Asante Court Music and Verbal Arts in Ghana

Asante Court Music and Verbal Arts in Ghana PDF Author: Kwasi Ampene
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000060322
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
Asante Court Music and Verbal Arts in Ghana is a comprehensive portrait of Asante court musical arts. Weaving together historical narratives with analyses of texts performed on drums, ivory trumpets, and a cane flute, the book includes a critical assembly of ancient song texts, the poetry of bards (kwadwom), and referential poetry performed by members of the constabulary (apae). The focus is on the intersections between lived experience, music, and values, and refers to musical examples drawn from court ceremonies, rituals, festivals, as well as casual performances elicited in the course of fieldwork. For the Asante, the performing arts are complex sites for recording and storing personal experiences, and they have done so for centuries with remarkable consistency and self-consciousness. This book draws on archaeological, archival, historical, ethnographical and analytical sources to craft a view of the Asante experience as manifested in its musical and allied arts. Its goal is to privilege the voices of the Asante and how they express their history, religious philosophy, social values, economic, and political experiences through the musical and allied arts. The author’s theoretical formulation includes the concept of value, referring to ideas, worldview concepts, beliefs, and social relationships that inform musical practices and choices in Asante.

Asante Court Music and Verbal Arts in Ghana

Asante Court Music and Verbal Arts in Ghana PDF Author: Kwasi Ampene
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000060322
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Get Book Here

Book Description
Asante Court Music and Verbal Arts in Ghana is a comprehensive portrait of Asante court musical arts. Weaving together historical narratives with analyses of texts performed on drums, ivory trumpets, and a cane flute, the book includes a critical assembly of ancient song texts, the poetry of bards (kwadwom), and referential poetry performed by members of the constabulary (apae). The focus is on the intersections between lived experience, music, and values, and refers to musical examples drawn from court ceremonies, rituals, festivals, as well as casual performances elicited in the course of fieldwork. For the Asante, the performing arts are complex sites for recording and storing personal experiences, and they have done so for centuries with remarkable consistency and self-consciousness. This book draws on archaeological, archival, historical, ethnographical and analytical sources to craft a view of the Asante experience as manifested in its musical and allied arts. Its goal is to privilege the voices of the Asante and how they express their history, religious philosophy, social values, economic, and political experiences through the musical and allied arts. The author’s theoretical formulation includes the concept of value, referring to ideas, worldview concepts, beliefs, and social relationships that inform musical practices and choices in Asante.

The Embodiment and Transmission of Ghanaian Kete Royal Dance

The Embodiment and Transmission of Ghanaian Kete Royal Dance PDF Author: Emmanuel Cudjoe
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1839991836
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
The Kete dance form, once exclusive to royal courts, carries intricate movements, symbolic gestures, and rhythms that mirror Ghanaian history and values. It embodies storytelling, often depicting tales of bravery, unity, or significant historical events. These dances were traditionally reserved for specific occasions within the royal setting, symbolizing prestige, honor, and tradition. With the passage of time, the transmission of Kete royal dance has transcended its original palace context, finding its way into academic domains. Universities and cultural institutions now extend the legacies of this dance form and even act as custodians of this art form, where scholars, dancers, and enthusiasts collaborate to study, preserve, and teach Kete dance. Through meticulous documentation, research, and practice, the academy endeavors to honor the Kete dance while making it accessible to a broader audience. This transmission from palace to academy serves as a testament to the resilience and adaptability of cultural traditions. It ensures the continuity of Ghanaian heritage and allows future generations, both within and beyond Ghana, to appreciate and learn from this profound dance form from an Afrocentric perspective.

On African Music

On African Music PDF Author: Agawu
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197664067
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Written by one of the best-known academic writers on African music, On African Music is a collection of seven essays addressing various techniques, influences, and scholarly approaches to African music. After a concise introduction spelling out the rationale for the book, successive chapters develop answers to questions such as: How does a "minimalist impulse" animate creativity in Africa, and does "Western minimalism" differ from "African minimalism"? How do we explain the prevalence of iconic effects in African expressive forms? How has (European) tonality functioned as a "colonizing force" in African music? Why is the (written) art music of the continent talked about so little when it has been in existence since the middle of the nineteenth century? How might the discipline of music theory be rejuvenated by "aid" from Africa? What are the strengths and limitations of ethnotheory as a methodology? Who is who in theorizations of African rhythm, and how might we explain the shape of the existing archive? This book thus deals with analytical and interpretive issues, the politics of scholarship, and salient features of African music. Laced with provocative viewpoints on each page, On African Music should appeal not only to readers curious about the structural underpinnings of African music but also to those who wish to reflect critically and philosophically on how we study and write about the music of the continent, how we might approach its global status with a firm understanding from the inside, and what our priorities might be in promoting an empowering cosmopolitan discourse.

Musicians in Crisis

Musicians in Crisis PDF Author: Ioannis Tsioulakis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429871597
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Musicians in Crisis is a music ethnography of contemporary Athens, before and during the infamous economic and political crisis. It spans two contrasting periods in Greece: the last few years of relative economic prosperity and social cohesion (2005–2009) and the following period of austerity and socio-political turmoil (2010–2017). Based on the author’s participation and professional involvement in the local music scenes since 2005, the monograph untangles a web of creative practices, economic strategies and social ideologies through the previously unheard voices of Athenian music professionals. The book follows the life stories of freelance musicians of different genders, ages, educational backgrounds and musical genres, while they ‘work’ and ‘play’ in Athenian venues, recording studios and classrooms. Adding to the growing literature on precarity and resistance in the creative industries, it traces the effects of unprecedented socioeconomic circumstances on musicians’ everyday experience, as well as the actions and solidarities that help them to navigate personal and collective devastation. Through rich and evocative testimonies from the labourers of an industrious popular music scene, Musicians in Crisis contests popular narratives of the Greek predicament as they are reported by political and financial elites through international media. In this process, the book tells a story about how popular music is made in the liminal spaces between East and West, affuence and poverty, harmony and turmoil.

Presence Through Sound

Presence Through Sound PDF Author: Keith Howard
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000095967
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Presence Through Sound narrates and analyses, through a range of case studies on selected musics of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Tibet, some of the many ways in which music and ‘place’ intersect and are interwoven with meaning in East Asia. It explores how place is significant to the many contexts in which music is made and experienced, especially in contemporary forms of longstanding traditions but also in other landscapes such as popular music and in the design of performance spaces. It shows how music creates and challenges borders, giving significance to geographical and cartographic spaces at local, national, and international levels, and illustrates how music is used to interpret relationships with ecology and environment, spirituality and community, and state and nation. The volume brings together scholars from Australia, China, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the UK, each of whom explores a specific genre or topic in depth. Each nuanced account finds distinct and at times different aspects to be significant but, in demonstrating the ability of music to mediate the construction of place and by showing how those who create and consume music use it to inhabit the intimate, and to project themselves out into their surroundings, each points to interconnections across the region and beyond with respect to perception, conception, expression, and interpretation. In Presence Through Sound, ethnomusicology meets anthropology, literature, linguistics, area studies, and – particularly pertinent to East Asia in the twenty-first century – local musicologies. The volume serves a broad academic readership and provides an essential resource for all those interested in East Asia.

Becoming an Irish Traditional Musician

Becoming an Irish Traditional Musician PDF Author: Jessica Cawley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000174379
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Coupling the narratives of twenty-two Irish traditional musicians alongside intensive field research, Becoming an Irish Traditional Musician explores the rich and diverse ways traditional musicians hone their craft. It details the educational benefits and challenges associated with each learning practice, outlining the motivations and obstacles learners experience during musical development. By exploring learning from the point of view of the learners themselves, the author provides new insights into modern Irish traditional music culture and how people begin to embody a musical tradition. This book charts the journey of becoming an Irish traditional musician and explores how musicality is learned, developed, and embodied.

Entangled Performance Histories

Entangled Performance Histories PDF Author: Erika Fischer-Lichte
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000825922
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Entangled Performance Histories is the first book-length study that applies the concept of "entangled histories" as a new paradigm in the field of theater and performance historiography. "Entangled histories" denotes the interconnectedness of multiple histories that cannot be addressed within national frameworks. The concept refers to interconnected pasts, in which historical processes of contact and exchange between performance cultures affected all involved. Presenting case studies from across the world—spanning Africa, the Arab-speaking world, Asia, the Americas and Europe—the book’s contributors systematically expand, exemplify and examine the concept of "entangled histories," thus introducing various innovative concepts, theories and methodologies for investigating reciprocally consequential processes of interweaving performance cultures from the past. Bringing together examples of entanglements in theater and performance histories from a broad variety of geographical and historical backgrounds, the book’s contributions build together a broad basis for a possible and necessary paradigmatic shift in the field of theater and performance historiography. Ideal for researchers and students of history, theater, performance, drama and dance, this volume opens novel perspectives on the possibilities and challenges of investigating the entangled histories of theater and performance cultures on a global scale.

The Indian Drum of the King-God and the Pakhāvaj of Nathdwara

The Indian Drum of the King-God and the Pakhāvaj of Nathdwara PDF Author: Paolo Pacciolla
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000060012
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The book studies the evolution of the ancient drum mṛdaṅga into the pakhāvaj, crossing more than 2,000 years of history. While focusing on the Nathdwara school of pakhāvaj, the author joins ethnographic, historical, religious and iconographic perspectives to argue a multifaceted interpretation of the role and function of the pakhāvaj in royal courts, temples and contemporary stages. Furthermore, he offers the first analysis of the visual and narrative contents of its repertoire.

Engaging Modernity

Engaging Modernity PDF Author: Kwasi Ampene
Publisher: Maize Books
ISBN: 9781607853664
Category : Ashanti (African people)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Engaging Modernity is the definitive history of Asante royal regalia and music ensembles. This second edition includes an ethnographical account of the 2014 Asanteman Grand Adae festival that prominently features the complex heritage of the visual and the performing arts in motion. Ampene's contextual account illuminates the historical narratives the regalia objects render as they move through space and time, as well as the metalanguage embodied in the objects and the symbolic language they convey in Akanland. The book combines text with over three hundred color photographs to construct subtle and nuanced views of the material culture associated with Asante royal court in the twenty-first century. Engaging Modernity is an essential and a vast transdisciplinary resource for the humanities and beyond.

Asante Catholicism

Asante Catholicism PDF Author: J. Pashington Obeng
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004106314
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
This is a fresh account of African Catholicism among the Asante of Ghana, combining ethnographic detail, secondary sources, and personal reflection. It clarifies how Asante Catholics extend and transform their indigenous ideas and practices, thereby reshaping Christianity.