Publisher Description

Taken together, these comprehensive volumes offer an authoritative account of the music of Africa. One of the most prominent experts on the subject, Gerhard Kubik draws on his extensive travels and three decades of study in many parts of the continent to compare and contrast a wealth of musical traditions from a range of cultures.
In the first volume, Kubik describes and examines xylophone playing in southern Uganda and harp music from the Central African Republic; compares multi-part singing from across the continent; and explores movement and sound in eastern Angola. And in the second volume, he turns to the cognitive study of African rhythm, Yoruba chantefables, the musical Kachamba family of Malai, and African conceptions of space and time.
Each volume features an extensive number of photographs and is accompanied by a compact disc of Kubik's own recordings. Erudite and exhaustive, Theory of African Music will be an invaluable reference for years to come.

Author Biography

Gerhard Kubik is professor of ethnology and African studies at the universities of Vienna and Klagenfurt, Austria, and the author of many books, including Africa and the Blues.

Table of Contents

Volume I Preface to Volumes I and II Introduction I. Xylophone Playing in Southern uganda II. Harp Music of the Azande and Related Peoples in the Central African Republic III. A Structural examination of Multi-Part Singing in East, Central and Southern Africa Section 1: Homophonic Multi-Part Singing in Bantu Musical Cultures of East and Central Africa Section 2: Nsenga/Shona Harmonic Patterns and the San Heritage in Southern Africa IV. Composition Techniques in Kiganda Xylophone Music. With an Introduction into Some Kiganda Musical Concepts Section 1: The Amadinda Section 2: The Akadinda Section 3: Are Amadinda and Akadinda Pieces Structurally Related? Transcriptions V. Concepts About Movement and Sound in the eastern Angolan Culture Area Section 1: Musical enculturation Section 2: Patterns of Body Movement in Mbwela/Nkhangala Boys' Initiation Section 3: likembe Tunings and Musical Concepts of an Adolescent Kachokwe: Kufuna Kandonga Notes Bibliography Sound examples of CD 1 Contents of Volume II

Review

"Kubik's scholarship is deep and vast, and this collection of his writing has no parallel. He stands alone among Africanists for many reasons, which are amply demonstrated in these volumes." - Eric Charry, Wesleyan University"

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