Tibetan dance-drama in which monks pay homage to the King and which features a score or so of drums, and the Phanungri Lament which is sung when lovers part or children leave their parents.

It is a far stretch from the Himalayas to Rumania, musically as well as geographically. We are more familiar with this gipsy-style music but more often than not we in this country hear it either in idealised or adulterated form. It is good to have it in its raw authenticity. There are several interesting examples of the "Doina", one as a cimbalom solo, which to Rumania is much what the "Cante hondo" is to Spain. It is the livelier numbers which are likely to appeal most at first hearing. These include a "Hora" played on violin and cimbalom, a couple of Wedding Dances and a March from Transylvania. Of the several love songs Inflarit-a rugutu is particularly charming. An improvisation on the Alpine Horn, normally used to call the cattle home, is very impressive.

The Middle East of the third record means the various countries which we so often vaguely call Arabia, and the music is largely that of the Bedouins who wander not only from village to village but even from country to country. Many of the instruments are stringed, some plucked with the fingers or a plectrum and one, the 'ud, which is played with a feather. A distinctive feature of the music is the frequent use of silent pauses of varying lengths. To our ears much of the music sounds sad, even the love songs, but the dances can be lively and the Dervish Prayer Music rises to a wild ecstacy.

It is another far cry from the deserts of the Middle East to the frozen wastes of the Far North as represented by Finland, Lapland and Sweden and this is reflected in the music. Sweden and Finland are close neighbours and although they are of different races and have different languages their music has a good deal in common. The national instruments are the fiddles of various kinds of Sweden and the kantele of Finland. The latter is a psalter-like instrument, not unlike the zither of Austria and played in similar fashion. Both are prominent on this record which ranges from lively dances to Lutheran style chants and from Lappish vocal mood music without words to goat and cattle calls. I find myself most attracted by the dance music and the religious songs.

All the recordings were made on the spot and breathe the air of authenticity.