ROMANIA – ROUMANIE Mihály Halmágyi – Gyimesi Népzene (Hungarian Folk Music from Gyimes) – Hungaroton – SLPX 18145

ROMANIA – ROUMANIE

Mihály Halmágyi with Gizella Ádám – Gyimesi Népzene (Hungarian Folk Music from Gyimes) – Hungaroton – SLPX 18145, 1988 (LP)

 

I am delighted to present a remarkable LP of Hungarian folk music performed by Mihály Halmágyi on violin and his wife Gizella Ádám on the ancient percussive four-string gardon cello where strings are plucked and beaten using a stick. She also sings on A5.

 

The couple hails from Gyimes (or Ghimeș), a village located in Bacău County in the Western Moldavia region in Eastern Romania, home to the Csángós, a Hungarian minority group in Romania, who have preserved their language and rich, time-honored traditional culture, which includes music, dance and handicrafts for which they are renowned.

 

Halmágyi's and Ádám's brilliant, precise, and dynamic playing weaves spirited and raw dance tunes with complex, sophisticated lyrical musings that at times delve into introspection and abstraction. Their artistry is a true testament to the vitality of Csángó folklore of old.

 

J'ai le plaisir de vous présenter ce remarquable disque de musique folklorique hongroise interprété par Mihály Halmágyi au violon et sa femme Gizella Ádám au violoncelle percussif gardon, dont les quatre cordes sont pincées et frappées à l'aide d'un bâton. Elle chante également sur A5.

 

Le couple est originaire de Gyimes (ou Ghimeș), un village situé dans le département de Bacău, dans la région de Moldavie occidentale, dans l'est de la Roumanie, où vivent les Csángós, une minorité hongroise de Roumanie, qui a su préserver sa langue et sa riche culture ancestrale, qui comprend la musique, la danse et l'artisanat qui font leur renommée.

 

Le jeu brillant, précis et dynamique de Mihály Halmágyi et de Gizella Ádám tisse des airs de danse bruts et pleins d’entrain, avec des envolées lyriques complexes et sophistiquées qui touchent par moments à l'introspection et à l’abstraction. Leur art est un véritable témoignage de la vitalité du folklore Csángó d’antant.

 

A1 – Lassú És Sebes Magyaros (Kezdő) / Slow and Swift Hungarian Dances (Opening) 

A2 – Sebes Csárdás / Swift Csárdás 

A3 – Lassú És Sebes Magyaros (Hajnali) / Slow and Swift Hungarian Dances (Morning)

A4 – Kettős Jártatója És Sirülője (Sürüleje) / Walking and Fast Couple Dances 

A5 – Egyszer Egy Kicsi Madár (Keserves) / Once a Little Bird (Lament) 

A6 – Kerekes / Round Dance 

 

B1 Lakodalmas Dallamok / Wedding Songs:

B1a – Rákóczi Mars (Csángó Rákóczi) / Rákóczi March 

B1b – Csárdás 

B1c – Lassú Magyaros És Sebes Csárdás / Slow Hungarian Dance & Swift Csárdás 

B1d – Lakodalmi Mars / Wedding March 

B1e – Amikor Mennek a Tyúk Után (Elment A Tyúk) / When the Hen is Followed (The Hen Went Wandering) 

B1f – Héjsza / The Chase 

 

B2 – Elvesztette a Pásztor a Juhait  / The Shepherd Lost His Sheep 

 

B3 Gyászszertartás Dallamai / Funeral Rite Songs: 

B3a – Halott Mellett Való Keserves / Lament at the Bedside of the Deceased 

B3b – Táncnóta (Lassú Magyaros) / Dance Tune (Slow Hungarian Dance) 

B3c – Halottkisérő / Funeral Ceremony Tune 

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Many thanks to Joāo for sharing his collection of Hungarian music, including this gem!

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TUNISIA – TUNISIE Hedi Habbouba / الهادي حبوبة – Maison du Disque Oriental – MDO 5

TUNISIA – TUNISIE

Hedi Habbouba / الهادي حبوبة – Maison du Disque Oriental – MDO 5, 1977 (LP)

Hedi Habbouba (b. 1949), born in Tunis, is a prominent Tunisian mezoued (mizwad or mizwid) singer and composer. Mezoued refers both to the Tunisian bagpipe of Bedouin origin and to a popular musical genre – also found in Algeria and Libya – played at weddings and other festive occasions.

 

Despite its great popularity throughout the country, mezoued and the music of Hedi Habbouba were long banned from broadcasting on state radio and television, as Tunisian cultural authorities preferred to broadcast and promote classical Arabic music to the detriment of this popular music sung in dialect and accompanied by mezoued bagpipes. 

 

Since the 1990s, mezoued has been rehabilitated in the media and has generated a growing interest among renowned artists, composers, and cultural figures, such as Samir Agrebi, who sought to make mezoued an integral part of Tunisia's musical heritage.

 

After honing his skills as a percussionist for Zina and Aziza, the great icons of Bedouin dance, Habbouba began a professional career in the mid-70s, collaborating with many composers and lyricists. The pioneer who modernized mezoued also composed more than 300 of his own songs.

 

Released in 1977, this superb album bursting with vitality showcases Habbouba's commanding, mellifluous voice with backing vocals, a powerful, quirky mezoued bagpipe (replaced by an ud lute on track A2), and dynamic darbuka drums and percussion. The fiery, spellbinding track B1 is particularly impressive.

 

Hédi Habbouba (né en 1949), né à Tunis, est un chanteur et un compositeur de mezoued (mizwad ou mizwid) tunisien de premier plan. Le mezoued est à la fois la cornemuse tunisienne d'origine bédouine et un genre musical populaire – également présent en Algérie et en Libye – joué lors des mariages et autres occasions festives.

 

Malgré sa grande popularité en Tunisie, le mezoued et la musique d'Hedi Habbouba furent longtemps interdits d’antenne sur les radios et télévisions d’état, les instances culturelles tunisiennes privilegiant la diffusion et la promotion de la musique classique arabo-andalouse au detriment de cette musique populaire chantée en dialecte et accompagnée par la cornemuse mezoued. 

 

A partir des années 1990, on assiste à une réhabilitation progressive du mezoued dans les medias et à un intérêt grandissant auprès d’artistes, de  compositeurs et de personnalités culturelles de renom, tel Samir Agrebi, souhaitant vivement inscrire le mezoued dans le patrimoine musical tunisien.

 

Après une expérience de percussionniste aux côtés de Zina et Aziza, les grandes icônes de la danse bédouine, Hedi Habbouba entame une grande carrière solo dans la musique au milieu des années 70 en collaboration avec de nombreux compositeurs et paroliers. Ce pionnier qui modernisa le mezoued a également composé plus de 300 de ses propres chansons.

 

Sorti en 1977, ce superbe album débordant de vitalité met en avant la voix imposante et mélodieuse d’Habbouba accompagné par des chœurs masculins, une cornemuse mezoued puissante et intense (remplacée par un luth oud sur la piste A2), et un tambour darbouka et des percussions dynamiques. Le morceau B1, fougueux et envoûtant, est particulièrement impressionnant.

 

A1 – جنة وطرافك نار / Janna Ouatrafek Nar

 

A2 – هيا وهيا / Haya Ou Haya* 

 

A3 – ناري على الزينة / Nari Ala Ezzina

 

B1 – عند غزالي / And Eghzali*

 

B2 – سودة عينيه / Souda Ainih*

 

B3 – يا لميمة / Ya Lommima**

*written by Mansour Majdoub (b. 1930), lyrics by Ridha Khouini (1940-2015).

*written by Abdelhamid Sassi, lyrics by Ridha Khouini. 

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Our other Tunisian music posts:

Tunisia – A Musical Anthology of the Orient – BM 30 L 2008 here

Music of the Arabian Orient and North Africa – Supraphon Disc 4 here

Vintage postcard of a traditional Tunisian "handkerchief" dance with a mezoued bagpipe, a darburka drum, a bendir and hand-clapping:

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ALGERIA – LIBYA – Musique Classique Arabe - 1er Festival Algérien de la Musique Andalouse 1967 / Disque 1 Mehradjane

ALGERIA – LIBYA 
Musique Classique Arabe – 1er Festival Algérien de la Musique Andalouse 1967 / Disc 1 – Mehradjane (LP)

After gaining independence in 1962, the Algerian government wanted to highlight Algeria’s and the Maghreb’s time-honored Arab-Andalusian musical heritage by organizing the first Festival of Arab-Andalusian music at Algiers’ Théâtre National in 1967. 

 

This superb album of live recordings made during the festival (the first volume in a six-LP box set on the Mehradjane label) presents an enticing program of Algerian Nuba – also called Arab-Andalusian classical music – performed by ensembles from the country’s three major Nuba stylistic centers, the cities of Constantine (A1) Algiers (B1-B2) and Tlemcen (B3), plus a rare recording of Nuba performed by a Libyan orchestra (A2). Two more editions of the Festival of Arab-Andalusian music were held in Algiers in 1969 and 1972, with the subsequent release of two additional 10-LP and 12-LP box sets. Here, four orchestras – with lead singers, choruses and instruments including violins, flutes, rebab bowed lutes, ud lutes, quanun zithers, darbuka drums and bendir frame drums – weave poetic, contemplative and spirited ambiances.

 

The sophisticated civilization that arose in Spain while under Muslim rule embraced and advanced many domains, from science, religion and metaphysics to poetry, music, architecture and the arts, at a time when cities like Cordoba, Seville and Granada were home to Moorish, Arabic, Hispanic, Christian and Jewish cultures in a spirit of openness and tolerance.

 

Following the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century, this musical heritage of a golden age migrated to North Africa, where it continued to thrive and in time became an intrinsic part of the Maghreb’s identity.

 

Après l’indépendance de l’Algérie en 1962, le gouvernement algérien chercha à mettre en valeur le patrimoine musical arabo-andalou d’Algérie et du Maghreb en organisant un Festival de musique arabo-andalouse en 1967 au Théâtre National d’Alger.

 

Ce superbe album de concerts enregistrés pendant le festival (le 1er volume d'un coffret de six disques publiés sur le label Mehradjane) propose un séduisant programme de Nouba algérienne – également appelée musique classique arabo-andalouse – interprétée par des orchestres issus des trois grands centres stylistiques de la Nouba en Algérie, à savoir de Constantine (A1), d’Alger (B1-B2) et de Tlemcen (B3), ainsi qu’un enregistrement rare de Nouba interprétée par un orchestre libyen (A2). Deux nouvelles éditions du Festival de musique arabo-andalouse seront également organisées à Alger en 1969 et 1972 suivi de la sortie de deux coffrets de disques supplémentaires. Ici, les quatre orchestres – comprenant des chanteurs, des chœurs et des instruments notamment des violons, des flûtes, des luths à archet rebab, des luths oud, des cithares quanun, des tambours darbuka et des tambours sur cadre bendir – tissent des ambiances poétiques, contemplatives et dynamiques. 

 

La civilisation sophistiquée née pendant la domination musulmane de Espagne excellait dans de nombreux domaines, allant des sciences à la religion, la métaphysique, la poésie, la musique, l'architecture et les arts, à une époque où des villes comme Cordoue, Séville et Grenade accueillaient et s’enrichissaient des cultures maure, arabe, hispanique, chrétienne et juive dans un esprit d'ouverture et de tolérance.

 

Suite à la reconquête de la péninsule ibérique au XVe siècle, ce patrimoine musical issu d'un âge d'or migre alors vers l'Afrique du Nord où il continue de prospérer et devient même peu à peu une partie intégrante de l'identité maghrébine.

A1 – Excerpt of a Nuba in Rasd Mode – Istikhbar Moual / Dharani El Haoua / Dharani El Haoua;

L'Orchestre de Constantine Directed by Abdelkader Toumi (1906-2005) / Vocals by Abdelmoumène Bentobal (1928-2004);

ALGERIA

 

A2 – Excerpts of a Nuba Malouf – Men Iaachaq El Ghozlane;

L'Orchestre de Libye Directed by Hassen El Aribi;

LIBYA

 

B1 – Excerpts of Neklab Sika – Ana Elladi Bia;

L'Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire d'Alger Directed by Abderrezak Fekhardji (1911-1984) / Vocals by Mohamed Khaznadji (b. 1929);

ALGERIA

 

B2 – Excerpts of Nesraf Dil – Aii Sabab;

L'Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire d'Alger Directed by Abderrezak Fekhardji / Vocals by Mohamed Khaznadji;

ALGERIA

 

B3 – Excerpt of a Nuba in Sika Mode – Soltane Errabi & Ama Teftaker Îa Ghazali;

L'Orchestre de Tlemcen / Vocals by Mohamed El Ghomeiri;

ALGERIA

 

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Our other Algerian Nuba posts:

Mohamed Tahar Fergani – El Khaima & Ya Mesiene Anabi – Sawt El Menyar 1004 here

Mohamed Khaznadji Musique Classique Algérienne – Noubat Ed Dhil – Les Artistes Arabes Associés 72830 here

Dahmane Ben Achour – Noubat Edd'il & Noubat Elhsine – Les Artistes Arabes Associés 72503 here

Photographs below are from La Musique Classique du Maghreb by Mahmoud Guettat, La Bibliothèque Arabe, Sindbad, 1980:

The Algerian kwitra lute, with eight strings grouped in four courses, is closely connected to the Arab-Andalusian musical heritage:

Bendir player, Libya:

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CONGO – UGANDA – MOZAMBIQUE – SOUTH AFRICA – TANZANIA – MALAWI – ZIMBABWE – RWANDA – Flutes & Horns – Kaleidophone KMA 4

CONGO – UGANDA – MOZAMBIQUE – SOUTH AFRICA – TANZANIA – MALAWI – ZIMBABWE – RWANDA
Music of Africa Series – Musical Instruments 4 – Flutes & Horns – Kaleidophone KMA 4, 1972 reissue of a 1965 Gallotone release, recorded by Hugh Tracey (LP)

I’m delighted to present this fascinating compilation featuring flutes and horns of old recorded by Hugh Tracey in eight southern and central African countries.

 

This gorgeous musical selection is presented in sections, showcasing flutes (A1-A8), panpipes (A9), singing horns (B1-B2), horn ensembles (B3), Makondere horns (B4-B7) and singing gourds (B8) in a variety of formats, with singers, various rattles, drums and percussion to accompany dances, weddings, rituals and ceremonies.

 

These enthralling collective performances exemplify that distinctive fluid and sensuous African polyrhythmic touch and stunning novel sounds, running the gamut from the whimsical to the haunting.

 

Je suis ravi de vous présenter cette fascinante compilation de musiques d'antan comprenant des flûtes et des trompes enregistrée par Hugh Tracey dans huit pays d'Afrique australe et centrale.

 

Cette magnifique sélection musicale présente successivement des flûtes (A1-A8), des flûtes de pan (A9), des trompes chantantes (B1-B2), des ensembles de trompes (B3), des trompes Makondere (B4-B7) ainsi que des calebasses chantantes (B8), accompagnés notamment de chanteurs, divers hochets, tambours et percussions lors de danses, d’un mariage, de cérémonies, etc.

 

Ces formidables performances collectives illustrent bien cette touche polyrythmique fluide et sensuelle toute Africaine et proposent des sons inédits, allant du fantasque au lancinant.

FLUTES

A1 – CHOPI people – Sigowilo duet

Two girls three-hole Sigiwilo ocarina duet, Regulo Nyakutowo’s village, Zavala dictrict,

MOZAMBIQUE

 

A2 – TSWANA/LETE people – Godumaduma Gwa Mosadi

Flute tune by Tswana flute dancers led by Modiseng, Western Transvaal,

SOUTH AFRICA

 

A3 – ZARAMO people – Chansi cha Nzige

Pipe dance with set of 13 Viyanzi vertical flutes, two friction sticks and tin rattles by the Zaramo Boys led by Pembe Selemani, Dar es Salaam,

TANZANIA

 

A4 – SENA/TONGA people – Ai-ye! Nzara Yakabora ("Ai-ye! Famine Has Come")

Gororombe dance with four end-blown pipes, rattles and drums by young Tonga men and women, Mkota district, Mtoko,

ZIMBABWE

 

A5 – SOGA people – Bwomera Envu (When Your Hair Turns Grey, You’re Getting Old)

Ndere flute, two drums and handclapping by a group led by Mulobu Maswa, Bugembe, Kamodi County,

UGANDA

 

A6 – GANDA people – Kikwabanga

Three Ndere end-blown, notched, open flutes, one cylindrical, pinned, footed drum and three laced conical drums by Abalere Ba Kabaka, Buganda province, 

UGANDA

 

A7 – NANDE people – Herdsman's Tune

Nyamulera four-holed, notched flute by Katsuba Mwongolo, Beni District, Kivu,

CONGO

 

A8 – NYAKYUSA people – Flute Tune

Ilonge notched, end-blown flute by Balekbosa Kayala, Kiwira Village, Tukuyu District,

TANZANIA

 

PANPIPES

A9 – LUBA/SONGYE people – Mishiba

Pipe ensemble with two weighted, closed, hand-beaten goblet drums and six sets of panpipes played by six Bena Budia men, Kasaï Province,

CONGO

 

SINGING HORNS

B1 – GITONGA people – Custodo A Mabile

Makarito dance with five singing horns, a bass steel drum, two small drums and a small bell by Comacado Des Amigos Timoses, Maxixe, Sul do Save Province, 

MOZAMBIQUE

 

B2 – NYANJA/CHEWA people – M'Sodomo

Maganda dance with 12 Malipenga singing horns by Boys of Chief Mwasi's Village, Kasungu,

MALAWI

 

HORN ENSEMBLES

B3 – YOGO (or MAYOGO) people – Mavumbala

Dance song with seven Mbala wooden horns, a Kekese basket rattle, an Mbilli metal wrist bell, two pod drums, two conical laced drum, two small slit drums and double metal bell, Mayogo Mabozo, Paulis,
CONGO

 

MAKONDERE HORNS

B4 – NYORO/HAYA people – Nkete

Victory song with Makondere horns, a conical laced drum and a cylindrical footed, open pegged drum by Eliazale Kazinduke, Bukoba District,

TANZANIA

 

B5 – NYORO people – Rwakanembe

Makondere gourd horns by the Abanyabyala Royal Band led by Bulasio Ataya, Kitali. Honia, Bunyaro District, 
UGANDA

 

B6 – TUTSI people – Kyarutema

Tutsi dance song with eight Makondere horns and drums by Chief Biniga’s musicians, Shangugu, Rusizi District, Western Province,
RWANDA

 

B7 – SOGA people – Mulimo Omutanda (The Owner of the House)

Magwala horns, large Kigoma conical, laced drum and a small conical drum by Mulobo Maswa's ensemble, Bugembe, Kamodi County,

UGANDA

SINGING GOURDS

B8 – LUBA/BAKWANGA people – Chombela

Wedding song with three hipeni singing gourds, a basket rattle and handclapping by nine Bena Shimba women, Mbujimayi, Eastern Kasaï, 

CONGO

 

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Hugh Tracey (1903-1977) was a major British-born ethnomusicologist who made many thousands of seminal field recordings in Southern, Eastern and Central Africa from the 1920s to the 1970s. In 1921 he traveled to Zimbabwe (then British-ruled Rhodesia) to run a tobacco farm and immediately became fascinated by the Karanga dialect and culture of his Shona workers, particularly their folksongs. “He had a vision,” said his son Andrew Tracey, “and that was to preserve this music for future generations.”*

Hugh Tracey was to become the most important field recorder of African music of the 20th century.

*Read a profile of Hugh Tracey by his son Andrew here

Post with more Hugh Tracey recordings:

British East Africa – Columbia Masterworks Volume X here

 

A great ressource:

Ilam (International Library of African Music) founded by Tracey in 1954 hosted on the Smithsonian/Folkways site to explore some of his many recordings here

 

 

Photographs below are from Art Bakongo – Les Centres de Style by Raoul Lehuard, Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1989, and The Mystic Spiral: Journey of the Soul by Jill Purse, Thames & Hudson, 1980:

 

The Bwende (or Babwende) people craft colossal Niombo fabric reliquary mannequins – hosting the body and relics of the deceased – in the context of the Niombo funeral ancestor cult for chiefs. In this photo, the towering, symbolically shackled Niombo – with his left arm pointing down to earthly life and his right arm pointing up to the heavens – will be carried to the chief’s tomb to accompany him into the realm of the ancestors to the music of a horn and drum ensemble. 

Bwende people, Congo-Kinshasa, early 20th century:

“Fertility, through cosmic harmony, is achieved by the dance in which the young virgins of the Venda people identify with the serpent force. After the rains, during these ceremonial days, elderly women initiate the virgins, conduct the ceremony, and act as the pivot around which the dancers spiral in the rhythmic movements and sinuous coils of the python. Collapsing and reviving, they rest like the forces of nature in the seasonal round of death and rebirth.” 

Deumba python dance, Venda (or Bavenda) people, northeastern South Africa:

 

Please help me purchase important traditional records 

to pursue my global curation project and 

share the best finds with you on this blog: