Trevor Wiggins Ghana Music Collection

Guola music for xylophones, drums, rattles?

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  • Type

    sound

  • Duration

    02:03:41

  • Shelf mark

    C791/6

  • Subjects

    Xylophones

  • Recording date

    1994-11-13

  • Is part of (Collection)

    Trevor Wiggins Ghanaian Music Collection

  • Recording locations

    Ghana, Upper West Region, Lambussie-Nandom, Hapa

  • Recordist

    Wiggins, Trevor

  • Abstract

    (37) Gowa inchine nandom kuro se gowa inchine. (Gowa bird does not have any standing place, Nandom chief says, gowa bird does not have any standing place.) The gowa bird is the eagle which flies high in the sky and stays high for a long time, so it seems never to land. This is a reference to a famous fight between the Nandom chief Imoro and the previous Lambussie Koro Bisa Salifu (the Lambussie people were the first settlers and original owners of the land, but Nandom became bigger, as more Dagaare people settled there.) The victory of the Koro in this fight is still celebrated in Lambussie on Busielo tito, Lambussie Night. It is said that the powerful Lambussie wizards went into the Nandom houses in the night and killed the young men who were to fight against Lambussie the next day. Guola funeral dance. In Guola music, the musicians play a song which has known words, and they will sometimes sing those words, but the dancers do not sing (whereas, the dancers would sing in Yiela music). During the course of this song, to add interest, the xylophonist changes temporarily into a repeated phrase ine baazommo (have you seen your boyfriend?)

  • Description

    Guola music for xylophones, drums and rattles.

  • Related transcripts

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