'Are 'Are – Flutes de Pan Mélanésiennes – Malaita - Vol. 1 – Vogue - LDM 30 104, recorded by Hugo Zemp in 1969-1970 (LP)
We now introduce the first volume in a seminal series of three LPs of the music of the 'Are'are people from the island of Malaita in the Solomon Islands east of Papua New Guinea recorded by ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp between 1969 and 1970. This series, says Zemp “presents a complete inventory of all types of music – recognized as such by the musicians. (...) Although the 'Are'are do make vocal music, their instrumental music attained (...) a remarkable degree of sophistication rarely heard in Oceania.”
The music here is performed by two bamboo pan-pipe ensembles “which perform only for major ritual festivals to celebrate the cult of the ancestors and the prestige of great men,” explains Zemp.
“Each piece follows strict rules and bears a title that summarizes the 'program,' which may evoke a bird’s song, croaking frogs, screeching insects, the cries of mammals, the sound of raindrops on a leaf, the murmur of a river or roar of the sea, tree branches rubbing in the wind… any sound in nature can provide the theme for a composition, as well as human sounds: crying children, the moaning of the sick, snoring, work sounds, etc. Songs can also convey visual movements, such as a spider rocking on a web or people coming and going.”
Ce disque est le premier volume d’une remarquable série de trois albums enregistrés par l’ethnomusicologue Hugo Zemp entre 1969 et 1970 consacrée aux musiques des 'Are'are de l’île de Malaita dans les Solomon Islands situées à l’est de la Papouasie Nouvelle Guinée qui « présentent un inventaire complet de tous les types musicaux — reconnus comme tels par les musiciens, » selon Hugo Zemp. Même si « les 'Are'are connaissent différents types de chants, c'est en musique instrumentale qu'ils ont atteint (…) un degré de richesse peu commun en Océanie. »
Les musiques présentées ici sont jouées par deux « ensembles de flûtes de pan [en bambou] qui apparaissent exclusivement au cours de grandes fêtes rituelles liées au culte des ancêtres et au prestige des grands hommes. »
Une ‘musique à programme’ où « chaque morceau, construit selon des règles rigoureuses, porte un titre qui résume en général le ‘programme’ : chants d'oiseaux, coassements de grenouilles, crissements d'insectes, cris de mammifères, grésillement des gouttes de pluie sur une feuille, murmure de la rivière ou mugissement de la mer, craquement de branches d'arbres se frottant dans le vent ; tout bruit dans la nature fournit le thème dune composition. Les sons produits par I'homme également : pleurs d'enfants, gémissements de malades ou de blessés, ronflements de dormeurs, paroles, bruits de travail, etc. Des morceaux peuvent traduire un mouvement visuel tels que to balancement d'une araignée ou le va-et-vient des gens. »
'Au Tahana Pan-Pipe Ensemble:
A1 – Suru 'Au (opening song)
A2 – Suri (small parrot)
A3 – Riko Kiteitoro (parot)
A4 – Rawauuruuru (swinging of a spider)
A5 – Aanoaanoha (a man tries to crawl into another person’s house at night)
A6 – Uusuusuha (falling raindrops)
A7 – Mani Paru'i'a (song bearing the composer’s name)
A8 – Poo We (a pig grunts)
A9 – Pisi Ni Tootora (sacred ceremonial Pisi bush whose powers bring together many people, large amounts of food and shell currency)
A10 – Kukua (rooster crowing)
A11 – Toto 'Au (closes a series of ten songs).
'Au Paina Pan-Pipe Ensemble:
B1 – Paoro (rooster)
B2 – 'Eke (cockatoo)
B3 – Hoehoe Tani Poo (pig’s scream)
B4 – Aaniaanita Na 'Oko'Ohimane (funeral lament of a woman called 'Oko'Ohimane)
B5 – Suasuarora Na Wa'Aikao (snoring man)
B6 – Hakehake Na Kaihirua (Kaihirua groans because of a head ache)
B7 – Hakehake Na Keniupasia (Keniupasia groans because his foot hurts)
B8 – Hakehake Na Keniohia (Keniohia groans because his leg is paralyzed)
B9 – Mara Hana Uurira'o (during a heavy rainfall that lasted several days a woman named Uurira'o declared “we need everything”)
B10 – Ookeooke Aatara Na Kuukuuku (sound of men putting up the beams of Kuukuuku’s house)
B11 – Roko 'Au (closes a series of ten songs)
Hugo Zemp (b. 1937) is a major ethnomusicologist from Switzerland who made field recordings and films in many countries, including Ivory Coast, the Solomon Islands and Switzerland.
More info on Zemp: https://www.der.org/resources/filmmaker-bios/hugo-zemp/
Our other music shares from Oceania:
Music of the Middle Sepik – BM 30 SL 2700, 1962-1972 here
An Introduction to the Music of New Guinea – Prestige INT 25013, 1958 here
Australie – Vogue EXTP 1056, 1950s here
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nice
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ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the historical content with us. Music is a part of our life. Music helps to make stressful mind and help to change the better mood.
This is a brilliant record. Would love to hear some good rips of volumes 3 and 2. Thanks for everything you do. This blog should be classified as a public service.
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