Hugh Tracey fieldwork collection and the sound of Africa series.

Format:

Other

Contributor:

Tracey, Hugh, researcher.

Alexander Street Press.

International Library of African Music, collector.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tracey, Hugh--Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.

Tracey, Hugh.

Africans--Music.

Africans.

Africa, Central--Civilization--20th century.

Africa, Central.

Africa, East--Civilization--20th century.

Africa, East.

Africa, Southern--Civilization--20th century.

Africa, Southern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Production:

[1920-1970]

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

data file

Summary:

The Sound of Africa series is one of the most comprehensive collection of field recordings from Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, a vast survey of musical genres and cultures. Hugh Tracey began studying African music in 1921, when he arrived from Devonshire, England in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He learned the Karanga dialect of the Shona language by working with Karanga farm workers in the fields. He soon developed a love for their music and was convinced of the enormous value of music in their lives. Almost immediately, however, he became aware of the resistance of the colonial community, in particular those in education, the church and government, to any suggestion that Africans had any culture or music that was worthwhile. He knew from personal experience that this attitude was mistaken, and this was the trigger for his life's work. In his own words, as he wrote in 1973 in the introduction to the catalogue of his major publication from his field recordings, his Sound of Africa (210 LP) series: "The history of this collection of authentic African music, songs, legends and stories is in many ways a personal one. It dates back to the early 1920s when I first sang and wrote down the words of African songs I heard in the tobacco fields of Southern Rhodesia." Presented in original finding aid order, recordings are accompanied by Tracey's original handwritten field notes and field data.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed June 8, 2017).

Full online collection from the International Library of African Music (ILAM) at Rhodes University includes field recordings and hand-written note cards.

Related Collections:

Original copies held by International Library of African Music (ILAM) at Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa.

OCLC:

994062603

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.