Central African polyphony

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre

Central African polyphony · In the rainforests in the southwest of the Central African Republic, the BaAka (Aka) sing a centuries-old polyphonic music that has never been written down. Everyone sings along, in four voices that move around one another, and each singer constantly varies their part, so that the song never sounds the same twice. The songs belong to the hunt, to mourning and to the opening of a new camp. From 1971 the musicologist Simha Arom unravelled how this polyphony works.

Listening

• 
  Epanda · Aka-zangers (veldopname Simha Arom), 1971
• 
  Mongombi · Aka-zangers (veldopname Simha Arom), 1971
• 
  Kpombola (veldopname) · Ndole & Mongoumba, 2015

See also

• Aka-zangers (veldopname Simha Arom)
• Ndole & Mongoumba
• Prehistoric music