This paper critically examines the impact of the Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the legal, economic and cultural integrity of African music. It discusses the reciprocity of intellectual property (IP) functionality and undermining of culture in the backdrop of algorithmic datafication. Based on the Postcolonial theory (more specifically, data-colonialism framework), the research analysis focuses on the process in which Global North technology corporations harvest cultural information of Global South producers through the expansion of Artificial Intelligence. Through the legal-ethnographic triangulation of legal analysis of the copyright regimes, together with extensive interviews of Kenyan creative professionals, the study reveals a structural imbalance between western standards of IP laws and African epistemology of oral traditions. Although AI is a source of universal precarity in the global community of creators, the results have shown a particular danger of ontological obliteration of African idioms, which occurs in the form of rhythmic flattening and digital orientalism. Additionally, the analysis also records the techniques Kenyan counter-movements, also known as digital resistance, use to deconstruct algorithmic quantisation and demand creative sovereignty. The paper concludes with an urgent appeal for decolonized IP frameworks, such as communal data trusts, to safeguard the essence, or sovereign intentionality, of African music.
Este artigo investiga a condição das cantoras negras e indígenas na economia da música baiana, explorando dinâmicas laborais que caracterizam suas trajetórias. O objetivo é compreender como o racismo e o sexismo afetam a carreira dessas artistas, destacando a interseccionalidade entre gênero, raça e classe social. A pesquisa utilizou um questionário online com 59 perguntas, distribuídas em seis dimensões analíticas: perfil da respondente, carreira musical, perfil ocupacional, percepções de raça e gênero, fluxos migracionais e perfil socioeconômico. Foram entrevistadas 149 cantoras negras e indígenas do estado. Os resultados revelam que a maioria das cantoras possui longa experiência na música, mas enfrenta dificuldades financeiras e falta de suporte profissional. As principais barreiras identificadas incluem a falta de recursos financeiros, de tempo para investir na carreira e de acesso a redes de apoio. A pesquisa conclui que estas cantoras enfrentam desafios no mercado musical baiano, necessitando de políticas públicas mais efetivas.
This study aims to describe the structure and techniques of playing Pancula Ndeme by Justinus Hokey on classical guitar composition. This study uses a qualitative approach. The data analyzed is the sheet music of Pancula Ndeme. The results of this study indicate that the structure of this composition consists of several parts, namely Introduction – A – B – C – A – B – Coda. There are four motifs in section A (m1, m2, m3, m4), two sentences (sentences a and a'), and two themes in each sentence. Section B consists of three motifs (n1, n2, n3), two phrases (phrase b and b'), and two themes in each sentence. Section C consists of 2 motifs (o1 and o2). The guitar playing techniques contained in this composition are the right-hand technique and the left-hand technique. The right-hand techniques found in this composition include; apoyando, tirando, and strumming techniques. The left-hand techniques contained in this composition include; slur, barre, and harmonic.
The article explores the specifics of the Magnificat produced by Thomas Tallis, one of the leading English 16th century composers. The development of the genre is a direct reflection of the religious history of 16thcentury England. It was a peculiar and unique period as catholic kings would replace protestant kings which inevitably led to the reformation of church rites. Tallis as a composer witnessed the reign of four monarchs, and the three Magnificats from his legacy appear to have been written for different forms of worship in pre-Reformed English Catholic and post-Reformed Anglican Church. Russian musicology has not given much attention to Tallis's works. Recently, a few studies focused on some of his compositions, however, Tallis’s Magnificats are still outside the research scope. This article summarizes the information of foreign researchers on the chronology of Tallis' works, the conditions of developing liturgical cycles, and their relationship to religious changes in the country. The article also provides a detailed analysis of Magnificats. In particular, it focuses on the specifics of architectonics and texture in the Magnificats with the Latin text and in the cycle written for Anglican Church. Thus, the article discusses structural features of Tallis’s Magnificat for the Anglican Church and raises a question about the emergence of the tradition that combines the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in one cycle during a reformatory worship. In addition, the article examines the techniques Tallis used to approach the melodic basis of the Magnificats that embrace unique features of British culture to further transform them in a polyphonic setting.
Composed in 1941 and dedicated to his guitarist niece, Gerta Hammerschmid, Ferdinand Rebay’s Second Sonata in E major for Guitar remained unperformed during his life, only gaining its premiere recording after my performance film was released in 2022. One of the reasons for this deferral is that the piece needed a thorough revision to fit the guitar’s idiom and, for reasons that can only be speculated about, this was not done by Hammerschmid at the time. This article examines my solutions to score-based issues encountered during the preparation of the sonata for performance, many of which demanded intervention in the musical text—a process I call “posthumous collaboration.” First, however, I investigate the relationship between Rebay and his Viennese guitar environment, explaining his motivations for writing over thirty sonatas or sonata-structured works for the guitar and then focusing on the group of seven solo guitar sonatas that he wrote between 1925 and 1944. The article is written from the perspective of an artist-scholar who looks critically at the repertoire and engages with it with the kind of authority that can only emerge from integrating scholarly studies with artistic experience.
Isaac W. Shitubi, Mellitus N. Wanyama, Peter L. Barasa
Researchers across the globe have found huge support for music as a necessary component of an adolescent’s life. Since music seems to be such an important part of young people’s identity and it influences many aspects of their behaviour, the topic of formal music education remains critical and open to exploration and discussion. The discrepancy between ‘music at school’ and ‘music out of school’ is therefore often huge for students. The aim of this paper is to investigate the attitudes of learners in secondary schools towards practical musicianship. Adopting the use of descriptive survey design, the study targeted 19 teachers and 177 students of music from 15 purposively sampled secondary schools. Data was collected using personal interviews,
observation schedule, document analysis and a questionnaire. The collected data was then analyzed descriptively based on emerging themes and quotas. The study established that majority of the students of music had a positive attitude towards practical musicianship. As a result, teachers are only required to encourage and motivate them towards attaining their desired career goals in musicianship. However, some students had also developed negative attitude about school music because of lack of instrumental and vocal provisions. The study recommends inclusion of music technology and popular music within the music curriculum to stimulate wider interest in the subject. More so, provision of opportunities for students to talk about their musical interests, likes and dislikes on a regular basis in order to better facilitate meaningful musical instruction should be encouraged.
Аналізується фактичний, переважно архівний маловідомий матеріал щодо діяльності Всеукраїнського комітету сприяння вченим (ВУКСУ) в першій половині 20-х рр. ХХ ст. Аналіз дозволив висвітлити масштабну роботу ВУКСУ, спрямовану на матеріальну, правову, моральну та побутову допомогу переважно науковій інтелігенції України в її діяльності й відпочинку в ті скрутні роки, що відзначились голодом, холодом, розрухою та епідеміями. Особлива увага приділяється роботі ВУКСУ, яка спрямовувалась на налагодження ділової співпраці наукової інтелігенції з більшовицьким режимом в Україні.
This paper aims to demonstrate the functionality of applying principles of Gestalt theory as an analytical tool to the field of music. Attempting to consider the sound object in its entirety, whose structure is composed of the relations between its constituent elements, we intend to provide subsidies that help the performer understand and perform musical material. First, we present a study of the fundamentals of Gestalt and its various approaches from its inception. Then we demonstrate and define the principles that govern performance and its structural organization that are later applied to the sound phenomenon using examples of musical excerpts taken from select pieces. Finally, we present a practical analysis of Nuevo Estudio Sencillo X – Omaggio a Stravinsky composed by the Cuban composer Leo Brouwer (1939) in which Gestalt principles are applied.
Ana Leticia Crozetta Zomer, Guilherme Antonio Sauerbronn de Barros
Neste trabalho apresentamos uma análise da obra Six Melodies, do compositor norte-americano John Cage (1912-1992). Criada em 1950, a obra pertence ao seu segundo período composicional, denominado Período Romântico (1938-1950) por Solomon (1998, 2002). A análise musical se deu a partir da investigação dos processos composicionais (micro-macrocosmic form e gamut technique), abordando aspectos formais e estruturais da obra. Dessa forma, procuramos revelar detalhes a respeito da estética de Cage durante seus primeiros anos como compositor e da influência que seu companheiro, Merce Cunningham, exerceu sobre as obras deste período. O estudo das técnicas composicionais desenvolvidas durante o Período Romântico reflete a mudança no pensamento estético-filosófico do compositor.
Este texto apresenta e discute brevemente como a concepção de ensino-aprendizagem entre as crianças Guarani Mbya refletia no modo como estas, enquanto colaboradoras de trabalho de pesquisa etnomusicológica, ensinavam suas canções ao pesquisador em questão. Discorre-se, ainda, sobre os desafios encontrados durante o trabalho de campo realizado, no que diz respeito ao processo de ensino-aprendizagem entre a cultura guarani. Os caminhos percorridos durante a superação de tais desafios trazem à luz a maneira como os Guarani concebem a infância e, em consequência disso, como suas crianças aprendem – e ensinam –, o que pode remeter a análises relacionadas ao jogo ideal deleuziano.
The music education in medieval Transylvania is directly documented from the 14th century onwards. The most interesting musical codices concerning education are the Gradual from Şumuleu Ciuc (regional provenience, from about 1600, still in use 1680; signature A.V.5.), with mentions about the performance to the pupils, and the Gradual Öreg, a protestant source, printed 1636 in Alba Iulia, which contains didactical melodies with Latin texts, to learn the psalm tones.
This article examines how Western-style choir conducting was introduced in Cameroon by the Basel Mission. In analyzing different conducting techniques within a Presbyterian choir organisation in southwest Cameroon, we observe a new take on the function of the choir director, modelled after several aspects of the precolonial musical culture. Moreover, it becomes apparent that the missionaries introduced the role of the choir director only summarily, as Cameroonians have developed their own distinct conducting techniques and gestures. This can be explained by the difference in expectations between a choir director operating in a musical culture characterised by oral tradition and one operating in Western culture. For example, the former uses chironomic gestures to indicate pitch or iconic gestures to remind singers of the words of the song while keeping the rhythm. This study shows that choir conducting styles depend not only on the music, but also on the musical practice within a specific cultural context.
Simon Boccanegra is one of Verdi’s most interesting operas. Its unusual mix between old and new elements makes it both innovative and loyal to the traditions of the 18th century. The new approach of the characters creates a completely new world, in which the person – with its psychological and emotional experiences dominates the stage. Simon Boccanegra was the inspiration behind the opera, this authentic historic figure acted as the backbone of a story, which has shocked so many people at its first premiere. In the next few pages, we will present the opera’s path from start to finish, mixing in some personal elements that will give the tale a human perspective, from the view of someone who attempts to take on such a challenging role to find herself immersed in a wonderful, historical age as well as the composing genius of Verdi.
The theory of the “inner form”, developed by the Russian scientist A. Potebnja from the theory of W. Humboldts, includes a procedure that is useful for etymological analysis. The musicologically relevant aspects of this teachings are: 1. the search for the deeper “linguistic sense” present in a work of art; 2. an analogy between the work of art and the world – both of which include the “total sense”; 3. the threesubstances of words and artworks – (spiritual) content (Gehalt), inner form (innere Form) and outer form (äussere Form) – as opposed to two: form and content. “Inner form” can emerge through different “etyma”, such as the scale, the rhetorical figure, the motive and performed pitch, the quotation, the genre and ritual. In comparison to a holistic or structural analysis, or to other kinds of music analysis, the etymological analysis of music can create a sense of the historical dynamic of a musical language.
O presente artigo trata do estabelecimento do conceito de paradoxo em música segundo a acepção do compositor suíço-brasileiro Ernst Widmer (1927-1990). A partir de uma declaração do compositor da importância do paradoxo na obra “As Quatro Estações do Sonho” op. 129, foram investigadas as utilizações do termo e aplicações na estrutura musical tendo como suporte a análise da produção teórica e declarações de Widmer. A pesquisa indicou, em relação ao paradoxal, a presença de dois elementos inter-relacionados: o comportamento eclético e a relativização de conceitos, além de identificar elementos contrastantes na estrutura musical segundo o entendimento do compositor.