Sub-Saharan Music

 This part of the world isn't talked about much in American schools, which is a real tragedy because Africa, specifically western and southern Africa, has such a rich history. Many countries are proud of their heritage and history. Africa is no exception. Sub-Saharan Africa has kept many aspects of its history alive for decades, even centuries. Today instruments like the kora and mbira can be heard today in traditional and modern musical settings.

While the traditional aspect of African music is fascinating, I wanted to see how it morphed with the western idea of an orchestra with cellos, clarinets, and timpani sets. I did a general search on Google (and by general I mean I entered South African Symphony in the search bar). One of the first things to come up was the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Based in Johannesburg, obviously, this group started in 2000 after the National Symphony Orchestra disbanded. They present four seasons each year at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. They have, like many professional symphonies, performed concerts that aren't you're typical symphony-like concerts. These include Queen: the Concert, La Boheme, and The Joburg Pops. Of course, they do perform traditional orchestral selections from famous composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. It was really cool to see how they have overcome financial struggles and are working through a pandemic as all us musicians have been trying to do. I found a video of them playing the overture from Hansel and Gretel, the very opera we are doing at Converse in a few weeks! Enjoy!!

Okay, so I really wanted to know more about the instruments that originated in Southern Africa. We already know about the talking drum, djembe, and mbira, but there could be tons more that we don't know about! So let me tell you about one! It's called a bowl lyre, or sometimes called an endongo. Yeah, we know what a lyre is, but how does it involve a bowl you ask? Great question! So just like a kora, the body of a bowl lyre is... wait for it... a bowl! Unlike the kora, instead of a calabash gourd, creators of this cool instrument used a tortoiseshell. My guess is that it might be a bit sturdier and more durable than a dried gourd, but it could have just been that a tortoise had died recently when it was created. the face of the instrument is made of animal skin that is stretched over the edges of the shell. The 6-8 strings are held by a triangular frame by leather rings. It can be decorated with beads, feathers, paintings, you name it! 

Lastly, since I recently talked about music and some of the rites and rituals we use them for, I wanted to see what a South African wedding looked like. According to southafrica.co.za, there's a lot of various traditions! Like almost every culture in the world, weddings are big celebrations with lots of food. In the more rural areas of South Africa, beer is home-brewed and consumed in large amounts. The women sometimes spend days preparing rice dishes, salads, and other foods for the wedding. Some brides will carry a small knife with the blade pointed upwards to symbolize their virtue and virginity. Some more traditional weddings involve the slaughter of an ox, where the gallbladder is removed and pinned to the bride's head. This is believed to ensure the future cooperation of the ancestors of the bride and groom. The list goes on and on, with lots of traditions that are common on lots of weddings, such as the giving of gifts, both sacred and practical. Overall, it's a joyous occasion. However, after seeing some videos and pictures that had was more of the bride's body than I ever wanted to see, I have decided that if/when I ever am planning on getting married, I will stick to Southern American traditions. 

Hope you learned something! I know I did!