Music of the Provinces, pt. 1

Read the other parts!

High Rock/Nobility, Part 2: Music of the Provinces, pt. 2

High Rock/Bards, Part 3: Music of the Provinces, pt. 3

I was inspired by /u/Leyawynn- and their thread here to write something cool. I'll be writing part-by-part as the mood strikes me.

NOTE: This is the last copy. Pretty sure not even Hermaeus Mora has another one. Or he claims not to. This goes to the Arcanaeum at Winterhold. No one else has managed to keep any damned books safe! Urag should be advised: there's no magic in the book itself, and we need copies. Enlist some students. We'll pay. -SE

Music of the Provinces

a Guide to the Musical History of Tamriel

by Aleri Sadri, 3E 213

At the insistence of my contacts among the Atheneum Monks, I've decided to publish a final Treatise, or Guide if you will, on the music of Tamriel. My access to certain anonymous individuals of great knowledge, and a visit to Vivec's Palace to speak to Vehk himself, enabled me to come across much more information than any before me have appeared to be aware of. I am confident in saying that this is the last word in the history of Tamrielic music and the audible arts.

As our musical cultures degrade, soon much more than the sounds of the Dwemeri Tonal Architecture will be lost to us forever. This is my best attempt to preserve what little of our musical history I can save. Please see the appendices for notes on recreating such instruments as we can make, and for attempted sheet music of possible songs in the various styles.

And I hope you all, dear readers, will enjoy this journey into musical history.

1: Skyrim & the Nords

Nordic music has a long and storied history, dating back to before their boats first hit these shores.

Vehk, who has been to the far-north of Atmora, told me that the sound of the throatsinging, thigh-bone trumpets and bells were still coming across the wind. Artifacts uncovered in ancient tombs, particularly on Solstheim, have indeed included trumpets made from the thighbones of the dead, so I am inclined to believe Lord Vivec on this matter.

From what little I have managed to decipher from the records I have had to beg, borrow or steal from the libraries across Tamriel, when the Voice was given to the Atmoran proto-Nords, their prior musical culture collapsed. The best guess to date is that the priestly caste, who were given the Voice, or "Thu'um", were the original musicians. But now their voices were deadly, their songs stopped, and the commoners could not reproduce them. Instead, the commoners turned to a song based on complex chants over simplistic drum patterns, this being represented in the earliest songs of the Poetic Edda.

Later on, in the time of Ysgramor, the modern Bardic Tradition began to start in earnest: as modern singing predominated, the drumming became more sparse and more instruments were added. This is the most familiar Nordic music, and the music of our time. Bards all over Skyrim work in this final form of Nordic music, and the bulk of the Poetic Edda is composed of it.

Finally, the latest in Nordic music has fallen into the regrettable trend to take on elements of the choral interplay of Wayrest's Operatic traditions and the bombast of Cyrodiilic Orchestra. This unfortunately means that most likely, the Poetic Edda will fall from the Bardic tradition to the inevitable Composer's Guild of Northwestern Tamriel, unless a Nordic cultural revival of some sort happens.

Thoughts, suggestions? I'd love to hear them, though I've got most of the other provinces already outlined in a text file. Thanks!