Abstract
“And as the Corybantian revellers when they dance are not in their right mind, so the lyric poets are not in their right mind when they are composing their beautiful strains: but when falling under the power of music and metre they are inspired and possessed; like Bacchic maidens who draw milk and honey from the rivers, when they are under the influence of Dionysus, but not when they are in their right mind.” Thus did Plato, in his Ion,1 refer to the elements of trance and other-wordly contacts sometimes present in the making of music, dance, and poetry. The hypnotic, intoxicating atmosphere that is so integral a part of certain types of musical activity is as much engendered by the music itself as by the infusion of spiritual-mystical qualities formed in the minds of the participants. How vitally important, then, does the music belonging to ritual become in its double-duty character as emotional intensifier and as religious emblem.
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Notes
The Lusumba is a men’s secret society among the Mambuti Pygmies. The term “Lusumba” is not original with the Pygmies but is borrowed from neighboring Bantu tribes, particularly from the large Ba-kumu group. Note, for example, Esumba, the name given by the Bakumu to all esoteric practices and to most taboo objects; also, Lusumba, used similarly among the Bapere. See Colin M. Turnbull, “Pygmy Music and Ceremonial,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, LV (Feb. 1955), p. 24; also, A. Moeller, Migrations des Bantous, pp. 392 ff.
Fritz Spellig, “Über Geheimbünde bei den Wanyamwezi,” Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, LIX (1927), p. 64.
Kalervo Oberg, “Kinship Organization of the Banyankole,” Africa, XI (April 1938), 2, p. 133.
A. G. O. Hodgson, “Some Notes on the Wahehe of Mahenge District, Tanganyika Territory,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. LVI (1926), p. 50.
Fr. P. J. Borgonjon, “De Besnydenis bij de Tutshiokwe,” Aequatoria, Revue des sciences congolaises, VIII (1945), No. 2, p. 70 (footnote 6).
J. T. Brown, “Circumcision Rites of the Becwana Tribes,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, LI (1921), pp. 419–427.
M. A. Poupon, “Étude ethnographique de la tribu Kouyou,” Anthropologie, XXIX (1918–1919), p. 62.
Hermann Hartmann, “Ethnographische Studie über die Baja,” Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, LIX (1927), p. 51.
P. H. Molitor, “La Musique chez les Nègres de Tanganyika,” Anthropos, VIII (1913), p. 718.
Alexis Kagame, “Le Rwanda et son roi,” Aequatoria, VIII (1945), 2, p. 42. The Karinga is a royal-drum emblem. Fr. Kagame, incidentally, is the first native Ruanda priest.
Leo A. Verwilghen, in album notes to Songs of the Watutsi, Ethnic Folkways Records, P428 (1952), p. 2.
Leo A. Verwilghen, in album notes to Folk Music of the Western Congo, Ethnic Folkways Records, P427 (1952), p. 2.
Alan P. Merriam, “Song Texts of the Bashi,” African Music, I (1954), 1. pp. 51–52.
H. Lang, “Nomad Dwarfs and Civilization,” Natural History, XIX (1919), pp. 697–713.
Harry Johnston, The Uganda Protectorate, II (London, 1902), p. 543.
Joseph H. Greenberg, “The Classification of African Languages,” American Anthropologist, L (1948) p. 24.
R. p. G. Hulstaert, “Les Tons en Lonkundo (Congo Belge),” Anthropos, XXIX (1934), p. 79.
In the Babira language, for example, a word like kókó (chicken) which has a high, even pitch in a sentence is usually placed high in a song; a descending word like kapè (visible) generally has descending musical tones; while a broken vowel sound would accordingly be broken up in the music, e.g., hîga (hearth) gets two descending tones on the first syllable. See W. P. Maeyens, “Het inlandsch Lied en het muzikaal Accent met semantische Functie bij de Babira,” Kongo-Overzee, IV (1938), pp. 250–259.
G. Vancoillie, “Recueil de signaux claniques ou Kumbu des tribus Mbagani et du Kasai (Congo Belge),” African Studies, VIII (Mar.–June, 1949), p. 37.
J. Jacobs, “Signaaltrommeltaal bij de Tetela,” Kongo-Overzee, XX (1954), p. 409.
J. F. Carrington, “Drum Language of the Lokele Tribe,” African Studies, III (1944), pp. 75–88.
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Brandel, R. (1973). Musical Ethnology of Central Africa. In: The Music of Central Africa: An Ethnomusicological Study . Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7396-2_3
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