African Music - Laura C. Boulton

 

Orphan's Wail

African Music

Recorded by Laura C. Boulton on the Straus West African Expedition of Field Museum of Natural History

Folkways Records & Service Corporation FW 8852

1957

Comments By Laura C. Boulton (from "descriptive comment" insert)

Prefatory Note

Music is by far the most vital and the most demonstrative expression in the life of the Negro. From morning till night, from the cradle to the grave, everything is done to the rhythm of his music. It is a living art-form passed on by word of mouth from one generation to the next. It is a means of preserving for posterity the tradition, ambitions and lore of the tribe. Music perform a vitally important role in maintaining the unity of the social group. Singing the same songs in the same way at the same time binds the individuals together, and a strong group feeling is established. The ceremonial music functions most vitally in this respect. Whether religious or secular, improvised or traditional, the songs have a powerful influence on the social group and bring about a feeling of harmony.

Among the songs which make up the group repertoire, there is a wide range of subjects, some old, some new. Every occasion and every activity has its song or group of songs. There are songs of love and work and war, historical songs, fervent religious chants and frenzied dance tunes. Whether the African sings a gay, rollicking play song, a boisterous boat song, a gentle lullaby, or a dignified noble lament, always he pours out his emotions in an appealing form of music. The text of the songs make up the poetry of the people. The verses show the same feeling for form, balance and symmetry which is apparent in all artistic expression of the Africans.

African musical instruments are of many kinds and vary from tribe to tribe. Their usual tone color, their uses and role in the society, their religious importance in the life of the people – all are subjects of study of the utmost significance, from the point of view of both cultural and musical research.

Music in Africa is for the whole community and everyone from the youngest to the oldest participates. It is so interwoven with the work, the play, the social and religious activities of the natives, that it is difficult to isolate it and study it apart from its role in the life of the people. African music, while more complex in certain aspects than the music of other preliterate people, has certain things in common with all primitive music. There is a definite tendency of the melodies to progress downward as from tension to rest. Usually the phrases are short and repeated over and over again. Fractional intervals (smaller than semi-tones) seem to be regularly employed. The scales are many and varied. While the music of most other primitive people of the world consists of melody and rhythm only, the Africans have evolved an interesting form of part music. Antiphonal singing, with soloist and responding chorus, is prevalent all over Africa. There is a definite singing technique characteristic of the Negroes, a frequent vagueness of pitch, a short glissando preceding the actual attack, a raucous vocal quality cultivated by the women, various Sprechstimme devices, occasional humming instead of singing, etc. This mode of singing is so typical that it goes with the Negro wherever he goes and gives his music even in The New World and African flavor.

It is perhaps in the field of rhythm that African music has the most to contribute to the Western World. Rhythm is the governing impulse in the life of the native, and its most appealing expression is through his music. Our modern musicians are stimulated by the complex rhythmic organizations of African music and by the forceful, free outlines of the melodies with their strange intervals and exotic tonal combinations.

Studies in primitive music have been in progress for years, but the opportunities for work in Africa music have been limited and the technical difficulties great. With the development of recording equipment, this study has become an accurate science. Thanks to the financial support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, excellent electric recording apparatus was built for my work in Africa. With this equipment it was possible to record instruments whose tone and melodies had never before been preserved.

The records included in this album were made on my fourth African expedition, in French and British West Africa. Most of the native tribes of this region are very highly developed culturally. Their social organization, their religious and economic life are much more complex than among the less highly organized groups of East, Central and South Africa. The artistic expressions of West Africans have aroused great interest. They are known primarily for their fine sculpture, but their dance forms and particularly their music, although less known, are also remarkable.

War Song - Malinke Tribe-French Sudan, Harp with drums - instrumental

Song Of Praise - Malinke-French Sudan, Vocal with xylophones

Song For Chief - Bambara-French Sudan, Vocal with Kora

Dance Song - Bambara-French Sudan, Flutes Bells, Drums - instrumental

War Song - Taureg-French Sudan, Vocal with Lute

Herding Song, Marriage Song, Lullaby Taureg-French Sudan, Vocal with water drum

Wrestling Match Song - Bakwiri-British Comeroons, Vocal with Horn

Orphan's Wail - Bakwiri-British Cameroons, Vocal with musical bow

Battle Signals - Kru-Nigeria, War horn with explanations

Ceremonial Songs For Oba's Wives & Oba - Bini-Southern Nigeria, Vocal with rattles and drums

Secret Society Dance Song - Bini-Southern Nigeria, Vocal with 5 drums

Secret Society Drums - Bini-Southern Nigeria, instrumental with 5 drums