CONGO (KINSHASA) – Batwa & Ekonda – Polyphonies Mongo – Ocora OCR 53

CONGO (KINSHASA)
Batwa & Ekonda – Polyphonies Mongo – Ocora OCR 53, recorded by Benoît Quersin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970 (LP)

This exquisite album of the polyphonic music of the Mongo people, released on the legendary first Ocora series, offers a glimpse into the rich collective traditional music of Central Africa, with rare recordings of the Ekonda people – a subgroup of the Mongo – and the Batwa Pygmy people, who live in close proximity to their Ekonda Bantu neighbors in the equatorial forest in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

Cet album magnifique de polyphonies Mongo de la légendaire première série Ocora offre un aperçu de la riche musique traditionnelle collective d'Afrique centrale, avec des enregistrements rares des Ekonda – un sous-groupe des Mongo – et du peuple pygmée Batwa, qui vivent à proximité de ses voisins bantous Ekonda dans la forêt équatoriale au nord de la République démocratique du Congo.

 

BATWA PEOPLE

 

A1 – Walekele Song 1 – A group of Batwa women from the village of Penda, accompanied by two rectangular patenge drums and an ikokole slit drum.

Here a Batwa woman named Babela becomes a walekele after the birth of her first child. According to tradition, she will now live in her own hut in the company of other women, separated from her husband for a two-year period. Becoming a walekele is an important rite of passage in a woman’s life. The first walekele song celebrates Babela’s return among the women of the community.

 

A2 – Walekele Song 2 – A group of Batwa women from the village of Penda.

This second walekele song highlights Babela’s response to the elder women: “Cry out and sing louder for me, your child.”

 

A3 – Walekele Song 3 – A group of Batwa women from the village of Penda.

This third walekele song announces that from this day Babela will be called Ikunda (“all is well”) and invites the entire village to come and see her dance.

 

EKONDA PEOPLE

 

A4 – Ekonda singing accompanied by an esanzo zither struck with a stick 1.

Here Mola Moilebe is a professional esanzo zither musician, singing proverbs and social commentary while a group of men sing in call-response. 

 

A5 – Ekonda singing accompanied by an esanzo zither struck with a stick 2.

 

A6 – "Esoya" Dance – Women of the village of Butela.

The Bobongo ballet, which includes music and brilliant acrobatic dancing, lasts 4 to 5 hours and consists of five precisely choreographed parts, including incantations, dancing, singing, pantomime, stories and proverbs. 

 

A7 – Female choral song – Women of Butela. 

The women of Butela excel in polyphonic singing with a wide repertoire, combining anecdotes, proverbs and current news.

 

BATWA PEOPLE

B1 – Batwa men’s polyphonic singing 1 from the village of Londo.

The lyrics here have various themes, but the main theme is about praising their group’s talent and the fact that they are called upon by their Ekonda neighbors to participate in important celebrations and rituals because they are the best dancers in the region.

B2 – Batwa men’s polyphonic singing 2 from the village of Londo.

 

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***

Benoît Quersin (1927-1992) was a Belgian bassist who moved to Paris in 1950 and performed with the jazz greats of the era, including Dizzy Gillespie, Sidney Bechet, Lionel Hampton, and Sarah Vaughan. In 1957 he opened the Blue Note jazz club in Brussels and began hosting popular jazz shows on Belgian public radio. His passion for the traditional music and cultures of West and Central Africa led to a career in ethnomusicology in 1967. Quersin made field recordings in Cameroon, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including this excellent LP.


Photographs below are from African Reflections – Art from Northeastern Zaire by Enid Schildkrout and Curtis A. Keim, Washington/American Museum of Natural History, 1984, and Art Bakongo – Les Centres de Style by Raoul Lehuard, Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1989:

Logo man, Faradje, 1911:

Mangbetu woman, Okondo’s village, 1910:

Bembe man holding the statue of one of his ancestors, 

village of Kolo, 1926:

Yombe figure at the top of the handle of an object of power:

Commemorative effigy of a Yombe chief, 

wood, brass ring, glass, resin:

Solongo magic nkonde "nail fetish":

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KOREA (SOUTH) – Korean Court Music – Orchestra of The National Music Institute (Seoul) – Conductor Kim Ki Su – Lyrichord LL 7206

KOREA (SOUTH)
Korean Court Music – Orchestra of The National Music Institute (Seoul) – Conductor Kim Ki Su – Lyrichord LL 7206, recorded by John Levy, released in 1969 (LP)

“For nearly 500 years, no new music has been introduced into the repertory of the Korean Court Orchestra. Modifications there must have been, but probably in no other high civilization have ancient forms of music been so well preserved. With the es­tablishment of the Korean Republic in 1948, the Royal Conservatory, where the musicians were trained, be­came the National Music Institute and under the guid­ance of Song Kyong-yin, the tradition has been main­tained and where necessary, restored.

 

There are three main categories, A’AK, 'refined' Chinese music of which only that performed at the Confucian Shrine has survived, together with ancient Chinese instruments long since disused in China, some of which are found also in TANG’AK, the second category, derived from Chinese lay music of the Tang and Sung dynasties (7th-13th centuries), and HYANG’AK, a purely Korean music one of whose characteristics is the use of triple time.

 

The reason why Chinese music had such an influ­ence at the Korean Court was the close and continuous cultural relation between the two countries; this can also be seen in Korean architecture, pottery and poetry. But in all these, the Korean genius is always discernible. Especially in pottery, poetry and music, the Koreans have made their own uniquely beautiful contribution.”*

 

This abstract and stately music with eerie sonorities on the great Lyrichord label, features wind instruments, including the daegeum transverse flute and the piri double-reed oboe; string instruments, including the komungo six-string zither and the haegeum two-string fiddle; and percussion instruments, including the janggu hourglass-shaped drum, the jing gong and bak wooden clappers.

*From John Levy’s liner notes

 

« Depuis près de 500 ans, aucune autre musique n'a été introduite dans le répertoire de l'Orchestre de la Cour de Corée. Même s’il y a certainement eu des modifications, il semble qu'aucune autre grande civilisation n'a aussi bien réussi à préserver les formes anciennes de sa musique. Suite à la proclamation de la République de Corée en 1948, le Conservatoire royal, qui formait les musiciens, est devenu l'Institut national de musique, sous la direction de Song Kyong-yin, qui a maintenu, voir restaurée, la tradition.

 

On distingue trois grandes catégories : le A'AK, la musique chinoise "raffinée", à présent uniquement jouée dans les temples confucéens, ainsi que d'anciens instruments chinois oubliés en Chine depuis longtemps, dont certains sont utilisés dans le TANG'AK, la deuxième catégorie, dérivée de la musique chinoise profane des dynasties Tang et Sung (VIIe-XIIIe siècles), et le HYANG'AK, une musique purement coréenne caractérisée par l'utilisation du temps ternaire.

 

La raison pour laquelle la musique chinoise a eu une telle influence à la cour de Corée s’explique par la relation culturelle étroite et continue entre les deux pays ; cela se manifeste également dans l'architecture, la poterie et la poésie coréennes. Cependant, le génie coréen est toujours présent, tout particulièrement dans la poterie, la poésie et la musique coréennes d'une beauté tout à fait unique ».*

 

Ces musiques abstraites et majestueuses aux sonorités éthérées, publiée sur le formidable label Lyrichord, comprend des instruments à vent, dont la flûte traversière daegeum et le hautbois à anche double piri ; des instruments à cordes, dont la cithare à six cordes komungo et la vièle à deux cordes haegeum ; ainsi que des instruments percussifs, dont le tambour en forme de sablier janggu, le gong jinget et les clapets en bois bak.

*Traduction des notes anglaises de la pochette de John Levy

A1 – Ung-An Chi Ak (Receiving the Approaching Spirit) –Confucian Music, A’ak.

A2 – Song-An Chi Ak (First Wine Offering) – Confucian Music, A-ak.

A3 – Nagyang-Ch'un (Springtime in Loyang) – Tang’ak.

 

A4 – Sujech'on (Long Life Immeasurable as the Sky) – Music to accompany a masked dance, Hyang’ak.

A5 – Komungo Tasurum and Komun-Go – Two Instrumental preludes for the taegumtransverse flute and komungo six-string zither, played by Kim Song-jin and Ku Yun-kuk; Hyang’ak.

B1 – Kagok (Like a hen pheasant chased by a hawk) – Lyric song sung by Hong Wonki with orchestral accompaniment.

B2 – Kagok (Have we passed the Ch'onsok Pass?) – Lyric song sung by Hong Wonkiwith orchestral accompaniment.

B3 – Sijo (Blue bird, you have come at last) – Lyric song sung by Chi Whacha with orchestral accompaniment.

 

B4 – Ch'wit'a  Kilkunak – Military music, Hyang’ak.

 

B5 – Pyon-gyang and P’yon-jong – Stone chimes and bronze bells.

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***

Englishman John Levy (1910-1976) spent many years in India studying with his guru, Shri Krishna Menon (1883-1959), and bringing the knowledge of Advaita philosophy to the West. Levy was also an expert on Asian music and made many seminal field recordings in India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, China, Taiwan and South Korea, including this excellent album.

My other Korean music post:

National Classical Music Institute – Jigu Records (3 LPs) here 

Photographs below are from The Cleveland Museum of Art's collection here; The Sun Symbol of Power and Life by Madanjeet Singh, Published by Abrams, Inc., 1993; and the Musée Guimet's catalogue to the exhibition Nostalgies Coréennes. Peintures et Paravents du XVIIe au XIXe siècle, October 2001-January 2002, Paris, by Pierre Cambon and Lee U-fan, Published by MNAAG / Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand palais – 2001:

Amitabha Triad, Korea, Joseon dynasty 15th century.

This rare bronze triad from the 1400s shows Amitabha (아미타불), or the Buddha of the Western Paradise, seated on a lotus pedestal at the center. He is flanked by two sacred attendants, Ksitigarbha (지장보살) on his left and Avalokitesvara (관음보살) on his right. The combination of these three Buddhist deities was particularly popular in the early Joseon period (1392- c. 1550). The small scale suggests that this triad might have been displayed in a personal shrine rather than a large worship hall.

The Great Solar Eagle by the Korean painter Chong Hong-Nae, 

Yi Dynasty period, 1720:

Sokbul, the Three Bhuddas, shamanic painting, 

Choson period, 19th century:

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