Materials
men
ICH Materials 1,652
Audio Albums
(12)-
Women's Voices from the Mountains
CD6_WOMEN’S VOICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS\n\nThe women performing here are not professional musicians. These songs are part of the everyday life of women. Women’s songs are often work songs sung while grinding, threshing, and pounding, as a way to while away the tedium of long laborious tasks and provide a rhythm as well as companionship. Women play a key role in rituals, singing narratives and ballads as well as life cycle songs for events such as birth, marriage, and death. Wedding songs form a large part of the repertoire of women in India. This important part of the intangible cultural heritage of India is disappearing with urbanization and migration to cities, and with mechanization that takes away the need for grinding and pounding. Moreover, recorded music and television are taking the place of song. Thus, the recording and documentation of these traditions become more important. Namely, recordings of the voices of the woman in the home and in the fields, who carry out the rituals for their families and the gods who protect them, hold immense value. This is a compilation of women’s songs from the foothills of the Himalayas, Kangra in Himachal Pradesh (the “land of the snows”), and from high up in the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand (the “northern land”). Though not connected, there are similarities in the themes between the ghasyari songs and khuder of Garhwal and the pakaharu of Kangra. Women sing about their hardships, such as their daily struggles with marriage, absent husbands, and about the friendship among women. These songs do not have any instrumental accompaniment. The songs are from the research conducted by two wo men researchers: Kirin Narayan and Ragini Deshpande. The songs from Kangra are those recorded and collected by Kirin Narayan, who has worked in Kangra, studying women’s songs and stories for many years. The selection presented here is from 1990 to 1991. Ragini Deshpande recorded and collected women’s songs in Chamoli, Garhwal, from 1981 to 1989. As Sangita Devi says quoted by Kiri Narayan, “Everyone can sing, but only when you know pain can you understand the song.”
India 2016 -
Meke II (Songs composed for traditional itaukei dance)
Meke, a type of traditional Fijian dance, is the repository of Fijian oral culture and served as a unifying factor in Fijian society before the arrival of Christianity. The musical form of meke is a Fijian polyphony composed around tonal center. It has short intervals and comprises seconds (major and minor), thirds (major), fourths, and occasionally fifths. The melodic movement is small and mostly stepwise with the laga (principal line) in the middle. The laga is the lead singer of the meke and sets the tempo and pitch. \n\nAbove the laga is the tagica (meaning “to chime in”) and below is the druku (bass). There are duet riffs involving the laga and tagica sung in a close polyphony of seconds, thirds, occasionally fourths, and unison. The chorus involves all the singers and is usually in a block chordal pattern. There may be two more parts: vakasalavoavoa (a descant), the highest part, sung above the tagica; and the vaqiqivatu (tenor part), weaving a polyphonic line between the bass and the laga and providing harmonic interest without being integral to the whole. \n\nThere are meke for every occasion. Some are regional (i.e., a collaboration of villages and districts) and some are collective: from those sung within the family and extended groups to the very large and impressive dance meke involving hundreds of participants. All of them form the Fijian musical canon together with instruments such as lali (large slit drums), lali ni meke (small lali for meke), derua (bamboo stamping tubes), and cobo (clapping with cupped hands). \n\nThere are other instruments such as the davui (end-blown triton shell) and the dulali (nose flute), but these instruments are not included in meke performance. The actual singing of meke involves a number of performers: men, women, and children in any combination, sitting in a tight circle around the leaders. Texts of meke are arranged in stanzas and composed in an indigenous, oral poetic style. There are no limits to the number or the length of the stanzas; rhythm and rhyme are paramount.
Fiji 2017 -
Meke I (Songs composed for traditional itaukei dance)
Meke, a type of traditional Fijian dance, is the repository of iTaukei oral culture and served as a unifying factor in Fijian society before the arrival of Christianity. The musical form of meke is a Fijian polyphony composed around tonal center. It has short intervals and comprises seconds (major and minor), thirds (major), fourths, and occasionally fifths. The melodic movement is small and mostly stepwise with the laga (principal line) in the middle.\n\nThe laga is the lead singer of the meke and sets the tempo and pitch. Above the laga is the tagica (meaning “to chime in”) and below is the druku (bass). There are duet riffs involving the laga and tagica sung in a close polyphony of seconds, thirds, occasionally fourths, and unison. The chorus involves all the singers and is usually in a block choral pattern. There may be two more parts: vakasalavoavoa (a descant), the highest part, sung above the tagica; and the vaqiqivatu (tenor part), weaving a polyphonic line between the bass and the laga and providing harmonic interest without being integral to the whole. \n\nThere are meke for every occasion. Some are regional and some are collective, from those sung within the family and extended groups to the very large and impressive dance meke involving hundreds of participants. All of them form the Fijian musical canon together with instruments such as lali (large slit drums), lali ni meke (small lali for meke), derua (bamboo stamping tubes), and cobo (clapping with cupped hands).\n\nThere are other instruments such as the davui (end-blown triton shell) and the dulali (nose flute), but these instruments are not included in meke performance. The actual singing of meke involved a number of performers: men, women, and children in any combination, sitting in a tight circle around the leaders. Texts of meke are arranged in stanzas and composed in an indigenous, oral poetic style. There are no limits to the number or the length of the stanzas; rhythm and rhyme are paramount.
Fiji 2017 -
Veiqaraqaravi vakaturaga(traditional ceremonies)
Veiqaravi vakavanua literally means “service in the manner of the land.” This is the heart of traditional Fijian diplomacy and traditional orature, in which carefully chosen words, expressions, intonation, and even pauses all work in tandem to create the sacred atmosphere befitting some traditional occasion. It is on these occasions when the traditional orature and Fijian oral culture are highly esteemed, when good orators utter rich metaphoric expressions and sentences to welcome a high chief or esteemed guest with either yaqona roots or a whale’s tooth. This is followed by the mixture of yaqona libation in a tanoa (wooden bowl carved from the trunk of vesi, intsia bijuga). This vessel is placed in front of the honored guest at a respectful distance. Men in traditional dress are arranged around and behind the tanoa and chanting \nis carried out as the libation is mixed. Thereafter, the yaqona mix is served to the honored guest while chanting continues.
Fiji 2017 -
Hat Xoan in Phu Tho Vietnam
Hát Xoan (Xoan singing) or cửa đình singing (singing at the village communal house) starts in spring during singing and dancing performances to worship the god in the village communal house. According to legend Hát Xoan appeared in the time of Kings Hùng, in the ancestral land of Hùng Vương—Phú Thọ, a province in the midland area of Vietnam. Gathering of Xoan singers who worship in spring called Xoan guild or families of Xoan. In a Xoan guild, there are between six and eighteen members. Men, called kép (instrumentalist), have to know how to beat a drum and sing the lead. Women are called đào (female singer). Female singers must not only be beautiful but also be able sing and dance well. The leader, called ông trùm, is an expert in art and master in all Xoan singing customs . He is also responsible for organizing and training instrumentalists and singers. Nowadays, in Phú Thọ province, there are four original Xoan guilds, in Kim Đới, Phù Đức, Thét, and An Thái villages. The Xoan guilds start their two-month spring itinerary 6 Jan (lunar calendar).\n\nXoan singing for worship is structured into three singing stages: Stage one is a ritual opening that includes songs such as Giáo trống, Giáo pháo, Thơ nhang, and Đóng đám. The Xoan guild of An Thái village opens with the song Chào vua while Xoan guild of Kim Đới village opens with Mời vua. Stage two is the performance of fourteen songs (known as quả cách) such as Kiều Giang cách, Nhàn ngâm cách, Tràng mai cách, Ngư tiều canh mục cách, Đối dẫy cách, Hồi liên cách, Tứ mùa cách, Quả cách is an ancient term. Quả means a long song while cách is a method of singing a specific song. Cách is the way ancient Confusion scholars expressed their feelings and conceptions of society and nature. The content of these fourteen songs is about wishing the four classes of people— scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants—prosperity and fame. Stage three is a love-exchange song, including songs such as Bợm gái, Bỏ bộ, Xin hoa đố chữ, Gài hoa, Hát đúm, and Giã cá. The content reflects the desire of a couple’s love. Therefore, the items in this stage are usually performed by Xoan singers with local male villagers. The cultural exchange between Xoan guild and local male villagers make the singing session more attractive. However, Xoan singing was under the threat of being lost over time. On 24 November 2011, Xoan singing of Phú Thọ province was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage In Need of Urgent Safeguarding of Humanity. In this CD, we selected and arranged some Xoan singing songs recorded and kept at Vietnamese Institute for Musicology in 1959.
Viet Nam 2015 -
Yapese Traditional Dance Chants
Yapese traditional dances are performed during village/municipal cultural activities or events. They are performed by men and women and are sometimes performed during a chief’s ceremonial events. These performances break down into bamboo dance, standing dance, and sitting dance.
Micronesia 2017 -
Ulithian Women’s Sitting Dance Chants
These two dances tell us how women from Ulithi and Fais felt when the Japanese took men from their families and made them work on Yap and Palau islands. It describes how the families went through poverty and struggles. These two dances are performed by women from Mogmog Island, the chief island of Ulithi Atoll.
Micronesia 2017 -
Vakalutuivoce kei navakavunigasau (Chants)
Vakalutuivoce is a traditional duet chant performed by men, usually from the fisherfolk clan in the maritime islands and coastal communities of the larger islands. The chants usually tell of the successful fishing expeditions of the fisherfolk clans. \nContents may vary but usually hinge upon fishing and the coastal environment. For communities located in the islands of the larger islands, these chants are called Vakavunigasau. \nThe Vakavunigasau is a functional chant associated with tugging logs. It is constantly chanted at the construction of a house and aims to help break the monotony, boredom, and heaviness of labor. It also inculcates a sense of solidarity and unity among workers and keeps the work proceeding at a methodical and companionable rate. The singing style of Vakalutuivoce is parallel to that of Vakavunigasau. For example, a melody is added as an accompaniment to another melody.
Fiji 2017 -
Sernicumu (Popular filian folksongs)
Serenicumu literally means “bumping songs,” a genre of popular music that is widespread throughout Fiji today and is performed in villages as well as at local resorts and hotels. These songs are covers of or are influenced by styles from Europe and America as well as from other Pacific islands or the Caribbean (particularly reggae). They are often performed at informal yaqona drinking sessions and are also associated with informal dance types broadly termed tauratale or danisi (taken from the English word ”dance”).\n\nThe exact origin of the genre is obscure. Serenicumu is said to be associated with the first legally allowed sales of beer to Indigenous Fijians in the 1920s in Suva, and it is suggested that this genre originated from parties where men bumped their drinking glasses together. Another source further adds that this music was originally called sere ni cumu saqa (saqa meaning “barrel” or “tankard”) and that it referred to the practice of Fijian men sitting in a circle at a table and resting their heads against their tankards of beer. Many serenicumu songs still performed today date from World War II―an intense period of creativity for this genre―when soldiers from the US, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and Australia interacted extensively with Fijians.\n\nCurrently, musicians distinguish two main styles of serenicumu: trio and sere bass (also called sere makawa or “old songs,” even though they may be fifteen or more years old). Sere bass performance features a large group of bass vocalists (bass/besi) in addition to three solo voice parts: tatabani/tatabana, domo tolu/vakababa, and laga/lagalaga in descending order in terms of their vocal range. Only the three solo parts are heard in trio. The types and roles of the instruments, their tuning, and their playing techniques have also changed over time. The technique of vadivadi (plucking), which characterized sere bass guitar performance in the past, has been replaced by various “scrumming” (strumming) for the rhythm guitar and a range of left- and right-handed techniques for the lead guitarist. The only chords used in sere bass were dua(tonic), rua (subdominant), and tolu (dominant), whereas trio also featured warning (seventh), minus (minor), and flat (supertonic) chords.\n\nAnyone can participate in sere bass performance, which makes it ideal for use at large social gatherings. Trio performers are expected to perform to a high standard and are usually heard at small social functions such as yaqona drinking sessions.\nThe tempo tends to be slower and the overall pitch lower in sere bass when compared to trio. Sere bass, being closer stylistically to meke, tends to be preferred by older people (those in their mid-40s and above) and provides them with a means to connect with and celebrate their cultural roots. Trio, which tends to be popular with those in their 20s and 30s, exhibits a greater degree of Westernization than sere bass, but it is still regarded as being part of the serenicumu oral tradition that has been passed down through the generations and that continues to change as new songs are continually added to the repertoire and old ones fall into disuse.
Fiji 2017 -
Quan Ho Bac Ninh in the North Vietnam
CD4 QUAN HỌ BẮC NINH IN THE NORTH VIETNAM\nQuan họ,a special alternate singing between men and women, was once only available in Kinh Bắc region in northern Vietnam. Traditional Quan họ was previously the folk art of forty-nine villages in Kinh Bắc, which is presently Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang provinces.Quan họ singing has been associated with twining occasions in the past. Quan họ is often sung between two groups, called bọn Quan họ, who are living in two different villages and wanting to strike up friendship with each other. During annual festivals or their free time, the Quan họ people sing to satisfy their demand for exchanging art. They sing throughout the day and night. The twining relationship between the Quan họ performers as artistic and intimate friends has continued from forefathers to descendants; thus, they are never allowed to marry each other. Quan họ is one of the few musical forms that has alternate singing between men and women and lyrical love-exchange lyrics but has no the function of love-exchange in daily life as other love-exchange folksongs.\n\nNevertheless, Quan họ is sung not only by twinning Quan họ people but also by others from other places. People can sing Quan họ at many locations; for example, they can perform it at houses at night on normal days, at temples on festivals, on hills, in the forest, along the street, at ponds, or on boat.In Quan họ singing, the male group is called liền anh, and the female group is called liền chị. Traditional Quan họ is pair singing without accompaniment. One of the pair is in charge of singing, leading the tune while the other sings as a secondary part. These two people have to be selected and trained to be in perfect harmony at the same timbre. In addition to pair singing, there is group singing, which is performed on congratulatoory and worshipping occasions. The male group sings in response to the female one. Four typical singing techniques of Quan họ are resonant, ringing, restrained, and staccato.
Viet Nam 2015 -
Paglami-lamihan Soundscapes 2
The Yakan inhabit the island of Basilan just off the southern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula of western Mindanao, particularly in the municipalities of Tipo, Lamitan, Sumisip, and Tuburan, and the islands of Sacol, Malanipa, and Tumalutab east of Zamboanga. The Yakan belong to the widespread Sama group, and their culture has become too specialized to be distinguished as a distinct group.\n\nThe Yakan’s language is closely related to the Sama, but their culture is more land orientated rather than the sea based. Agriculture consists largely of upland rice, although copra is also widespread. The main religion is Islam with syncretic elements from traditional and indigenous beliefs.\n\nThe Yakan are well-known for their elaborate dress, which is similar for males and females. For instance, both wear trousers. Noteworthy articles include the kandit, a fifteen-meter-long red sash worn by men, and the pinantupan, the women’s overskirt. Textile weaving done on the backstrap loom is much sought after, especially because of the intricate and beautiful motifs. The Yakan is one of the few groups that use tapestry loom producing the sophisticatedly woven pis syabit (headscarf for men) and seputangan (head cloth for women).\n\nThe Yakan have a rich musical tradition based on the pentatonic scale. Their musical instruments are usually made of bamboo, wood, and metal. The daluppak is a digging stick with a bamboo clapper. The kopak-kopak is a bamboo clapper on a stick. The kwintangan kayu is a percussion instrument consisting of five wooden beams suspended horizontally. The ends of the beams are tapered, and these are beaten. It is associated with planting and played to enhance plant growth. The wooden tuntungan is a suspended wooden ercussion plank with jar resonators, played with a pole during the harvest season for the purpose of giving thanks. The gabbang is a bamboo xylophone with five bars. The suling is a bamboo mouth flute used by men in courting. Another used by men to express love or admiration is the kulaing. The kulintangan or kwintangan consists of five bronze gongs arranged according to size and used during celebrations. The agung is a large deep gong used in ensemble performance.\n\n
Philippines 2015 -
Paglami-lamihan Soundscapes 1
The Yakan inhabit the island of Basilan just off the southern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula of western Mindanao, particularly in the municipalities of Tipo, Lamitan, Sumisip, and Tuburan, and the islands of Sacol, Malanipa, and Tumalutab east of Zamboanga. The Yakan belong to the widespread Sama group, and their culture has become too specialized to be distinguished as a distinct group.\n\nThe Yakan’s language is closely related to the Sama, but their culture is more land orientated rather than the sea based. Agriculture consists largely of upland rice, although copra is also widespread. The main religion is Islam with syncretic elements from traditional and indigenous beliefs.\n\nThe Yakan are well-known for their elaborate dress, which is similar for males and females. For instance, both wear trousers. Noteworthy articles include the kandit, a fifteen-meter-long red sash worn by men, and the pinantupan, the women’s overskirt. Textile weaving done on the backstrap loom is much sought after, especially because of the intricate and beautiful motifs. The Yakan is one of the few groups that use tapestry loom producing the sophisticatedly woven pis syabit (headscarf for men) and seputangan (head cloth for women).\n\nThe Yakan have a rich musical tradition based on the pentatonic scale. Their musical instruments are usually made of bamboo, wood, and metal. The daluppak is a digging stick with a bamboo clapper. The kopak-kopak is a bamboo clapper on a stick. The kwintangan kayu is a percussion instrument consisting of five wooden beams suspended horizontally. The ends of the beams are tapered, and these are beaten. It is associated with planting and played to enhance plant growth. The wooden tuntungan is a suspended wooden ercussion plank with jar resonators, played with a pole during the harvest season for the purpose of giving thanks. The gabbang is a bamboo xylophone with five bars. The suling is a bamboo mouth flute used by men in courting. Another used by men to express love or admiration is the kulaing. The kulintangan or kwintangan consists of five bronze gongs arranged according to size and used during celebrations. The agung is a large deep gong used in ensemble performance.\n\n
Philippines 2015