Alica Elscheková

PhDr. Alica Elscheková, CSc. is one of the leading exponents of Slovak ethnomusicology. From the inception of her work at SAV she has devoted herself to the regional research of folk vocal culture on the entire territory of Slovakia, which has given her a foundation for the style analysis, evaluation and classification of folk songs. She focused primarily on traditional forms of vocal music: "The focus on song as one component of traditional musical culture has acquired the status of a separate specialisation in the context of the emerging Slovak school of ethnomusicology." (Urbancová, 2016)

She is the author of an entire series of scholarly papers and studies, where she has offered a system of analysis and categorisation of folk musical expressions, published in periodicals and symposia at home and abroad, including Slovenský národopis, Musicologica Slovaca SAV, Hudobný život, Hudobnovedné štúdie, Studia Musicologica, Budapest, Journal of the International Folk Music Council XVIII, London. Among the most important contributions of her work we can include the systematic monograph (together with Oskar Elschek) Introduction to the Study of Slovak Folk Music I - III (1962, 1996), the study Basic Ethnomusicological Analysis (1963) and the anthology Slovak Folk Songs and Instrumental Music (1980). She was also interested in the research of multi-vocal singing in Slovakia, Europe and non-European cultures. She also devoted particular attention to Christmas music and the history of musicians' guilds in Liptov. She distinguished third category of musical style - (besides historical-evolutionary styles and regional styles) musical style tied to a song type/genre (Style and song types, 1990).

Alica Elschesková is also an important Slovak collector of folk songs from the area of Gemer (1963 - 1969, regional-monographic research) and Bratislava, and many of her records can be found in the Central Archive of Folk Songs at the Institute of Musicology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. In addition to her studies, she sang in the Czechoslovak Radio Mixed Choir and in the folklore ensemble Lúčnica. She was also active as a lecturer and regularly presented the results of her scientific research work at international forums. She is a member of several scientific organisations (European Seminar of Musicology, Internationale Organisation für Volkskunst, Slovak Music Union, Slovak Musicological Association, Slovak Ethnographic Society at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and UNESCO - International Council for Traditional Music) and study groups (Analysis and Systematisation of Folk Music, Musical Instruments, Historical Sources of Traditional Music, Multipart Music).