Darrell L Brown and Dr. S Gordon Jessop, Music
The practice of using folk music in a classical music composition became a norm during the twentieth century. In a century when music of this genre was waining into the avante-guard, this technique was a change of pace in a different direction. Composers ranging from Bela Bartok (1881-1945) and Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) in Hungary to Gustov Holst (1874-1934) and Ralph Van Williams (1872-1945) in England embraced this concept not only as fodder for new compositions, but also as a way to preserve the music of their native lands. Simultaneously, music education began to make advances and composers like the aforementioned took a great deal of interest. Kodaly, in particular, was a significant force in the music education world and he relished in using his native folk music for these purposes.
During the twentieth century the wind band became a more favored medium for composers. Although the wind band had existed for many previous years, it wasn’t until varying denominators made it a force that the Western world began to embrace and utilize. By the end of the century, the wind band had become a concert entity and is currently a favorite ensemble in the public school system in the United States of America.
During the summer of 2001, I was immersed in two of the cultures of Zimbabwe, Africa. The Shona – an indigenous people – and the British. I was exposed to literally hundreds of the local songs and sounds as well as the history of both. Because I am a student of both music education and music composition and because I am a long time participant in the wind band, I wanted to emulate Holst and portray—in my own interpretations of the collected music—a bit of the country’s history and how the two cultures came together. My idea was to mix the music of both cultures in a dramatic musical presentation. I also wanted to use modern Western instruments to recreate the sounds of the instruments used in Zimbabwe. I desired to teach the Zimbabwean music to public schools through a composition for wind band.
As I began this endeavor, I quickly discovered many obstacles. The first was how to mix the songs of the two cultures. I had memorized many of the Shona songs and had the opportunity to record native peoples singing those songs. I also learned to play the indigenous instruments and recorded those who taught me to play while they were performing. The problem was that I hadn’t been able to learn any of the British/Rhodesian songs. (The songs are referred to as Rhodesian because the people who sang them, even though they are of British descent, most of them are second or third generation “Rhodesians” and have never lived or even been to England. Furthermore, many Rhodesians refuse to be known as “Zimbabweans” because of the “revolution” and the black affiliation they refute.) I was unable to learn these songs because it is against the law to sing them, as ordained by the current government (which has been in power since the change of power in 1980). I tried to persuade one of my Rhodesian friends to teach me some of these songs, but she feared being heard and that trouble would follow. She didn’t even trust her black servants to be loyal on the matter.
After returning to the United States I contacted my friend and asked her to write down on musical manuscript paper some of these old songs and fax them to me. She agreed to the task, but the results were disappointing. I learned that one of the songs was simply a modern text to the theme of Beethoven’s ninth symphony and the music she faxed me was not usable.
My next problem was trying to mimic the native instruments. One of the instruments I wanted to copy is a Shona whistle called a tsuri. I wanted to recreate this instrument because it is becoming obsolete in its native land as a result of the encroachment of the modern world. I was able, after four months of searching, to obtain one and bring it home. The problem was that no one new how to play it. They could all describe its function and tell me how it was used, but the information was too vague. I discovered that it is capable of two pitches creating a minor third and I thought that I might just “fill in the blanks,” but it left me uneasy trying to recreate such a strong cultural sound without a better understanding.
I also wanted to recreate the mbira. I can actually play this instrument and was taught by the best native musicians how to play this instrument. The challenge was to create a metallic, resonating, percussive sound with unique overtones that aren’t in tune with one another with modern instruments. This proved to be virtually impossible.
After contemplating the problems, I decided to alter my original concept. I returned to the model of Gustov Holst. Holst incorporated the use of English folksongs in two multi-movement works for band that are frequently performed by high school ensembles. I decided to take the music that I had and use it to create a multi-movement work for band that incorporated the music that I actually knew and had recorded as a reference to remain as true as possible to the original music. After discussion with my faculty mentor, I also made the decision to use Western music concepts to create the composition.
All of these decisions proved for the better. I found that because the songs I was using weren’t “purely” African (they are songs that were written after the British missionaries arrived in Africa) and employ the chord structures and cadences of Western music that using the Western system to propel them was actually the soundest decision I could have made. I also discovered that by using the vibraphone I was able to use a modern instrument to somewhat recreate the sounds of the mbira. I totally abandoned the idea of recreating the tsuri. I also abandoned the idea of mixing the Rhodesian songs with the Shona songs and decided to use strictly the Shona songs.
As a result of these factors, a four-movement work is developing that is a bit autobiographical of my experience in Zimbabwe. The work bears a Shona title “Ngoma dzeku Zimbabwe” which translated is “music from Zimbabwe”. I thought this was an appropriate title because the piece truly is music strictly from the Zimbabwean (Shona) people. The four movements are based on the following songs: “NdiJesu” (“My Jesus”), “Amai naBaba” (“Mother and Father”), “Mokorokoto”, and the national anthem.
The first movement is based on two of the first songs I learned: a favorite Christian tune and thematic material from another favorite Christian song. The second movement is based on a song that was written during the revolutionary war that soldiers would sing as they were walking into wartime situations. I learned this song from the same family that taught me the first two songs after about two months in the country. It is being used here as a second movement because of compositional continuity. The third movement is based on a song I heard and recorded an ethnic choir sing. I don’t know the translation or what it is about, but I do know that hearing them sing it was a truly spiritual experience. Finally, the fourth movement is based on the country’s national anthem. While I was in Zimbabwe I taught at a private school that was culturally mixed. Students sang this piece on a regular basis and every time they sang it they sang it in the country’s three major languages: Shona, English, and Ndebele. I chose to end with this music because it somewhat summarizes my four month experience.
This piece is nearing completion and will be premiered by Provo High School in Provo, Utah sometime within the 2002-2003 school year.