Conventional geographic and cultural division of the South Pacific Ocean, comprising a group of islands with a total land area of 966,975 km2, lying north-east of Australia. With Micronesia and Polynesia they make up the Pacific Islands.
BARBARA B. SMITH (I, 1–2), ADRIENNE L. KAEPPLER (I, 3), ARTUR SIMON (II), DON NILES (III), HUGO ZEMP (IV, 1–3(i)), JANE MINK ROSSEN (IV, 3(ii)), MERVYN McLEAN (IV, 3(iii)), PETER CROWE, DEREK A. RAWCLIFFE (V), JEAN-MICHEL BEAUDET (VI), KAYE GLAMUZINA (VII)
2. Music and musical instruments.
Melanesia (Gk. melas: ‘black’; nēsos: ‘island’) is the name given by Europeans in the 1830s to the islands that lie south of the equator and north-east of Australia, between Indonesia to the west and Polynesia to the east (for map, see Polynesia, fig.1). Geographically the major island aggregates are New Guinea Island; the Bismarck Archipelago (including the Admiralty Islands, New Britain and New Ireland); the Solomon Islands; Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides); New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands; and the Fiji Islands. There are also many small islands and island groups, some being coral atolls.
The ancestors of the peoples who live in Melanesia originated in South-east Asia. There is great diversity among both the peoples and their languages, however, reflecting both the great length of time between the initial human settlement of New Guinea (estimated at 50,000 years ago) and the much later settlements of other islands (mostly within the past 5000 years) and, for some of the peoples, long periods of isolation. Scattered post-settlement contacts with Malay and Chinese sailors preceded European discovery of Melanesia by several centuries. European contacts were also diverse in national origin, purpose and extent of influence. Because of the diversity, most anthropologists eschew generalizations about culture within Melanesia; furthermore, in spite of much significant recent research (especially within Papua New Guinea), the musics of many of the peoples of Melanesia have yet to be studied in depth.
Not all government boundaries of the late 1990s coincided with the main geographic areas: Irian Jaya, the section of New Guinea island west of 141°E, is the easternmost province of Indonesia; Papua New Guinea comprises the section east of that line, together with the Bismarck Archipelago, the northern Solomons and many small islands; the nation of Fiji includes Rotuma, an island almost 400 km to the north that is geographically and culturally part of western Polynesia. There are also some Polynesian outliers (islands settled from western Polynesia) within the countries of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
Irian Jaya is usually considered the western boundary of Melanesia; however, the peoples of some islands further west (especially those in the eastern islands of the Lesser Sundas) have many characteristics usually considered Melanesian. Irian Jaya has more than 125 officially recognized peoples. Speakers of Papuan languages (thought to be descendants of the earliest arrivals) who inhabit the mountainous interior maintain their indigenous customs in almost complete isolation; speakers of Austronesian languages (descendants of later arrivals, some with admixture of Malay blood) inhabit the foothills and coastal areas and maintain contact with the peoples of Indonesian islands to the west and with the coastal and island peoples of Papua New Guinea to the east.
Papua New Guinea, an independent nation in the British Commonwealth since 1975, has the greatest linguistic and cultural variety of any country in the Pacific. Some Papuan peoples in the mountainous interior were totally isolated from contact with European culture until the 1960s or 1970s; even their contact with peoples of the New Guinea coast was infrequent until after World War II. In contrast, the people of the Trobriand Islands (a group of coral islands about 880 km north of the southeastern tip of New Guinea island) and other islands in the Massim area have traditionally engaged in a far-flung inter-island ceremonial trade (the ‘Kula ring’). In much of Papua New Guinea, traditional music and dance is performed in traditional contexts; where Christian influence (both Catholic and Protestant) is strong, hymn tunes are sung. Soon after World War II in cosmopolitan Port Moresby and some coastal towns, the ‘cup-tea sing-sing’ provided an urban substitute for the social functions of the traditional village sing-sing, and beer halls later became centres for string-band performance of pan-Pacific performances.
The Solomon Islands, an independent member of the British Commonwealth since 1978, embraces the double chain of Solomon Islands with the exception of Bougainville, Buka and neighbouring small islands and some quite distant small coral atolls. Most of the islands are inhabited by Melanesians, though there are more Polynesian outliers here than in any other Melanesian country. These include Ontong Java (indigenous name: Luangiua) in the north, Tikopia in the southwest and Rennell and Bellona in the south. On the capital island of Guadalcanal there is also a post-World War II settlement of I-Kiribati that maintains its Micronesian heritage. Traditional music and dance are still performed in traditional contexts in some villages, and in modified contexts in others. Hymn tunes and some other musical styles were introduced by Christian missionaries (both Catholic and Protestant). A distinctive innovation, the bamboo band, incorporates some principles of the traditional stamping tubes and panpipes. It consists of tuned sets of bamboo tubes, each set lashed to a frame, the sets stacked on the ground with the tubes lying horizontally. The open end of the tubes is struck with the sole of a rubber-thong sandal. The melody is played on the top (highest pitched) set, the lowest part (comparable to that of a plucked string bass) on the bottom set and other parts on the sets between. The bamboo band that developed in the 1920s and 1930s is popular both at home and abroad, often with the addition of guitar and voice. The repertory consists mainly of love songs (both foreign and locally composed) and ‘folk songs’; the performance style is characterized by a vigorous beating of rhythmic patterns adopted from Western popular dance music.
Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), a long, narrow and irregular Y-shaped chain of islands, has been an independent country and member of the Commonwealth since 1980. The more than 100 native languages is evidence of diversity in the origin of the indigenous Melanesian peoples, known as Ni-Vanuatu. While most of the people profess Christianity (Catholic and several Protestant sects), many retain traditional rituals and other activities, some of which include music and dance.
New Caledonia, the southernmost country of Melanesia, is an Overseas Territory of France. It is comprised of one large island, New Caledonia (locally called La Grande Terre), smaller islands north and south of it, and the chain of Loyalty Islands to the east. The indigenous Melanesians are known as Kanaks, and the population also includes French people; significant numbers of Polynesians from Wallis Island and Tahiti, whose music and dance contributes prominently to tourist entertainment; and South-east Asians (mostly descendants of people brought to work the nickel and other mines). Noumea, the capital city and location of the South Pacific Commission, is a major cosmopolitan centre. Christian missionaries and French colonial interests crushed many Kanak traditions in the 19th and early 20th centuries; however, since a social uprising in the mid-1980s, Kanak traditional music and dance has enjoyed a renaissance, and the government has built a large new cultural centre named for the deceased leader of the Kanak movement.
The Fiji Islands, the easternmost islands of Melanesia, lie close to the western Polynesian islands of Tonga. Independent since 1970, the republic includes several large islands of volcanic origin, many small islands and coral atolls, and Rotuma. Within the Fiji group, the island of Rabi was purchased to resettle the Micronesian people of Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) after British phosphate mining operations left their island unable to sustain life. On the large islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, about half of the population are descendants of people brought from India to work on sugar plantations. These people and those of Chinese and European descent maintain their own traditions of music and dance. For citizens of Fijian descent, their adaptations of choral music introduced by Protestant Christian missionaries and band music introduced by British administrators constitute important components of their heritage. The ethnically Fijian performing arts share many characteristics with those of western Polynesian cultures; however, traits such as intensity of tone production, small intervals in multi-part singing and muscular vitality in dance set Fiji’s traditions apart.
Principal collections of music of the Pacific Islands, including Melanesia, are the Archive of Maori and Pacific Music, University of Auckland (includes a territorial survey of Oceanic music), and the National Research Institute, Boroko, Papua New Guinea.
Melanesia, with a vast number of languages, is heterogeneous in its song and chant traits. The music and dance of each tribal group is limited in variety, but in recordings made in different parts of Melanesia, songs have been found with only one or many pitches; with small intervals or large intervals; with stepwise or triadic (including yodelling) melodic progressions; with small or large ranges; with level, arching, undulating and descending contours; with syllabic or melismatic text settings; with isometric or heterometric rhythms; with repeated-motif, responsorial, verse-refrain or progressive forms; and with casual or prescribed polyphony. Vocal music predominates, though instrumental music is more prominent in parts of Melanesia than in the indigenous musics of Polynesia or Micronesia.
In the mid-1990s, the most rapidly expanding new repertory in most of Melanesia was that of popular songs with lyrics in indigenous languages (or the pidgin lingua franca of the country) that express contemporary interests and concerns, and music that blends selective introduced features of style and instrumentation with those of local or regional heritage. Guitars, frequently amplified, and electronic keyboards are used in many of these bands. Since the late 1970s in Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and somewhat later elsewhere in Melanesia, the cassette recording industry has been a major factor in the dissemination of this music. The other major trend is a renaissance in selected indigenous music and dance genres, especially for representating a people in presentations for national and international audiences such as at the Festival of Pacific Arts (see Pacific Arts, Festival of).
The indigenous musical and other sound-producing instruments in Melanesia were made of natural materials obtained locally or through established trade routes. Though the total inventory of instrument types is quite large (much larger than either Micronesia or Polynesia), each tribal group uses only a small proportion of those. Of the indigenous instrument types reported for Melanesia, most are still in use somewhere.
Idiophones are the most numerous, and many types are widely distributed. Wooden slit-drums (called slit-gongs or hollow log idiophones in some writings) are prominent in much of Melanesia. In the Sepik River area of Papua New Guinea, some slit-drums over 4 m long, with carved alligator head at one end and tail at the other, are kept in spirit houses. In Malekula, Vanuatu, standing slit-drums have been highly prized, some up to 6 m tall, with a stylized human or spirit head carved at the top above the slit, their sounds embodying voices of gods or spirits. In the Solomons, huge horizontal slit-drums are prized for bringing their ‘bigman’ owner great ‘renown’. In these areas and elsewhere, smaller slit-drums (in a few areas made of bamboo as well as of wood) are used for signalling and to accompany dance. Ensembles of slit-drums are highly developed in parts of Melanesia. Rattles, sticks, stamping tubes and jew’s harps are among the widely distributed idiophones. In contrast, some types are distinctive to limited regions: pairs of clappers made from tree bark in New Caledonia; a so-called ‘water drum’ in the Chambri Lakes of Papua New Guinea, with a hollow wooden body, shaped much like those of hourglass membranophones, and a fine carving of a human figure to hold the drum while plunging it into the water’s surface; and a friction block that is unique to New Ireland.
Among aerophones, shell trumpets (end-blown and side-blown) were in widespread use for signalling throughout Melanesia except, until after World War II, in the interior of New Guinea island. Also quite widespread are rolled-leaf oboes and end-blown flutes (most being made of bamboo but in a few areas of reed). Nose-blown flutes are known from Fiji and parts of Papua New Guinea. Of the side-blown bamboo flutes, the best known are pairs of spirit flutes in Papua New Guinea, some up to 3 m in length and with attached zoomorphic wood carvings at the closed end or intricately carved stoppers placed in the open end when not in use. Panpipes are rather widely reported, and are especially highly developed in ensembles in the Solomons. Other types of aerophones with limited distributions include wooden trumpets, ocarinas and bullroarers.
A membranophone prominent in western Melanesia is a single-headed hourglass drum, usually played to accompany dance, often by the dancers themselves. There are few indigenous chordophones, but the guitar, often played percussively, has been widely incorporated into modern Melanesian musics.
Dances among the inhabitants of island Melanesia and New Guinea have some elements in common but differ significantly from island to island and from group to group. Only a few studies have focussed specifically on the movement dimensions of dance.
A common feature throughout much of the area is a basis in rhythm. Often a leader begins by starting a knee-bending-and-straightening movement motif. Others join in, usually in a line or circle, until the whole group moves up and down together in place or in the pre-arranged choreographed pattern. A rhythmic environment, created by musical instruments and singing, is made visual by the massed human bodies as they move together in an elaboration of rhythm. Some costumes are composed primarily of attachments that move and emphasize this visual rhythm. In New Guinea, bird of paradise plumes and other feathers extend from headdresses, back, bustle or arms. Hanging rattles of seeds or shells are attached to legs, costumes or held in the hand. Cuscus skin ripples like vertical waves, and shredded leaves and fibres cascade and bounce. Penis coverings of gourd, shell or bark are curved forward and upward to emphasize the up-down movement of this part of the body. The costume emphasizes rhythm, while at the same time the rhythm shows off the costume; together they create a mass rhythmic statement. In many cases dance is realized as movement after the introduction of a regular rhythm, set by the beating of hourglass drums, slit-drums or rattles. In some areas melodic instruments furnish the aural dimension. Many movement systems, especially those concerned with ritual, are primarily the province of men, although women might move independently or ‘participate’ as observers. Courting dances, widespread in the Highlands areas of New Guinea, are performed by seated boys and girls; the movements involve turning the head from side to side and bending the torso until heads touch.
Melanesian dance was traditionally an integral part of long ceremonial cycles often lasting ten years or more. These cycles were, and in some instances still are, concerned with warfare, initiation, advancement to higher grades in secret societies, or ceremonies for the dead. Performances are artistic events of spectacular display that combine visual and performing arts to reaffirm the traditional, legendary and social values of the society. The main performers often wear huge, unwieldy costumes and masks to impersonate legendary spirits or ancestors; the dancer becomes a mythical being, and his movements are correspondingly non-human. The important movements are a rhythmic bouncing of the body and legs, while the arms are used to steady the costume and mask. Other less spectacularly clad dancers play rhythmic patterns on hourglass drums while performing the same knee-bending movements. Still others join in, imitating the steps of these dancers and drummers.
Melanesian dance is primarily a group activity. Movements are repetitive and often appear spontaneous rather than minutely choreographed in advance. Often their function is to move a group of people ceremonially from one place to another, for instance from the men’s house to the beach. The dancing group is usually a moving one (unlike the more stationary one characteristic of Polynesia and Micronesia) and progresses in circles or in single or multiple lines or columns. Melanesian dances are generally dances of participation rather than presentation for an audience: the costumes and masks are meant to be admired by others, and the presence of individuals or social groups is acknowledged. Dance movements are vehicles for important social and symbolic activities.
In dances of the coastal islands off Malekula in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), described by Layard (1942), dancers form one part of a six-part rhythmic counterpoint. Vocal music is sung to a second rhythm while four interlocking rhythms are beaten out on wooden slit-drums. The dancers’ rhythm is produced by many feet striking the dance ground simultaneously, and certain recurring dance movements have specific rhythms, such as that used for running single file in a serpentine pattern. Dances are a main part of ritual cycles used in connection with the Maki, a graded secret society. On a single occasion lasting all night, some 70 ritual songs and dances have been performed, mostly processional, circular and figure dances performed by groups of men. Processional dances take place along roads leading to a dancing ground or leading from one part of a dance ground to another. They are characterized by a heavy thudding step produced by bringing down the whole weight of the body on one foot. Circular dances, often connected with the consecration of slit-drums, are performed radially around posts on the dancing ground at night. They produce complex effects, some of the torch-carrying dancers moving clockwise while others move anti-clockwise. Figure dances are performed at dawn after an all-night dance. Groups of men may form a square consisting of ten lines of ten men each and progress through a number of intricate formations. In some figure dances a chorus acts in conjunction with players of individual roles. Dancers wear seed ankle rattles and masks consisting of bamboo frames covered with bark-cloth, and sometimes they carry feathered and painted paddles. Slit-drums are believed to represent ancestral voices that encourage the living to dance into a state of communal ecstasy in order to banish personal preoccupations and bring those dancing into communion with collective forces passed on from the dead to the living and those still to come.
Among the Maring people of the Bismarck Mountains of New Guinea (see Jablonko) dance is part of a ritual cycle called kaiko, which last about 12 years and is based on warfare. The kaiko is an expression of solidarity between allies and of equivalence between groups that may become antagonists. The dances in it reflect this equivalence and hostility. Usually groups dance simultaneously, synchronizing steps and drumbeats only within each group and moving in curved paths back and forth across the dance ground; rarely, one group becomes the focal point. Some men play accompaniments on drums while others carry bows and arrows, axes or long wooden spears. The groupings resemble those used for fighting. Before entering a battle or a dance ground, a man’s legs are rubbed with grey clay to make them strong (in battle) or tireless (in dance). There are four main movements of the legs: a bounce step performed by flexing the legs while the head and trunk remain rigid and the arms hang at the sides or beat a drum; a flat-footed walking step used when a dance group moves in a column across the dance ground; a stoop that brings all the men of a dance group to a motionless position; and a ‘display’ step, in which the trailing leg is thrust backward or bent up towards the buttocks while leaping. During this ‘display’ step, the dancer wields an axe or passes a spear from one hand to the other above his head; the step indicates hostility and is used only occasionally and then by only a few men. In vertical linear movements the trunk is used as one unit.
Social dancing has become popular, especially in urban areas, and there are staged performances for local, national and regional events such as independence day celebrations. Some areas have travelling performing groups and national dance troupes. Continual influences from the outside world have expanded indigenous traditions to include rock and disco. At the same time indigenous traditions have been preserved and expanded in contemporary ways for performances at ceremonial events, arts festivals and for tourists.
Irian Jaya become a province of independent Indonesia in 1963. Occupying the western half of New Guinea, it covers some 422,000 km2 and had a population of around 1·7 million in 1990. The musical cultures of Irian Jaya are less well documented than those of Papua New Guinea (see §III below), though research has been carried out on the Isirawa of the northern coast (see Oguri; Erickson), the Asmat on the south coast (see Van Arsdale) and other cultures of the central range.
The Isirawa living east of Sarmi speak a Papuan language. According to Oguri their music is anhemitonic pentatonic with descending melodies, as in many cultures of this region. They distinguish ‘real songs’ (wiwiye, kona, fatiya); dancing songs performed at traditional ceremonies and feasts; and karame, individual songs performed at many occasions for entertainment. Many old ceremonies, for example the inauguration of a new men’s house, were prohibited by Dutch colonial officers; as a result, many of these ceremonial songs have been forgotten. Wiwiye are performed over a whole night until the morning, when the holy notched bamboo flutes (approximately 1 to 1·7 m long) are played. Women and children are not allowed to see these instruments. Other dances are accompanied by the fatiya, an hourglass drum, shell trumpets and small bamboo flutes, which are played by everyone. Belief in ghosts and spirit possession are combined with special magic songs.
The Asmat of the southern coastal area are well known for their carvings, but no less important to them are music and dance, which play a major role within the Asmat’s myth of creation. The myth tells how wooden figures were carved by the creator, Fumeripits, and set into the first men’s house. He started drumming in order to infuse the figures with life. After a while wood changed to flesh and blood, the figures began to move and dance, and the first Asmat were created. Up to the present day this myth is re-enacted in special dance performances. No Asmat feast takes place without drums. The most important occasions are ceremonies that demarcate emak cem (stages in the life-cycle and seasons) and placate ancestral spirits, and the je-ti feast of the mythical sacral first longhouse. The sounds of em (drums) are complemented by end-blown straight trumpets (fo, fu, fi), made of bamboo or wood, and pipa, bull-roarers whose sounds represent the voices of ancestral spirits. Ritual songs with texts that employ an ancient, secret language with magical significance belong to individuals who control the right of their performances, an effective copyright that is inheritable. Besides their magical powers, songs have a strong psychic and social function.
The peoples of the central range are not homogeneous in culture, language or music (Kunst, p.119, n.43). East of the Kapauku, Simori, Moni and Uhunduni live the Dani (in the Baliem Valley), the Yali, the Mek and the Ok people. The Mek region, especially the Eipomek Valley, was the focus of extensive ethnomusicological research (Royl, 1992; Simon, 1978, 1992, 1993). The Eipo are small people, the males averaging 146 cm in height. The only musical instrument they play for self-entertainment is the jew’s harp. In some scattered areas kundu hourglass drums of exegenous provenance are played.
Four categories of songs or singing can be distinguished by both typology and function. Each of these four types has a particular melodic and formal structure and is associated with specific occasions, which can be characterized as either self-entertainment during various activities, ritual dancing, death or illness. The Eipo themselves distinguish between ditsongs (self-entertainment songs) and mot songs (ritual dance songs). The third category, layelayana (laments), and the fourth, fungfunganaor fuana (recitations at curing ceremonies), are not considered music or singing, and therefore these musical activities have no special term.
The dit are individual songs, mostly performed by a single person, male or female. Two persons may sing a dit together, in which case one begins to sing, and the other starts the song a little bit later; the process is similar to canon or, more accurately, fugato, since the second singer modifies the melody. Every dit has a distinct melody, and in many cases both the occasion for its creation and the name of the composer (mostly women) are well known. However, a strict differentiation between the authorship of the lyrics and the melody can rarely be stated. In most cases a love affair resulted in a new song, though the affair itself is not mentioned directly; every song has an underlying story, although the song text may appear to involve only the description of nature or certain places in the gardens, forests and mountains. There is also a kind of love song hinting at sexual intercourse. Some topical songs deal with the arrival of the German research team, the dropping of goods from airplanes and the building of a small airstrip. All these songs are performed sporadically during daily activities such as carving arrows, building a new hut, braiding a net or working in the gardens. Other mythical songs deal with the origin and history of the Eipo and the world (Heeschen).
Mot songs are collective ritual songs and dances performed by men at feasts or, in the past, after victorious raids against hostile neighbours. They maintain the social bonds of the group of men, who dance all night; they also strengthen the friendship between allied villages whose people visit each other at big pig-feasts. The dancers always follow the same choreographic pattern. At the beginning all the men stand in a semicircle. A lead singer starts singing, ‘speaking the mot’, while the others ‘tremble’ or ‘move’. The solo singer sings a small phrase in a kind of syllabic parlando style, stringing together the syllables of the text very quickly. This part is variable and more or less improvised. At the end of the phrase the other men join in, singing meaningless vowels. In some of these mot tunes the group singing leads to multiphonic sounds. The men standing side by side turn so that they form a queue and start running in a serpentine path. They utter certain sounds strictly alternately in two groups: inspirative whistling or shoutings on uuh, ha, ya, yui, ye, huu, ae, woo, loo, or gasping sounds uttered expiratively by one group and inspiratively by the other. After coming to a standstill the lead singer starts again; after this the queue unfolds in the opposite direction. In proximity to this dancing a small number of women and girls dance, jumping up and down. Their moving grass aprons provide a steady, rhythmic noise that nevertheless bears no musical relationship to the dancing of the men. About 25 different types of mot were found in the Mek area, 15 of them in Eipomek; they all have specific names and different tonal structures. Some of the most common structures are shown in ex.1.
Between 1976 and 1980, dit, mot and fungfungana ceased to be performed within traditional contexts, due to the impact of fundamentalist missionary activities. The Yali, living west of the Mek people, have a different, distinct polyphonic style. There is virtually no lead singer except at the beginning of the songs, whereas in the neighbouring Mek culture the lead singer plays an important role and transmits the text. In the case of the Yali this is done by the whole group.
Occupying the eastern half of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea covers some 463,000 km2. Independent since 1975, it has a population of approximately four million people. Over 850 languages are spoken, making this one of the most linguistically complex areas on earth. Since colonization, two lingua francas have developed, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu, while English has become the official language. This tremendous traditional diversity is also apparent in music and dance, and any overview can only highlight general features. While the varied terrain of the nation has undoubtedly contributed to this complexity, geographical features have also assisted in the dissemination of music and dance and the development of certain types of communication.
Papua New Guinea is divided administratively into 19 provinces, which are occasionally grouped into four regions: the Papuan Region (comprising Western, Gulf, Central, Milne Bay and Northern (Oro) Provinces); Highlands Region (Enga, Southern Highlands, Western Highlands, Chimbu (Simbu) and Eastern Highlands); Mamose Region (West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang and Morobe) and the Islands Region (Manus, New Ireland, East New Britain, West New Britain and North Solomons). Although these divisions have only vague cultural significance at best, they are convenient terms in discussing certain widespread features. Although Papua New Guinea is generally considered ‘Melanesian’, the western islands of Manus show Micronesian traits, and there are Polynesian Outliers in the North Solomons (Moyle, 1995).
Melanesia, §III: Papua New Guinea
Music, often including dance, plays a significant role in highlighting the important occasions of an individual or community. Such occasions may include birth, first haircut, first menstruation, initiation, courting, launching a new canoe, opening a new house, brideprice payment, ceremonial exchange, warfare, harvest, personal amusement, death etc. Performance groups range from solo to those requiring the participation of surrounding communities in mass displays of the political prestige of leaders known as ‘bigmen’. Other than for the most informal occasions, performance requires decoration: bird plumes, special dancing skirts, painted skin and masks are all common elements, although their combination varies according to the area concerned and the type of music being performed.
Performance frequently results in interaction between the world of spirits and that of humans. Spirit beings, called in Tok Pisin tambaran or masalai, are given substance through human sounds: their arrival and departure is heralded by special noise-makers, and their presence is aurally signified by ensembles of instruments, played only by initiated males. Such ensembles commonly consist of instruments such as bullroarers, trumpets, various types of flutes, or voice-modifiers. The presence or absence of such esoteric instruments is often an aid to distinguishing important regional groupings (Gourlay, 1975).
Even in areas in which this type of performance is absent, music and dance are performed to please spirits by demonstrating the continuation of ancestral traditions, and spirits may join dancers. Besides such interactions, performances are also occasions of display to onlookers, demonstrating group solidarity and attracting the opposite sex. For the latter purpose, special fragrant leaves are frequently worn or attached to instruments.
Choreography of dances varies tremendously between different areas. Slow steps in place with slight bobbing of the head to accentuate the movement of head plumes, which is common in Central Province, contrasts with the intricate movements and ritual preparations of New Ireland dances (Yayii, 1983). In some areas, dances are mimetic, imitating the movements of animals or various village activities. While much dancing involves both sexes, movements differ between men and women. In many parts of the Islands Region there are different dances for each sex, with dancers forming a separate group from instrumentalists. In parts of the Highlands, dances are different for each sex and for young and mature performers.
Another important division contrasts dances performed inside and outside houses. Highlands courting dances, involving head and upper torso movements of seated performers, take place inside a girl’s house. In regions with communal longhouses or men’s houses, there may be special repertories appropriate for indoor or outdoor performances.
On the boundary between speech and song are special call languages. In mountainous areas these frequently involve attention-getting initial patterns, followed by the text delivered in a heightened manner. In coastal regions, signalling is accomplished through striking slit-drums (Mamose and Islands Regions) and/or blowing conch-shell trumpets. Such signals are not directly based on language but consist of specific rhythms referring to clans, individuals, commands and other subjects. In parts of the Torricelli Mountains a whistle language has also developed based on the same principle.
Since the early days of colonization, new performance contexts appeared for traditional music at government functions, which often resulted in friction with missionaries who were trying to dissuade traditional dance. In the early 1950s, regional shows with a section for traditional dance competition began to develop in most provincial towns, providing rare opportunities to see such performances outside of the village. Groups come from many different culture areas, and monetary prizes are awarded for the best performances.
Melanesia, §III: Papua New Guinea
In some regions of Papua New Guinea, very short song texts are repeated numerous times with varying rhythmic accompaniment, occasionally with minor word changes. In contrast, other song texts are very long, with many verses. These frequently describe the movements of clan ancestors or mythical beings credited with forming geographic landmarks, or explain group migrations (Wassmann, 1991). Such elements may also feature in more personal songs, such as those composed by Manambu men lamenting rejected marriage proposals (Harrison, 1982).
Texts frequently contain, or may wholly consist of, words untranslatable by their performers. Such words may be borrowings from other languages, as songs and dances are frequently traded with neighbouring groups, thereby enhancing the poetic nature of texts. However, these untranslatable words may be from an earlier form of the present-day language or a proto-language. Untranslatable words may also simply be used as vocables. In the Hagen area, for example, the text is sung to a slow drum beat and dance step, after which vocables are sung to the same melody as the speed of the drum beat and dance movement doubles. Whether all words in a particular song are understood or not, songs always have an accompanying explanation, either giving details of the event that inspired the song or providing background on the images evoked. The extent of knowledge of this information varies between individuals and is a crucial difference between initiates and non-initiates. Song texts are commonly loaded with geographical place names: places significant in group migrations, warfare or the hunting grounds frequented by deceased members of the group. Consequently, songs often evoke intense emotional outpourings as these places and their local significance are recalled.
Although much singing is in unison, harmonic intervals may occur through vocal overlap. Singing in parallel 2nds (in Manus) or 5ths (in Gulf) is distinctive of particular groups, while multi-part textures are found in parts of the Sepik, North Solomons and elsewhere, often in conjunction with instrumental counterparts. Falsetto is employed by Chimbu men in courting songs and Fuyuge husbands in duets with women.
In the Yupna and Nankina area of Madang, men and women each have their own short melody, usually sung only with vocables. A person may use these konggap melodies to call out to another person or to announce a death; thus they are similar in function to signalling on conch shells or slit-drums. Group performances involve each male singing his own melody simultaneously, accompanied by unison drumming while women dance outside the men’s circle but do not sing. Thus a group performance of konggap consists of a multi-part mass of asynchronous vocal sound, unified by a common drum rhythm and synchronous dance steps (Niles, 1992).
Asynchronous singing is also an important feature of other groups, such as in Kauwol women’s songs or Hamtai songs, for which the singing is neither melodically nor rhythmically in unison. The Kaluli metaphor dulugu ganalan, ‘lift-up-over sounding’, applies to singing as well as to drumming, with melodic movement and texture described in terms of waterfalls, birdsong and weeping (Feld, 1990). For the Waxei, song structure and multi-part motion are linked to the various movements of the water in a river (Yamada, 1997). The image of a tree trunk and its leaves or branches also provides a metaphor for song structure or words in contrast to vocables.
Melanesia, §III: Papua New Guinea
The numerous cultural groups in the country have produced a large number of sound-producing instruments. The greatest variety of instruments, as well as the greatest linguistic complexity, is found along the northern part of the main island in the Mamose Region. Attempts by linguists to map the movements of various language divisions within the country have been compared to the distribution of instruments (McLean, 1994). The best general overview of the variety of instruments in the country remains Fischer (1986).
One of the most widespread membranophones in Papua New Guinea is the drum (in Tok Pisin kundu, in Motu gaba) consisting of a skin fastened to one end of a hollow body, the other end being open. Lengths range from 23 to 280 cm. The body is usually made of wood, although bamboo and clay are used in a few areas. Its shape may be hourglass, cylindrical, conical or goblet. While the end for fastening the skin is always cut off straight, the distal end may be carved into two or more ‘jaws’, especially in western parts of the Papuan Region. Depending on the customs of the area concerned, the body may be undecorated, carved, incised or painted. Although differences have blurred in recent decades, traditional techniques for decorating drums were often highly distinctive.
A variety of skins are used, often related to the geographic distribution of animals. In the lowlands, the most common skin is the Varanus indicus, the monitor lizard, although other lizards and snakes are also used. In the Highlands, where large lizards are absent, marsupial skins are used. The skin is secured to the body of the drum with sap and/or wound with string. Tuning of the drum is usually accomplished through a combination of heating the skin over a fire and adjusting the number and placement of beeswax blobs placed on it. In contrast, in the Yupna and Nankina areas, water is applied to the skin and mud smeared on it. While such drums are found in all provinces of the country, in the Islands Region they are significantly absent from most of Manus, the northern part of New Ireland and much of North Solomons. On the mainland, they are mostly absent from Angan groups and have been introduced within recent generations in other parts of the Highlands, where they are played asynchronously, probably in imitation of the rattles which they replaced. Drums are also absent from Rossel Island (Milne Bay), which has distant linguistic ties with the languages of the North Solomons.
Typically, a drummer holds the instrument in one hand, sometimes by a handle, and strikes the skin with the other hand. Although drums are mostly played by men, some dances in the Highlands feature drumming by women. Because of their portability, drums are frequently held by dancers, except in those areas where instrumentalists are a separate group from dancers. Only in scattered parts of Western and Gulf Provinces is knowledge of playing a drum passed on through a male cult. Ok speakers must pass through a certain stage of initiation to be able to play drums and jew’s harps. The huge Gogodala diwaka drum is played by men inside their communal longhouse during the aida ritual.
Depending on the region concerned, drum rhythms may remain the same throughout a song or vary between sections, the latter being particularly distinctive of the Mamose and Islands Regions. Vocal signals are frequently given to indicate a change in drum rhythm and corresponding dance movement. Ensembles of different size drums are found in parts of Oro and Milne Bay Provinces, with small drums played by a leader.
Wooden or bamboo bullroarers have a wide distribution in Papua New Guinea. Wherever they are found, they create the voice of spirits. A similar function is also found for instruments of more limited distribution, such as blown grass or a bamboo with split sides.
End-blown bamboo flutes are common. The blowing end may be cut off straight, bevelled, notched or with a projection. Where such flutes have finger-holes, they are often secular instruments, played solo, in groups or to accompany singing; only on the Huon Peninsula do they have an esoteric function. End-blown flutes without finger-holes, however, are almost invariably cult instruments played as spirit voices or, at least, to scatter non-initiates from the area, e.g. among Angan groups who relate the blowing of these instruments to ritual homosexuality. These flutes are often paired and played in alternation. On the Vanimo coast, end-blown flutes with projections form part of a larger ensemble associated with men’s initiation. Piston flutes are spirit instruments on the Huon Peninsula and are often said to be male, in contrast to female end-blown flutes with finger-holes. Panpipes exist in raft and bundle form. Bundle instruments are quite rare, but are used by the Huli to articulate poetry. Raft instruments are more common, found sporadically on the mainland but particularly associated with the Islands Region, especially North Solomons Province. Ensembles of double-row panpipes (one row closed for blowing, a second row of the same length, open) are played in combination with raft-form bamboo trumpets and wooden trumpets as a distinctive ensemble in northern and central parts of the province. Single-row panpipes are associated with southern Bougainville and show affinities with such ensembles in the Solomon Islands to the south. In Morobe, panpipes used by the Angaataha people are played in three different sizes, tuned an octave apart, in alternation with single pipes. The effect of a drone is created usually as accompaniment to a solo singer.
Side-blown flutes, wherever they appear, are blown by initiated men as the voices of spirits (fig.1). Long paired flutes (up to 3 metres in length) occur along the Middle and Lower Sepik river (Spearitt, 1979) and adjacent areas, as well as near the Morobe and Oro border. Shorter paired flutes are common in the Highlands, from Kainantu to near Mt Hagen, and in pockets along the Rai coast. It is possible that such flutes reached the Highlands along the Ramu river. To the south of the Middle Sepik river, particularly along the Korosameri and Karawari rivers, long paired flutes are found along with larger ensembles of middle-length flutes (Yamada, 1997). Common to all these flutes is overblowing, to create additional pitches, and alternation, to create a continuous melody or texture. In the Highlands and Rai coast, where the shorter flutes are used, different pitches are also produced by closing the distal end of the instrument with the hand; thus players utilize the harmonics of both an open and a closed pipe. Flutes are often named after birds, spirits or ancestors.
Ocarinas made of coconut shells are esoteric instruments in parts of East Sepik and Madang. Clay ocarinas are found in parts of the Highlands, whereas in various scattered locations other nuts are used.
End-blown wooden trumpets are used in ensembles in the Amanab and Imonda area of West Sepik Province. Although each instrument produces only one pitch, they are played in alternation to create melodic and harmonic intervals. In the ida ritual, five instruments of different pitch are played in an ensemble with optional bass instruments to accompany dancing by elaborately painted male dancers wearing ornate masks. To the east, in the Yangoru and Arapesh areas, end-blown bamboo trumpets are played in ensemble, with one player striking a drum held under his arm. In contrast to the wooden trumpet ensembles, this group’s music is associated with male initiation and produces spirit voices (Niles, 1992). On the Bali-Vitu Islands (West New Britain) one short bamboo trumpet is blown in the natural hollow of a special tree; other bamboo trumpets are blown inside larger bamboos, with the distal ends closed. Individual wooden or bamboo trumpets are used in scattered parts of the country for signalling, while conch-shell trumpets are used in coastal areas and many inland areas that have obtained the instruments through trade.
One of the main idiophones and largest instruments in Papua New Guinea (over 4 m long) is the wooden slit-drum (called garamut in Tok Pisin), found along the northern coast of the Mamose Region and through the Islands Region (fig.2). Generally only found inland along the large Sepik and Ramu rivers, because of its limited distribution it seems to have arrived in relatively recent history, a hypothesis also reflected in the number of cognates for the name of the instrument over this wide geographic and linguistically varied area. Two distinctive methods for hitting the instrument are found: using the tip of the stick (jolting) or the side (striking). Jolting one long stick against the slit-drum is most common. However, two short sticks (held by one player) are used along parts of the Sepik river where slit-drums, like many other instruments, are played in pairs, while two long sticks (played by two men) are common in New Ireland. The striking technique, however, is used in Manus Province, where one or two sticks are struck against instruments in the slit-drum ensembles found there. Aside from the use of slit-drums to accompany dance, single instruments are used extensively for signalling. Bamboo slit-drums are also found in a scattered distribution and are used in similar ways. Bamboo stamping tubes may be struck against the ground, against the leg, or alternately between the palm and the thigh.
Although much smaller than slit-drums, jew’s harps (called susap in Tok Pisin, bibo in Motu) are probably the most widespread instrument in Papua New Guinea (fig.3). Most commonly they are idioglottal bamboo instruments, with rare occurrences of heteroglottal instruments using a leaf and midrib of a coconut. On the bamboo instrument, the lamella is usually activated by jerking a string attached to the base of the jew’s harp, thereby striking the base of the lamella against the thumb. For a less common technique, primarily associated with the Ok area, there is no string; instead a hand movement is used, twisting at the wrist to force the lamella base against the upright wrist of the other hand. In all cases, the lamella vibrations are modified by movements of the mouth, tongue and jaw. This technique is shared with musical bows and, in some areas, used to modify the sound of the flapping wings of an insect held to the mouth or a wooden disc inserted into the player’s stomach and struck with a stone. While jew’s harp sounds are often played in a seemingly random sequence, according to the preference of the player, Baruya men detail a trip through the forest with elaborate sound representations of walking, crossing streams, birds, insects etc. The Huli articulate poetry, as they do on their musical bows.
Rattles are made of a great variety of objects. Often similar objects (especially shells or nuts) are strung together on a string or hung from a handle. The rattle is then carried by dancers or suspended from drums. The dried husks of the Pangium edule fruit are widely used as rattles. Less common materials for rattles include split bamboo, coconut leaf midribs, cane, crayfish claws, clay balls, seeds inside an echidna skull and leaves. Amanab and Imonda men wear a special penis gourd which strikes a belt through dance movements. Special rattles have an esoteric function in parts of Madang Province and among the Gogodala of Western Province.
An esoteric friction idiophone is found only in northern New Ireland, in the areas associated with the malanggan ceremony. Wooden instruments are made in various sizes, with three to five tuned tongues cut out of the body. The player rubs his hands across the tongues, towards his body, to produce different pitches. Compositions with names describing various actions or the singing of birds are performed at a mourning ceremony (Messner, 1983). Drum- or bowl-shaped instruments are plunged into water in pits during male initiation in the Middle Sepik. Men stamping the ground in imitation of an earthquake is associated with spirits in parts of the Rai coast (Reigle, 1995).
Two types of musical bows must be distinguished: the first is a normal hunting bow carried during dances, when the bow string is snapped; the second is a much smaller, specially made instrument held to the mouth, with the vibrations of its string(s) modified by movements of the mouth. Whereas the first type is fairly widespread, the second is much more restricted, although it is likely that distribution was much greater in the past. It is to the latter type that the term ‘musical bow’ will be applied here. In many North Solomons languages, the term for musical bow and that for jew’s harp are the same, reflecting their similarity in playing technique, although the former is exclusively a woman’s instrument commonly played during their stay in menstrual huts, the latter a men’s instrument. The single string is pulled away from the player and occasionally stopped with the little finger of the hand holding the instrument. Compositions imitate the melody of songs. Among the Huli, in contrast, players articulate poetry on their instruments, intending to make the absent beloved yearn for the performer. Although played by both sexes, the instruments differ slightly in size, playing position and construction. Both instruments have two strings, tuned a major 3rd apart. The strings are strummed with a plectrum with one hand, while the thumb of the other hand occasionally presses one of the strings, raising the pitch a semitone. Huli regard such performances as the supreme artistic achievement (Pugh-Kitingan, 1981).
Instruments that change the quality of the performer’s voice, here called voice-modifiers, are found in Papua New Guinea. Hence, in contrast to jew’s harps or musical bows where the vibrations of the instrument itself are modified by movements of the mouth, with voice-modifiers vibrations of the vocal cords are modified by an external instrument. Because they may resemble flutes or trumpets morphologically, voice-modifiers have frequently been misidentified in the literature, yet they contrast significantly with other instruments and make up important ensembles. Wherever they are found, they are used by men to create spirit voices (Niles, 1989). Voice-modifiers are the distinctive instruments used in ensembles along the Rai coast and in many other parts of Madang. Two major ensembles are found: one, called the ‘mother’, consists of voice-modifiers of gourd, bamboo (the sides of the bamboo being slit between the nodes), drums and slit-drums. In contrast, the ‘child’ ensemble uses long bamboo voice-modifiers, the sides of which are intact.
Long and short voice-modifiers are also found in parts of East Sepik and West New Britain. The Ilahita Arapesh place the distal ends of their long voice-modifiers into drums that lack skins to create the voice of the nggwal spirit (Tuzin, 1980). Split-bamboo instruments are found in parts of northern New Ireland and West New Britain. On Bali-Vitu men sing into coconut shells held close to their mouths to produce the singing of spirits: the top third of a coconut shell is removed and orchid leaves placed inside.
Melanesia, §III: Papua New Guinea
Music that originated outside of traditional relations is often referred to as an ‘introduction’ (see Webb and Niles, 1987). All introduced music considered here dates from the mid-19th century or later, thus roughly coinciding with the advent of colonial history. Missions were successfully established beginning in 1871 with the London Missionary Society; the other main churches arrived shortly thereafter: the Methodists in 1875, the Catholic Church in 1881, the Lutherans in 1886, the Anglican Church in 1891 and the Seventh-Day Adventists in 1908. Particularly after World War II, these ‘mainline’ churches have been joined by many smaller churches. In the 1990 census, over 96% of the population considered themselves Christian. All early missionaries brought hymn melodies from their own Western traditions and attempted to fit vernacular translations of hymn texts. For many churches, this remains their tradition: choirs singing Western melodies in vernaculars, Tok Pisin, Motu or English. There are, however, a few notable exceptions. Many Polynesian teachers (evangelists) were brought to the Papuan Region by the London Missionary Society, which was particularly severe in its prohibitions on traditional dancing. A Cook Islands style of hymn singing in two or more parts was introduced by Ruatoka (c1843–1903) and others, probably at the end of the 19th century, to teach Bible stories and as a substitute for traditional performances. Today, these peroveta anedia (prophet songs) are a distinctive style of worship in coastal areas of the Papuan Region.
In order to make the introduced religion as much a part of the community as possible, the Neuendettelsau Lutheran pastor Christian Keysser began using traditional melodies for hymns in the Kâte area in the first decade of the 20th century, a truly revolutionary experiment considering the very low opinion most Europeans had of traditional music. After this became part of mission policy in 1914, vernacular hymnals began to appear, filled with hymns with traditional melodies composed by Papua New Guineans. In the neighbouring Jabêm area, Heinrich Zahn (1880–1944) oversaw the transition from European to Jabêm melodies. A thorough examination of traditional forms enabled him to choose those he considered suitable. A musician himself, Zahn also began a conch-shell band to help his students learn to sing Western hymn melodies properly: one shell was used for each pitch of a diatonic scale (usually just over two octaves), with flattened tones produced by inserting the hand in the open shell. By 1927 Zahn was conducting four-part arrangements of the standard German hymns. Later a separate brass band was formed, and Zahn made cylinder recordings of traditional music and the new hymnody. Today, hymns sung to traditional tunes are a proud symbol of Lutherans, particularly in Morobe Province, and are an essential ingredient of any church function (Zahn, 1996).
Anglicans and Catholics also experimented at an early date with the use of traditional melodies. Such efforts were particularly promoted among Anglicans after 1960 and Catholics after the Second Vatican Council, 1962–5. The most recent churches in Papua New Guinea are Pentecostal and tend to adhere strictly to the usage of melodies from their home base, frequently North America or Australia.
However, while the colonial powers of Papua New Guinea (Germany, England, Australia) provided the interaction necessary for these introductions, not all the music introduced had a European basis. The popular ‘Kiwai dance’ originated in Rotuma (Fiji) via the Torres Strait Islands, where Rotuman men were brought for pearl-shell diving.
In Papua New Guinea, brass bands are associated with the police force, bagpipe and drum bands with the defence force. Numerous attempts to start brass bands by the government and missions occurred during the early 20th century, but the present-day Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Band had its origins in 1937, with the Pacific Islands Regiment Pipes and Drums Band beginning in 1952. Both bands have toured overseas, and a former conductor of the police band, Thomas Shacklady (b 1917), composed ‘O Arise All You Sons’, the national song. In more recent years, brass bands have been started for youth groups, and bagpipes have also been played by prison warders.
While Western instruments were brought by colonizers and labourers from parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guineans particularly embraced guitars and ukuleles after the conclusion of World War II. By the 1950s string bands began to form, consisting entirely of acoustic instruments. During this time they performed imitations or variations of songs heard on the radio or on phonographs, some in local languages. In 1962, Papua New Guineans were allowed to drink alcohol, thus giving bands potential access to important performance venues: hotels and taverns. However, the new audience required electrified equipment, and bands performed cover versions of overseas hits mixed with a few string band compositions. By the late 1960s, Papua New Guinean bands, such as the Kon-Tikis, Fuzzy Wuzzies, Stalemates and Kopykats, often comprised of mixed-race members, became common at these venues. Bamboo bands developed in North Solomons and Madang, featuring string bands accompanied by bamboo instruments tuned to the notes of the tonic, dominant and sub-dominant chords with added 6ths. The bamboos are struck with rubber thongs, frequently to a boogie-woogie rhythm. Acoustic and amplified bands began to be recorded in the early 1970s and records issued. However, it was not until the local radio station began a cassette series in 1977, devoted almost entirely to bands, that the recording industry began to expand greatly. By 1996, about 3000 cassettes of local bands had been released, many from either Port Moresby or Rabaul, both areas being important in contemporary music styles. While many bands remain popular only with people from their own province, a few bands have been consistently successful over the entire nation, e.g. Paramana Strangers, Painim Wok and Barike. The National Arts School (now part of the University of Papua New Guinea) produced a number of bands that conspicuously attempted to meld traditional and Western popular musics, chief among them, Sanguma. However, for most bands the relation of their music to traditional music is less obvious. Songs are frequently in the vernacular and often concern lost loves or strong attachments to one’s village. Melodic movement, distinctive harmonies and short, repeated texts are also possible relations with traditional music. While cassettes continue to be the most popular format for bands, local video clips began to be made and aired in 1990 on EMTV, the only local television station, and a few CDs began appearing in 1994. Webb (1993; 1995) details the development of popular music in the country.
Melanesia, §III: Papua New Guinea
Although the first recordings of Papua New Guinea music were made in 1898 during a visit by an anthropological expedition whose main work was in the Torres Strait, interest in music began before this with instruments brought to museums and the descriptions of visitors. Colonial powers had different attitudes towards research. The Germans were very much concerned with the subject, mounting huge, well-equipped expeditions, whereas the British, and particularly the Australians, were much less interested in such work. Consequently, there are many invaluable early recordings from the Mamose and Islands Regions, formerly German New Guinea, but fewer from other regions. Recordings have been made by a full gamut of the professions: natural scientists, explorers, doctors, missionaries, geographers, adventurers, anthropologists and latterly ethnomusicologists (Niles, 1992). Although numerous writings on music resulted from the recordings made by others, the first dissertation on Papua New Guinea music resulting from the author’s own fieldwork was that of Chenoweth (1974), while 1987 saw the first thesis on music by a Papua New Guinean, R.N. Stella. McLean published an essential bibliography of publications in 1995. Government concern for the preservation of and research on music was shown in 1974 with the establishment of the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, with its own music department. It houses the largest collection of Papua New Guinea music recordings in the world, conducts research, issues publications on music and liaises with other researchers. The Papua New Guinea Music Collection, edited by Niles and Webb in 1987, consists of over 300 recordings from throughout the country.
The ‘Solomon Islands’ is taken here in the political sense of the independent state, part of the former British Solomon Islands Protectorate and therefore excluding the two islands Bougainville and Buka, which, while geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago, politically are part of Papua New Guinea (see §III above). There are about eighty different languages spoken throughout the islands, belonging to three major linguistic groups: Melanesian, Papuan (non-Austronesian) and Polynesian languages. The great majority of Solomon Islanders speak Melanesian languages, while smaller groups speaking a Polynesian language live on so-called Polynesian outlier islands (see §3 below).
Melanesia, §IV: Solomon Islands
The inhabitants of Malaita (about 100,000 people) speak some 11 Melanesian languages, some of which, particularly in the north, are mutually intelligible. Malaita’s music may be divided geographically into that of the north and that of the south (the centre shares characteristics of both). Musical terminology is similar in the different languages: the generic term for vocal music is nguu (there are also specific terms for each kind of song); instrumental music is called ‘au (‘bamboo’), as all instrumental music except that for slit-drums is played on bamboo instruments.
Solo songs, such as lullabies, are known throughout the island. Songs performed by choruses of men sitting in two rows facing each other and singing in two parts are characteristic of the northern half of the island. The words of their songs, which recount historical traditions, are sometimes sung by the entire choir, sometimes by a song-leader. Certain kinds of song are accompanied by sticks struck against each other, others by rattles (nut-seeds tied to sticks). Other songs accompany activities, the cracking of canarium nuts or the pounding of taro for feasts, or paddling in the large plank canoes. In the north, women sing in unison, unlike the men. No choruses are known in the southern half of Malaita, where usually two people sing together, in two parts. This polyphony is characteristic of women’s songs (funeral laments (ex.2), enumerative songs and even lullabies) as well as men’s (performed during paddling or the pounding of taro). Another type of song is sung by men to the accompaniment of large bamboo tubes, stamped on the ground or struck against the palm of the hand.
In their instrumental music Malaitans distinguish between ‘blown bamboos’ and ‘struck bamboos’. Some instruments are played unaccompanied, others in ensembles. Instruments played solo in the ‘blown bamboo’ category include three types of flute made from single bamboo tubes: the transverse flute, the end-blown flute, held obliquely, and the notched flute. The transverse flute is stopped at both ends by the nodes in the bamboo; single holes cut on the reed-wall near each end serve as mouthpiece and finger-hole. The oblique flute may be stopped or open at the lower end: if stopped, the instrument requires a finger-hole; if open, the musician stops or reopens the bottom opening of the tube with his index finger. The notched flute exists only in the south, in Small Malaita. Open at the lower end, it requires two finger-holes or none. In all three types of flute, supplementary pitches are obtained by overblowing. The three instruments are played primarily by women for their own amusement.
In the southern half of Malaita there is a type of panpipes consisting of a single raft, in which the pipes are not arranged in decreasing sequence (fig.4). This irregular order is explained by the manner of playing: the musician always blows simultaneously into two adjacent tubes, thus obtaining a two-part melody (ex.3). This instrument has 5 to 13 tubes, depending on the region and the type. It is played during the gathering of canarium nuts or to call a woman to a forest tryst. There are in addition two types of bundle panpipes. One type, held vertically, consists of seven to nine open bamboo pipes (fig.5). The musician holds the instrument 1 or 2 cm from his mouth. Keeping his hand nearly motionless, he moves his head to direct the breath into the different tubes. In one variant known among the Kwaio, the bottom ends of the tubes are closed by nodes. The other type of bundle panpipes, held obliquely like the end-blown flute, is composed of three or four thin, open-ended bamboo tubes (fig.6). A small circular hole at the node forms the mouthpiece of each tube. The musician places the tube he wishes to sound obliquely against his mouth; part of the air current also enters the opposite tube. His head remains still, and his hand moves the instrument. Besides the fundamental tones, partials are used, their sonority being very weak and delicate. These panpipes are found in the southern part of Malaita and seem unknown elsewhere in the world. Both types of bundle panpipes are played for the personal enjoyment of the musician, except among the Fataleka in the northern part of Malaita, where the first type is used in a cycle of funeral feasts.
The category of ‘struck bamboos’ includes two instruments, the musical bow and stamping tubes, which are played unaccompanied. The musical bow consists of a bamboo tube open at both ends, to which are attached two strings (tuned to the same pitch) made from a single plant fibre. If the bamboo is too rigid and does not bend sufficiently, the strings must be raised by bridges, and the instrument then nears the zither family. The bamboo is placed between the lips, thus adding harmonics selected in the mouth to the fundamental sound obtained by plucking the two strings. The stamping tubes consist of ten bamboo rods, between 13 and 50 cm long, each stopped at the bottom end by a node. The musician, sitting, holds four tubes in each hand and one with each foot (between two toes), and beats them on stones placed on the ground. Stamping tubes are known elsewhere in the Pacific, but generally each person plays one or at most two tubes. It seems that only in the southern half of Malaita and nowhere else in the world are the rhythmical, melodic and polyphonic resources of this instrument exploited to such an extent.
Stamping tubes can also be played as an ensemble instrument, in which case the stamping tubes are distributed among two or three players playing ten or twelve tubes in all (fig.7). As in solo performance, this music is played for amusement, by both men and women. But the most important instrumental ensembles are groups of slit-drums and panpipes played at the great ceremonial feasts held in connection with the ancestor cult or to enhance the prestige of chiefs. The solo slit-drum is known to all peoples in Malaita and is used to send messages, but slit-drum ensembles are found only in southern Malaita and have an essentially musical function. Depending on the region, the ensemble consists of three to twelve slit-drums of different sizes (fig.8). The instruments are placed horizontally on stands constructed of plant materials, the slit pointed towards the player, who drums on its upper edge with two sticks. Among the ‘Are‘are, where rhythms are played homorhythmically, many pieces consist of one single rhythmic motif, repeated several times with and without short interruptions but in a definite order, preceded by vocalisations shouted by the drum leader (ex.4). In Small Malaita, the three slit drums of an ensemble are struck in different rhythms. Many prohibitions, dietary and sexual, must be observed during the making of new slit-drums, ending with the inaugural ritual when the ensemble is played in public for the first time.
In Malaita there are seven types of panpipe ensembles, with many variants, each type with its own name. The panpipes played in ensembles all consist of one row of tubes stopped at the lower end and arranged in decreasing order of size. The basic scale used is one in which the octave is divided into seven approximately equal intervals (also found in Cambodia, Thailand, Mozambique and Guinea). This scale appears in two forms, one in which all the instruments of an ensemble have the complete scale (as in the northern ‘au sisileand the southern ‘au tahana), and one in which two instruments share the scale, complementing each other: thus pitches 1, 3, 5, 7 etc belong to one instrument and pitches 2, 4, 6, 8 etc to the other (as in the northern ‘au ‘ero and the southern ‘au keto and ‘au taka‘iori). Another ensemble in southern Malaita, the ‘au paina, consists of instruments whose tuning is pentatonic. The number of instruments and of the tubes on each instrument, the tessitura of the ensemble as a whole, the number of polyphonic parts, the playing in parallel octaves and the repertory vary according to the type of ensemble. Thus, the ‘au tahana is composed of four instruments of two sizes, each instrument with a tessitura of nearly two octaves. The musicians play in two-part polyphony, each part being doubled at the octave (ex.5). The ‘au paina has eight instruments played in two-part polyphony, each part quadrupled at the octave. The largest instrument may reach 160 cm in length, the others then being 80, 40 and 20 cm long. The tessitura of the ensemble as a whole is five octaves. The ‘au sisile in the north consists of a variable number of instruments (eight to twenty) of the same size, with a tessitura of approximately two octaves. The musicians play in four-part polyphony, and there are no doublings at the octave. Among the Kwaio, at the island’s centre, the ‘au sisile always consists of eight instruments: four of one size with a tessitura of two octaves, and four instruments of three tubes each, tuned in 3rds. Some pieces are played in four parts (some parts doubled or trebled at the octave), other pieces in six, seven and even eight parts (ex.6 and fig.9). Some ensembles have no rhythmic accompaniment (e.g. the ‘au tahana, ‘au keto and ‘au paina), whereas in others the musicians wear rattles around the ankles (‘au sisile, ‘au ‘ero); in still others (e.g. the ‘au taka‘iori) the dancers beat on leaf bundles. In the ‘au sisile of the Kwaio, the seated musicians strike their right thighs violently with one hand. New panpipes are made using older instruments as models. The expert craftsman measures the interior length of the tube with a thin rod used as a plummet. To obtain the correct tube length of an instrument to be tuned to the upper octave, the measurements are halved. Conversely, to make an instrument tuned to the lower octave, the measuring rod is bent in half before being inserted in the model instrument; the unbent rod then gives the desired length.
Instrumental music in Malaita mostly consists of ‘imitative’ or ‘descriptive’ music. Each piece, composed according to rigorous rules, has a title indicating the theme of the composition, for example the songs of birds, the croaking of frogs, the whirring of insects, the cries of animals, the patter of drops of water on a leaf, the murmur of streams, the roar of the sea, the crackling of tree branches or other natural sounds. Human sounds also can be the theme of a piece, such as the crying of an infant, the moaning of the sick or wounded, sleepers’ snoring, spoken words, and sounds made at work. Some compositions are based on songs or melodies played on other instruments. A piece may translate a visual movement, such as the swaying of a spider or the comings and goings of people. The history of the composition and the name of the composer are passed on to young musicians, but non-musicians are usually ignorant of these aspects, and often do not even know the name of a composition. The title and composer of some pieces believed to be very old are no longer known even among musicians. These pieces are now known as part of the repertory of a celebrated musician or of a village.
Melanesia, §IV: Solomon Islands
Guadalcanal is the largest island of the Solomons and includes the capital Honiara. On Savo, a small island only 20 km distant from Guadalcanal, one of the few Papuan (i.e. non-Austronesian) languages of the Solomons is spoken, but the music is closely related to that of Melanesian-speaking Guadalcanal people, with the exception that on Savo there are no panpipe ensembles.
Singing on Guadalcanal and Savo is characterized by three-part polyphony, with two independent solo voices against a background of a drone sung by a choir. Many songs feature the two solo voices covering a wide range of notes, with rapid changes to chest and head voice to produce yodelling.
Panpipe ensembles on Guadalcanal are also characterized by drone pipes with closed tubes blown as flutes and open tubes blown as trumpets. In contrast to the panpipes of Malaita, the instruments on Guadalcanal have two rows of pipes, the second row with open pipes producing an upper octave that effectively enriches the timbres. Compared to the panpipe playing on Malaita, with its soft, pulsating sounds, the aesthetic of the Guadalcanal panpipe ensemble prefers a harsher sound. High-pitched overblowing is used to signal a stop or to cue the move into the closing formula of the piece. In both panpipe ensembles and vocal music, the melodic parts join the pitch of the drone at the end of the stanza or the piece, so that all the parts end in unison or on the octave. On the south-eastern point of Guadalcanal, some villages populated by ‘Are‘are people from Malaita have kept their language and music while also borrowing from their neighbours the characteristic ‘Guadalcanal sound’ of panpipe ensembles.
The Aeolian organ is a spectacular instrument used in former times during the funeral ritual to recall the spirit of the dead back to the village from the sea where the body was committed. The organ consists of four long bamboo canes, approximately 5 m in length, with holes of different sizes and form cut in each internode (fig.10). An enormous amount of air is needed to make a loud sound, simultaneously producing a multitude of partials (harmonics). This occurs because the internodal segments become shorter and thinner from the bottom to the top, creating cavities with different volumes; thus different pitches can be obtained when blowing.
Melanesia, §IV: Solomon Islands
The traditional music of the Ontong Java atoll, like that of all Polynesia, is essentially vocal. Instruments are used exclusively for the rhythmical accompaniment of song: small slit-drums, sometimes replaced or complemented by pieces of wood or bamboo struck with two sticks; bamboo stamping tubes (each singer plays only one tube); fans struck on the palm of the hand. Some types of song are danced. The musical beach games of young girls consist for the most part of sitting dances. Most standing dances have a slow first part, in which the dancers, men or women, stay in place; then there is a great acceleration of tempo, at which point the dancers advance with rapid motions towards the choir sitting on the ground. Formerly many types of song were performed only once a year, in the course of an important ritual dedicated to the ancestral gods. Other songs were associated with the birth of the first child, with funerals, or were sung for amusement. The songs are performed by male, female or mixed choirs, with the exception of prayers, which are chanted by the ritual leader. Two archaic vocal styles are characteristic of Ontong Java (as of all Polynesia): one-note recitative and speech-song. Passages of both styles also appear in songs that otherwise use several pitches. Songs in two- or three-part polyphony have a drone.
Located at the southernmost tip of the Solomon Islands archipelago, Bellona and Rennell are tiny raised coral islands whose inhabitants share the same Polynesian language and culture. Bellona is 7 km long and 2 km wide, whereas Rennell is somewhat larger. In 1986 the combined population of both was approximately 2500. A colony of people from both islands live in a suburb of Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands.
Traditional to the Polynesian culture of Bellona (Mungiki) and Rennell (Mungaba) is heterophonic vocal music sung by leader and group, often with rhythm accompaniment and/or dancing. The poet-singer tradition is strong, the poet often leading his song. In this society, ability in singing, dancing and composing poetry are factors in winning status. Poets are the scholars, mastering old songs in the classical poetic language. Lineage elders teach the young men to sing and dance correctly. The numerous song types are types of poetic compositions, each having certain melodic tropes.
According to oral traditions, West Polynesians populated Bellona and Rennell over 24 generations ago from a homeland called ‘Ubea, probably Uvea (Wallis) Island, west of Samoa. They brought several song-dance suites with them in the archaic language of their ancestors. In one of these, the suahongi, two different song-dances are performed simultaneously and coordinated in an organized manner (Rossen, 1987; Polynesian Dances of Bellona, 1978). It includes a song called te pese a Kaitu‘u composed by Kaitu‘u, one of the first immigrants (Rossen, 1978 and 1987).
Song titles contain the name of the poet and that of the song type. A men's double chorus sings pese songs, clapping in accompaniment. Tangi laments are strophic songs composed primarily by women, but men join the singing; all beat their hands on available objects, creating a polyrhythm with the song (Rossen, 1987). Many of the 26 song genres are suites that have a set sequence of up to six song types, including introductions, main songs and special endings. There are dirges, praise songs, songs for rituals and for hauling, singing games and many others.
Christianization by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1939 resulted in prohibition of traditional songs and dances. Nevertheless, some people perform despite church sanctions, and older Bellonese remember the traditional repertory. Performances are in demand for official occasions such as the visits of dignitaries, for tourists in Honiara and for festivals further abroad.
Songs and dances are unaccompanied or accompanied by clapping; the only instrument, a wooden soundboard (papa: ‘flat’), The papa is beaten for some dances. It is flat, crescent-shaped, about one metre long, and beaten with two batons. A stake in the ground holds the convex edge; the beater props the concave edge up on his feet, forming a resonance chamber below. It produces a low and a higher tone. The person beating the rhythm also leads the singing. Most of the 17 song-dance suites and nine song genres are performed by men only, with women participating in five song genres and two dances. A leader and approximately 25 singers dance in unison, in circle or line formation (see fig.11).
The local vocabulary has terms for several qualities of vocalization. An intermittent bass bourdon, tuku ki songongo, is typical for traditional songs but rarely sung today. Young people emphasize a high male voice in their songs. These are sometimes in English in the introduced pan-Pacific pop style using ukuleles and guitars.
Singing and dancing were originally performed during rituals: food distributions, tattooing and group visiting. Food distribution feasts still occasion singing today, although the islanders now sing Christian hymns.
Children use a musical bow and a ribbon reed as toys. Notched and fipple flutes were introduced between 1930 and 1940, in addition to a musical bow. Children still play the bow today; the flutes, made of green papaya stalks, have almost disappeared from use. Still popular are the song-dances mako tu‘u and ngongole, introduced to both islands in the 1900s by castaways from Tikopia (see §(iii) below).
Located in the eastern Solomon Islands, Tikopia is a Western Polynesian outlier situated 120 km south-west of the nearest other outlier, Anuta. This article discusses traditional Tikopian music and takes no account of modern songs in European musical idiom, called pese (singing) or pese fuere (just singing).
Drums and chordophones are absent. Idiophones include the tā or sounding board, lopu or stamping tubes, and ū sēru, a bundle of dried leaf pinnules beaten on the hand as a sacred object. Aerophones are limited to the pū or shell trumpet and fakatangitangi or pū kofe, a flute said to have been blown either with the mouth or the nose.
Group rather than solo singing is usual. Texture is either unison or at the octave. Voice quality is moderately tense, with some nasality. There are two broad classes of songs, called mako and fuatanga. Mako are dance-songs, of which the commonest form is the matāvaka. It is accompanied by a song and by drumming with two sticks on the sounding board. Also common is the ngore, sung by a seated chorus and accompanied by hand-clapping. Differences between the two are wholly temporal. Scales are anhemitonic pentatonic or tetratonic. Matāvaka are in duple time, either 2/8 or 2/4, and are typically accompanied by a tap from the sounding board on each beat. Tempos are either steady or accelerate. Ngore are 3/8 songs with a hand-clap marking the beat. Syncopations occur across bar lines, and word rhythms may run counter to the metre established by the hand-claps. Tempos are steady and about 60% slower than those of matāvaka. Because the differences between matāvaka and ngore are rhythmic rather than melodic, a matāvaka melody can transform easily to ngore and vice versa.
Fuatanga are highly serious compositions performed either as elegies eulogistic of living persons or, most often, as laments or dirges at funerals. Fuatanga differ from mako both melodically and rhythmically. The scales are frequently hemitonic (with semitones), and a conspicuous characteristic is extremely slow tempo with many long-held notes. Metres are often additive, with 5/4 patterns of either 2 + 3 or 3 + 2 the most common. In contrast with mako, there is no audible accompaniment. The songs are characteristically pitched extremely low with switches of octave up and down as male singers reach their limits of range.
The archipelago of Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), composed of 80 inhabited islands, lies about 800 km west of Fiji and 400 km north-east of New Caledonia; the main islands are Espíritu Santo, Malekula, Pentecost, Aoba, Maewo, Ambrim, Tana and Efate. The climate is tropical and subject to hurricanes, and the islands experience occasional earthquakes. The Austronesian (Melanesian) population arrived about 4000 years ago, probably in two major migrations. The people were pioneers of exploratory ocean navigation, and their large double-hulled canoes covered vast distances, feats not equalled with comparable accuracy and skill until the chronometer was invented. At the end of the 20th century the twin symbols of canoe and rooted tree, standing interrelatedly for both movement and place, continued to play an integral part in the traditional cosmology of the ni-Vanuatu (the people of the islands). The name Vanuatu, adopted in 1980, embraces the meaning ‘permanent land’. Owing to a history of sporadic settlement, the population of 170,000 speak over 100 indigenous languages. Many people are polyglot in various vernaculars, but Bislama (Bichelamar) is the lingua franca. Europeans first visited in 1606, with the French arriving in 1768 and the British in 1774. The islands' traditions were affected by the various Christian denominations that tried to evangelize, suppressing traditional rites and customary practices in some areas. Independence from the dual colonization of Great Britain and France, which began in 1906, was not gained until 1980. The history of an independent Vanuatu has been marked by much political turmoil, in which traditional song and dance has often been used to invoke national identity. In recent decades a conscious revival of kastom (custom) has attracted political support. Support from UNESCO and other sources enabled the establishment of an Oral Traditions Programme, which had over 50 local fieldworkers in the 1970s and 80s.
1. Genre and musical occasion.
In Vanuatu, traditional music is performed at public and ceremonial occasions and in private. Ceremonies such as marriage involve music, but the most notable ritual is na huqe (‘grade-taking’), involving song, dance and integral music played on slit-drums. This is part of the process in becoming a huqe, ‘great person’, through the sacrifice of valuable tusked boars. Days of ‘settlement’ and further debt creation are also public rituals involving music-making.
While there are many possible structures for such rituals, one typical ceremony includes the announcement of the appointed day and precautionary rituals; on the day itself, the presentation of the pigs, speeches, the wearing of special finery and use of special mats; the sacrifice; the drinking of kava; and night-time celebratory dancing. Certain music is performed only for higher ‘grade’ ceremonies. One such documented occasion involved the ‘calling’ of pigs; ‘signal cries’ for the pigs being brought; and a celebratory welcome on slit-drums for the donor and his pigs, while look-out men performed a song of welcome until they were drowned out by drumming as the pigs were brought on to the na sara (arena).
At another such ceremony in eastern Ambae that involved a group called a dingidingi, the player of the ratahigi, the ‘largest drum’, directed the starts, changes and endings according to the progress of the ritual. He gave cues for changes from section to section both by musical means (pauses and changes in pace), by verbal command and by hissing (as the players had their backs to each other); sections were extended for as long as was necessary. Other drums involved were the simbegi(‘middle-sized’), responsible for rhythmic coordination with the dance and other movements, while the small drum, valagi, provided ‘decoration’. Towards the end of such an event the men perform an antiphonal ahi tigo or ‘jump song’, at some points a cappella, at others with slit-drum accompaniment.
In some areas these rituals were discontinued in about 1930, due to the combined pressure of evangelizing missions and the shortage of land for pig-raising, caused when cash cropping for copra became important. In certain areas where the ritual is no longer practised, slit-drum ensembles, including that of the Nduindui district, have brought renewed life to the repertory, almost making it a concert music. In the eastern part of Ambae, where dominant religious missions were more tolerant towards kastom and there was no shortage of land for both pig-raising and coconut plantations, na huqe continues to flourish both as a spectacular ritual and as a dynamic local political factor in a period of change and adaptation.
On south Pentecost Island a unique practice called gol, which involves jumping from a specially constructed tower with vines tied to the legs, always includes music. In many areas traditional dances are now performed at church festivals and for government events such as the opening of a new council building. There is rarely public music except in such contexts.
Most types of solo music are performed privately. Some islands have solo songs specially composed for a particular ceremony, in honour of the person involved or even, as in the case of grade-taking in Ambrim, insulting songs. Magic songs intended to procure personal benefits such as a good yam harvest or the attendance of pig-owners with their pigs at the singer's grade-taking ceremony, are still in use in some areas and are performed in great secrecy. Story-tellers often include songs in the narration of traditional stories. At Lombaha on the island of Aoba, songs of a solo genre called tanumwehave complex texts that deal with their subject in highly allusive language. The songs associated with certain dances (for example sawagoro and boloin the northern islands) are also performed as private solo songs. Other songs include lullabies, songs sung in children's games, counting songs etc.
While most traditional music performed is now of unknown authorship, composers in the islands where traditional music survives are still commissioned to compose new songs for special occasions or in honour of particular persons. Song is taught orally to performers; in the language of the Banks Islands, the composer is said to ‘measure’ the song while the performer ‘sews’ it, the singer as it were drawing out his song stitch by stitch.
Within Maewo tradition it is considered that melodies were first invented by women, but that mere tunes were ‘something-nothing’ until men gave them significance by adding poetry. The maleness of a given song is thought to reside in its text (even when that text may be composed by a woman), while its femaleness resides in its melody (even when composed by a man). In the case of a song with a text that is no longer understood, its female profile may indicate its place of origin. There are a number of auxiliary song languages within which imagery through metaphor, among other poetic devices, is prized and refined. Composing songs is in principle open to anyone, but some individuals are recognised as songsmiths, i.e. makers and menders of songs. They may be commissioned with payment in mats, pigs, kava, food and other valuables in return for ownership, effectively a form of copyright. Songs and dances may thus become exchange objects or gifts.
Many Vanuatu musical practices are based on anticlockwise directional movement. For example, dances that involve participants circling always go this way. Slit-drums are normally played by striking the right hand lip, which in the case of horizontal instruments depends on which side of the player the root end of the tree is placed – if to the right, then the upper lip will be the right-hand side. While this is in principle considered correct for drumming, it is not always respected. Broadly speaking, the left hand side is considered wild and untamed and the right civilized. Dances are to a certain extent borrowed from other islands, which involves singing in another islands' languages, sometimes in a language no longer understood by any participant. In the Banks Islands each island has, in addition to its own language, its own corresponding song language, distinct from the everyday language of other islands. Many dances begin with vocables that serve to identify the type of song or dance to be performed.
The form of many dance-songs is responsorial and repetitive, as in the lenga, for example, a dance common to the northern and central islands. The chorus of dancers is arranged in lines, the leader carrying a bamboo slit-drum and acting as soloist. The soloist usually sings a short rhythmic phrase that is answered by the chorus. This exchange is repeated several times while the dance movement continues. At the end of a particular section of the dance the soloist introduces a new phrase, which receives a new answer from the chorus. The whole section (old phrases plus new phrases) is then repeated, this repetition continuing until the dance is completed. As the soloist takes up his phrase at the end of the chorus's response, the two parts often overlap, introducing an element of polyphony. The sawagoro, a dance extremely popular in the northern islands and the Banks Islands, is often performed in an impromptu fashion on festive occasions, danced on the spot in a close circle by as many as wish to join in. One documented example, taking the form of a narrative song, shows the careful design of the poet-composer, who uses thematic metaphor as a structural device: events unfurl like leaves one after the other, then the bud appears, and in the penultimate verse a flower bursts open, with the hero(ine) or anti-hero(ine) named, only in the final verses unveiling of the floral metaphor. The structure creates a sense of tension, often paralleled by crescendo and accelerating tempo (when danced) as the dénouement approaches. The song is responsorial and includes hand-clapping on the off-beats or (in the Banks Islands) sticks pounded on a board laid above a hole in the ground.
Another dance found on Aoba, called ahi bue (bamboo song), takes its name from the bue, a bundle of dried bamboo placed on forked sticks and used as an idiophone. At the repetition that marks the final section of each movement, the bamboo players break into a 6/8 metre, while onlookers may run in anticlockwise circles around the line of dancers. Similar public participation occurs in many dance forms. Physical stamina and a knowledge of a large repertory of songs are essential for participants. For males, a dance may be athletic, an opportunity to exhibit vigour and a hope for sexual favours, coupled with a display of intellectual prowess (i.e. memory, the ability to manipulate optional repeats through vocal cues). Women's dancing and singing is valued through distinctive gesture, decoration and vocal quality. Women's repertories tend to be reserved for the company of other women. Umulonko one such session involving a gogona song, for female rituals, included much use of asymmetrical rhythms with paired voices using percussive timbres. Umulonko women also sing during the preparation of pandanus for the weaving of mats. Learning such songs socializes girls into the work involved in the creation of what is regarded as a woman's wealth, her mat weaving.
Except in one area, musical vocal parts are monophonic. In north Malekula, however, voices are frequently in a polyphony, of which one part is a drone. The melodies are most commonly anhemitonic pentatonic (ex.7), but many songs are either fanfares or are made up of three or four alternate major and minor 3rds (ex.8). Sometimes the highest of the series appears an octave lower. Passages of such 3rds sometimes occur in otherwise pentatonic songs. Occasionally a passing note is added to the series of 3rds.
Kastom instruments played in Vanuatu consist of sound makers of wood, bamboo, shells and stones, leaves and roots. Instrument making tools are made of stone and shell (adzes), bamboo (knives) and fire and grinding paste (drills). By far the most important instrument, the slit-drum, is made of logs or of lengths of bamboo. Making drums involves as much labour and skill as was exercised in the carving of giant double canoes for which the islands are famous. Indeed, canoe hulls can substitute as slit-drums, but the wood used is normally lighter. Slit-drums made from logs occur throughout the islands. In the islands north of Malekula and Ambrim, they are left undecorated (although they do sometimes have carrying handles) and are placed horizontally on the ground; in Malekula and Ambrim themselves, and in islands to the south, they are normally carved on the upper part with representations of the human face and are buried upright in the ground (fig.12). In areas that use upright slit-drums, portable horizontal ones also occur. The upright carved slit-drums, seen in many ethnographic museums, are giant instruments, which when planted stand 6–7 metres above the ground and have a restricted distribution.
The best horizontal drums are cut from hard wood (boga), which has powerful resonance properties and durability. They act as ‘Helmholtz resonators’, in that pitch for a given interior capacity (the cavity) rises if the slit is widened. In south Pentecost and possibly elsewhere, slit-drums resting on a forked stick are sometimes placed at an angle. Both vertical and horizontal slit-drums vary in size, from the length of a single node of bamboo to up to 7 metres for wooden drums. In some places they are used singly and in others in groups of varying sizes. In groups they are normally used to play rhythms in counterpoint. Used singly, as in the Small Nambas mortuary rite on Malekula, they play a complicated series of rhythms accompanying ritual chants. In some places they are still used to send messages: on Aoba there is now a particular rhythm played on a small slit-drum to call people to church. Bamboo slit-drums are used for certain kinds of dances. They are held in one hand and beaten with a stick held in the other hand (as by the soloist in the lenga), or held by one performer and beaten by another (as in some Banks Islands dances) or laid on the ground in groups (as in the Torres Islands), in which case all the performers play the same rhythm.
Other idiophones include the bue (bamboo bundles) of Aoba, which accompany the ahi bue dance; a ground-resonated percussion beam made from the buttress root of a tree and beaten with sticks, still used in the Banks Islands, Maewo, Paama and Espíritu Santo and formerly used on Ambrim; and shell rattles attached to the dancers' legs. Bullroarers and certain leaves, formerly used to simulate the voices of spirits, are now rarely used as instruments. On Motalava, in the Banks Islands, singing in certain dances is accompanied by the scraping of the butt of a leaf-stalk against a stone, producing a loud rasping sound. Although this is not now recognized as the voice of natmat woywoy, a spirit, the performers nevertheless remain inside a leaf enclosure, and only men are allowed to see the instrument. On Ambrim the voices of spirits were simulated by holding another type of leaf between the palms and blowing on to it.
The most common aerophone is the conch-shell trumpet, used as a signalling instrument both for calling people together and to mark significant moments in ceremonies. The pitch can be slightly varied by putting the fist into the shell's opening. Bamboo endblown flutes are commonly made but largely for the tourist trade, since they are played rarely and never in a public context. The distances between the holes are calculated by finger sizes: ineffective notches may be cut off and another begun, changing pitch relationships. Panpipes were once common: in remote parts of Espiritu Santo bue balabala hangavulu, instruments with ten pipes, are still used in polyphonic ensembles.
An instrument known as temes naainggol on Malekula and tematne are on Ambrim, and reputedly still in current use (in the 1970s there was still at least one player of the musical bow in north Ambrim), is a wooden vessel rather like a deep mortar, into which the performer blows through a reed tube (see fig.13), producing a booming note. The performer uses several of these vessels, each of a different pitch, and dexterously withdraws the reed pipe from one and inserts it into another while accompanying singing. One end of the bow is held in the teeth while the string is plucked with a piece of coconut-leaf rib (fig.14).
Types of popular music that have come to Vanuatu include ‘cowboy’ songs, accompanied by ukulele or guitar, and gospel hymn tunes, especially of the Moody and Sankey variety (see Gospel music, §I, 1(iii)). New music is being composed in these styles, and popular musics from other parts of the world are often adapted in performance by changing aspects of melody and harmony, by the insertion of extra beats and by the shortening of long notes, often creating irregular rhythms. In certain islands, traditional music has almost completely disappeared, and only these new popular styles are known. This has occurred mainly where people have been told that traditional music was unfit for Christians. Often where this has happened the islanders have been amazed to learn that people in other islands still perform their traditional songs and dances without any sense of impropriety. The disappearance from Hiw of certain customary music and rites that survive in the other Torres islands is attributed to the fact that those who knew them died without passing them on to the next generation. The learning of music and rites is often connected with initiation into status grades of society: where this initiation is neglected, associated traditions may disappear. However, there are large enough areas in Vanuatu where traditional music is still composed and performed to ensure its continuance as a cultural expression.
Recordings of Vanuatu traditional music are held in the Archive of Maori and Pacific Music (Crowe Collection), Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland; Crowe Collection, University of New South Wales; Music Department of Monash University (MacIntyre Collection); Pitt Rivers Museum (Layard Collection), Oxford. The New Hebrides Cultural Centre, Port Vila, began a systematic collection of oral traditions, including music and dance, in 1976.
The New Caledonian archipelago, which covers over 19,000 km2, consists of the main island of New Caledonia and the surrounding Isle of Pines, Loyalty Islands and Belep Islands. The archipelago has been inhabited for 3500 years by a Melanesian people who today call themselves Kanaks. Several Polynesian migrations (the most recent reached Uvea in the 18th century) contributed to the process of linguistic diversification: over 30 separate languages were being spoken when the first European explorers came to New Caledonia at the end of the 18th century. The territory officially became a French colony in 1853. Colonization brought violent upheavals into Kanak life, as well as various waves of immigrants. In 1989, out of the 164,000 inhabitants of New Caledonia, 74,000 were Kanaks. Only Kanak music will be described here, since the music of the other ethnic groups resembles that of their countries of origin.
In spite of the linguistic diversity of the Kanaks, their cultural practices are relatively homogeneous, the greatest difference being between the main island and the Loyalty Islands. Kanak music can therefore be described as consisting of a number of distinct musical types. Private music linked to domestic life includes lullabies, children’s games, flute tunes and curative and religious invocations. Forms of community music, performed in the village square on the occasion of major public ceremonies, include rhythmic speech, group dances and men’s songs. To this body of music should be added choruses modelled on Protestant hymns, whose four-part harmony is entirely European. Finally, groups of young musicians are now composing works that try to synthesize elements of Western popular music and the old Kanak tradition.
The ‘private’ musical genres are disappearing faster than the public genres. Lullabies can still be heard almost everywhere; some are sung in two-part counterpoint. The words of these songs often contain a wealth of place names and historical facts, and thus consititute a disguised political commentary. The children’s games make use of a variety of small instruments quickly made from various kinds of plants: a jew’s harp made from a coconut leaflet, a whirring disc, a coconut-leaf whizzer, three kinds of small double-reed pipes, a bamboo panpipe and a piston flute. Young people used to play other aerophones that have now almost disappeared: a water flute and an oblique flute made from a papaw petiole in the Loyalty Islands; a transverse flute on the main island; a duct flute and a transverse trumpet, both made of papaw petioles, in the Isle of Pines. The conch is still a symbol of chieftainship and is blown to summon people together or is fixed to the carving on the roof ridge of the chief’s house.
The most important ceremony is the one that concludes the period of mourning for a chief, held a year after his death. On the main island, an appointed orator chants a rhythmic speech on this occasion, recalling the history of local alliances. The orator is raised above his audience and recites recto tono in a very rapid tempo, with as few interruptions as possible. The men of his community surround him and back him up with rhythmic silibance and whistles, coded cries and exclamations.
A group dance tells a story through a succession of figurative, stylized movements, synchronously performed by all the dancers. Their movements follow the rhythm of a percussion ensemble, which on the main island consists of bamboo stamping tubes and a bamboo slit-drum. In the Loyalty Islands and the Isle of Pines, these dances are led by a chorus of men and women simultaneously striking rhythmic instruments (pads of leaves, bamboo stamping tubes). On the main island there is no chorus to accompany these dances, and in the central region of New Caledonia the only sound-producing instruments are the ornaments worn by the dancers.
The principal form of music on the main island is the male voice duet (fig.15). The two singers are surrounded by a dozen musicians stamping bamboos, striking beaters made of bark (an instrument apparently unique in Oceania) against each other or scraping palm spathes. Finally, all present at the festivities dance in a circle around this orchestra and participate in the music-making with exclamations and whistles. In such a song the rhythm, which must be played in two parts, is constant, and only the tempo may vary from one song to another. The song is a counterpoint between the two men, its aesthetic aim being to maintain great melodic tension. In many of the Kanak languages the words are called ‘the tuber of the song’. These texts can be up to 40 lines long. They may narrate historical events, describe interaction with the natural world or sometimes tell love stories.
The musical tradition of New Caledonia has been formally banned by Christian priests, weakened by the spread of the international music industry, and to some extent decontextualized by social change. Despite this it remains alive, latterly given new value by the younger generation’s musical creativity and awareness of its past.
The Fiji archipelago comprises well over 800 islands in the south-western Pacific Ocean, of which approximately 100 are inhabited. The group covers 18,278 km2, with the total area of the two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, making up almost 90% of the total land mass. Fiji represents the confluence of two Pacific areas, the Melanesian and the Polynesian. Geographically, the islands form part of the Melanesian group, but the indigenous people are of Melanesian stock with an admixture of Polynesian blood. The relative influence of Polynesian and Melanesian elements found in indigenous language and culture varies enormously. Generally, Polynesian features dominate in the east and Melanesian in the west, with many combinations in between. A substantial part of Fiji’s population is comprised of non-indigenous peoples, most significantly Indians. Other communities include Chinese, European and other Pacific Islanders (see Micronesia, §I, 1). There appears to be general respect for each of the many distinct cultural traditions, though actual interaction and exchange tends to be limited.
Although the music of Fiji embraces several disparate musical cultures, studies have focussed solely on the many musical systems of indigenous Fijians and, principally, on the musical genre of meke. Such research has varied in approach, quality and scope, but the various impacts of the church, school education, urbanization, radio and other mass media, developmental strategies and European popular song have rarely been fully considered. The diverse range of musical cultures and the essentially dynamic nature of music-making in Fiji mean that generalizations about musical life there are of limited value.
Most instrumental music in Fiji functions as a signalling device. Purely instrumental music, common in former times, is now obsolete, and introduced instruments used for this purpose (e.g. those common in police and military bands) tend to be confined to urban areas. There does not appear to be a comprehensive term that identifies sound-producing instruments as an entity. According to the means of sound production, the inventory of traditional instruments is confined to idiophones and aerophones. Introduced chordophones include the qitā (guitar), ukalele (ukulele) and mandolin; all are used exclusively to accompany casual group singing.
There are two principal types of wooden drum common throughout Fiji. Lali (large wooden slit-drums) are used to signal a variety of religious and secular activities of social significance, the precise rhythmic pattern varying according to the nature of the event. Constructed from a canoe-shaped single block of wood, hollowed out and left with a large open slot, lali are usually beaten in pairs of unequal size, one person to each drum (fig.16). Each drummer uses a specially crafted pair of iuaua (drumsticks). Due to the essentially functional nature of the instruments, the active repertory of qiriqirinilali (the rhythmic patterns of lali drums) varies in size and content according to the needs of a given community. The most common beat heard is the lali ni lotu, which signals church-related activities. The instruments were more frequently used in former times, and the discontinuation of certain qiriqirinilali seems directly attributable to the decline in former performance contexts (e.g. local warfare). A much smaller drum, the lali ni meke – slender, canoe-shaped, with a small rectangular cavity on its flat bottom – usually accompanies dancing and some forms of group singing. Struck on the curved side, usually directly over the cavity that acts as a resonating chamber, pitch variation is produced by varying the points of contact of the iuaua. To enhance the sound further, the chamber may be held against an adult’s chest or blocked by the player’s thigh and calf or upturned foot. The different rhythmic patterns belonging to the lali ni meke are named in some areas of Fiji. On both types of drum, daunilali (a skilled lali player) may demonstrate talent and expertise by improvising on the prescribed rhythmic pattern.
Several idiophones commonly form part of the rhythmic accompaniment to group singing and dance. Body percussion in the form of cobo or obo (clapping with the hands at right angles and cupped), sau (clapping with the hands held parallel and flat) or thigh-slapping is used both formally and spontaneously in the performance of many genres. Derua (stamping tubes), constructed from bamboo tubes of varying lengths, which have been hollowed out leaving a single node closing the tube at one end, may mark the pulse of the music (fig.17). The tubes are held vertically with the stopped end closest to the ground and are struck on the ground, emitting a dull thudding sound similar in quality to that produced by cobo. The striking of pairs of half coconut shells together and ground-flicking or slapping may punctuate or reinforce the musical pulse. Occasionally, dancers’ costumes include rattles constructed from icibi (the shells of a fruit), which are fastened to the body and produce a sound as dancers perform.
Several aerophones were once common, though only one appears still to be used today. The davui or tavui (the conch-shell trumpet) continues to be used for a variety of ceremonial and signalling purposes such as to signal the catch of a turtle, and it forms an essential part of ceremonial grieving for the death of a high chief. In the traditional religion, the davui was used as a means of communication with the supernatural world. Nose-flutes (dulali or duvu vātagi; fig.18) appear to have become obsolete relatively recently. The flutes varied in form, ranging in length from approximately 35 to 70 cm and in width from 5 to 12 cm, and having between four and eight holes. It is thought that traditional musical structures are based on the notes produced by nose flutes. Early writings include references to panpipes (bitu sonisoni, duvu soro or bitu sanisani) and two types of whistle (sici and va-kakalu).
Fijian music is principally vocal, and it is presumed that most individuals possess the ability to participate in various genres of song. Categorizing vocal genres is troublesome, as the designative terms that describe broad categories of music may change in meaning or specificity according to local dialect, syntax and social context. For the purposes of the following discussion, vocal music has been divided into meke and all other forms. Meke is broadly defined here as a group form of sung, metrical, rhymed poetry performed with or without rhythmically dependent, choreographed actions and usually accompanied by lali ni meke, derua and body percussion.
Meke is the most complex and valued group musical genre in terms of musical structure, performing practice, composition and adherence to what is perceived as tradition. It is multi-functional according to social context: it is a high-art form as well as popular entertainment, it is poetry as well as a means of recording history, and it is a way of generating group identity. Meke are performed at a wide variety of public occasions, the type of meke being determined by the social requirements of the event. Different types include meke iwau (a men’s club dance), meke wesi or meke moto (a spear dance for men) and vakara, all kinds of meke ni valu (war dance); vakamalolo (a sitting dance); seasea (a standing dance for women); meke iri (a fan dance); ruasa (a standing dance for men) and meke ni yaqona (a dance performed as part of ceremonial kava drinking). Casual festive occasions may include performances of meke vāgalu (a dance with rhythmic accompaniment only) and meke vālasalasa (a comic dance), two forms to which little enduring value is attributed. Meke performed without the accompanying actions or, indeed, those that do not have any choreographed movements, may be termed vucu, vucuvanua or vāvunigasau.
The most frequently rehearsed and performed group forms today are those associated with Christianity. These include genres that are wholly imported, such as serenilotu (hymns) and serenilotu qiriqiri (song of praise accompanied by guitar(s) and associated with fundamentalism) as well as same (religious songs) and taro (rhythmically recited or sung section of the catechism), two forms performed exclusively by women using sonic structures and performing practices that resemble meke, though without instrumental accompaniment. It is generally acknowledged that incantations used in traditional religion remain extant, though these are hidden and it is impossible to determine their form or content.
A variety of casual group songs are performed for amusement, including wholly imported popular Western songs, songs that borrow texts or purely musical elements from the same, and some forms that incorporate features of SATB choral structures while maintaining certain characteristics of meke. The nomenclature employed for casual songs appears to consist of several terms applied inconsistently. The term serenicumu (casual or occasional songs) may denote various types of popular song performed by small groups accompanied by guitars and ukeleles. They may be accompanied by informal dance types termed taralala, tauratale or danisi (the latter coming from the English ‘dance’). They also accompany songs performed by larger groups using body percussion during kava-drinking parties (sometimes called sigidrigi, from the English ‘sing-drink’, or vālutuivoce) or locally composed anthems performed unaccompanied by choirs. Serevoli are performed during New Year celebrations and occasionally in other celebratory contexts, such as on the return of a particularly successful fishing expedition.
Most extant solo and unison songs are associated with children. Vakamocegone (lullabies) are recited or sung and usually performed by women of all ages. Vakawelegone (infant’s amusements) are short, usually rhythmically recited verses with or without rhythmically dependent prescribed movements, which are directed towards, or performed with, infants. Often vakawelegone function as an elementary educational aid to teach children such things as counting, place names or the names of high-ranking individuals (ex.9). Oitonigone (children’s games) are short recited games usually played in groups, with prescribed movements that may be rhythmically dependent. Legends called itukuni are told for the amusement of everybody and may incorporate short sung or recited texts, which are performed at critical points in the narrative.
Few musical forms associated with work appear to have survived. There is evidence that vakalutuivoce (paddling duets) are now rarely performed to assist transport, though with the addition of other voice parts the songs may be performed in other contexts (e.g. as serevoli). Gi (group songs performed on completion of land preparation for the cultivation of yams), serenisiwa (line-fishing songs) and group work coordinating kacikaci (calls) seem to be used with decreasing frequency. Ritual calls associated with ceremonies of exchange and other social interaction include isevusevu (kava presented to hosts), qaloqalovi (presentations of whales’ teeth) and tama (greeting calls). These forms appear to be the least dynamic musical genre, with change considered unacceptable.
Stylistically, Fijian song types may be divided into two broad categories: solo and unison songs and group songs. Most categories of solo and unison songs are associated with children and tend to be rhythmically recited rather than sung, with evidence of widespread use of stereotyped pitch variation. By contrast, those vakamocegone that are sung may use personalized stereotypes. Vocal range tends to be limited, with the highest and lowest pitches often found only in the cadential phrase. The final syllable of text may be assigned a note of short or extended duration; in the latter case, a terminal fall on that note is common (ex.10). Solo songs characteristically have a sense of simple duple or simple triple metre and do not contain complex rhythms or a wide variety of note durations. Textual organization varies enormously: textual lines may vary in length, and though most texts include some use of rhyme, no particular scheme appears to be characteristic.
Stylistically, types of group song are distinguishable largely by the extent to which musical structures adhere to tradition or incorporate introduced elements. Traditional group musical structures are characterized by two inner solo voices termed laga (or lagalaga) and tagica (or tarava) and a number of group and subsidiary voices collectively termed the vakatara (accompanying group). The vakatara may include at least one each of druku (or gudru) and gerea (bass and highest voice part respectively), vaqiqivatu (an intermittent bass part) and vakassalovoavoa (or domo rua, a descant voice). Typically, the laga leads the performance and may complete from one word to a whole line of text before any other voice enters. The tagica voice may enter several seconds before group voice parts or at the same time. The most common range of the two solo voices is a 5th, and the parts characteristically cross, an interaction termed vīdolei (ex.11). Group voices tend to be stereotyped and are often confined to maintaining pedals. Harmonic structures are typically clustered, with frequent use of major and minor 2nds as harmonic intervals. Cadential formulae often incorporate the suspension of the harmonic interval of major 2nd, and notes of extended duration may be assigned to the final two syllables of text. Sometimes, the final note features a terminal fall in all voices. On other occasions, the penultimate syllable of text is assigned a note of extended duration, following which all voices fall to a low final pitch characterized by an almost spoken unison delivery. Such structures are characteristic of older style meke, same and vakalutuivoce; in the latter case only the laga and tagica parts are present. Although taro are rhythmically recited, with a leader speaking the question to which a group response is returned, cadential formulae follow those common for all group forms.
Clearly, the SATB structures and chordal harmony that gained widespread use during the Fijians’ conversion to Christianity and the introduction of associated musical forms is in great contrast to traditional structures. The nomenclature applied to voice parts in SATB structures tends to derive directly from English terms, soprano, alto, tena and besi, and the term matasere equates with the English term ‘choir’. The incorporation of some wholly introduced features is now common in traditional forms, particularly those performed within educational contexts and urban and tourist areas. For example, though traditional nomenclature and most performing practices may remain, the harmonic structures of some meke are triadically based. Likewise, for some acculturated forms such as sigidrigi and serevoli, the use of traditional nomenclature and other musical features is standard, though the songs are commonly homophonic, in major keys and contain simple harmonic movement.
The impact of the rapidly changing social and economic environment on musical performance varies widely throughout Fiji. Perceptions of tradition and innovation as applied to musical genres, styles, performing practices and processes of evaluation are similarly diverse. Composition methods vary among genres. Most solo and unison forms are known over a wide geographical area, incorporating elements of improvisation that reflect the performer’s immediate environment, although usually the composer is not remembered. For traditional group forms, most villages have a daunivucu (composer), who is responsible for providing comprehensive compositions. Earlier the term exclusively denoted magico-religious specialists who composed through spirit possession or with the assistance of supernatural entities, and while this may still be the process employed, the term now appears to be more generally applied to any composer of meke and sometimes other group forms. An alternative term, daubuli, may be used for composers of acculturated and introduced genres. Formal education, travel and broadening musical experiences have resulted in the emergence of composition methods comparable to those in Western societies, including the use of staff or tonic sol-fa notation. With increasing frequency, payment for compositions may supplement or replace items of traditional wealth with cash.
Overt notions of ownership appear to be applied exclusively to meke, the rights to which are vested in the commissioning group. There is deep resentment if a group performs a meke not intended for them, and traditionally the offending party should approach and appease the owners. For some other group forms, specific textual references to local landmarks, events or people mean that performance by non-local groups would be nonsensical. Casual group songs tend to be performed over wide geographical areas. The performers often imitate songs heard on the radio or while visiting other parts of Fiji, and the composers are rarely known.
Evaluation of the quality of group music performance tends to focus on the communal rather than individual effect. Ideally, a group of dancers should execute their movements as if comprising a single entity. Likewise, in all group singing, voices should combine to produce a solid, balanced sound without any one part dominating another. Traditionally, within the striving for group excellence there are ways in which individual identity and superior skill are expressed. For example, dance formations and costuming can reflect the relative rank, and sometimes skill, of individuals. Superior executant musical ability is recognized and is considered an acquired, rather than inherited, skill. It is thought that through observing, participating and practising one may become a proficient musician. The attributes of a good musician vary among performance roles. For example, a competent laga should have a clear, strong voice, be able to sing in close harmonic intervals, establish an appropriate pitch and provide melodic and textual cues for the remaining singers.
Usually no participatory restrictions are associated with formal group performance, though there are exceptions. For example, for ritual meke ni yaqona only male members of the chiefly social group may participate. Certain informal group genres tend to be sung by young men, although this is largely due to their personal musical preferences. Some solo songs are routinely performed by men (for example, ceremonial calls) and others by women (songs associated with children). The dance movements of meke tend to be performed by single sex groups. Most commonly during musical performances, the vakatara are seated in an inward-facing circle with leading performers in the centre; for meke, the group is behind the dancers. Matasere tend to stand with each voice part clustered together facing their audience. For most casual group songs and solo and unison songs the positioning of performers is flexible, although some have prescribed physical arrangements.
The contexts in which group musical performance occurs directly reflect the diverse nature of current social environments. Traditionally, performance tends to be part of ceremonies of exchange and other social interaction between groups; for example, ceremonies connected with marriage, pregnancy and birth or the installation of a chief. While many such occasions are still commonly observed, other occasions for performance are many and varied, including cultural festivals such as the Festival of Pacific Arts (see Pacific Arts, Festival of), church-based events, events associated with schools, sports teams, government activities and political events, developmental projects and economic events, including those which are cash-paying. The adherence to traditional performing practices is similarly varied, reflecting the nature and inclinations of performing groups and the age, relative musical knowledge, knowledge of tradition and life experiences of the group.
While changes in musical life are generally accepted as inevitable, innovation appears least tolerated in the performance of meke. Many performances, particularly within urban areas and the tourist industry, display few of the complex practices usually associated with the genre and are disparaged by those who value tradition. Fear of radical change and heavy loss of traditional musical knowledge has produced some attempts to preserve and maintain musical genres, values and performance standards, and highly regarded performances in these contexts tend to be those that adhere most closely to tradition (for example, performances by the Dance Theatre of Fiji). Radio broadcasting, once focussed on Western popular music, has since developed programmes dedicated to oral traditions. Despite such developments, it is clear that many younger and, in particular, urban Fijians have little knowledge or interest in traditional music and listen primarily to popular acculturated or imported forms.
Important collections of recordings and video material are held by the Archive of Maori and Pacific Music, Auckland; and the Fiji Museum, the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation, the Ministry of Information, the Pacific Music Archives and Tabana Ni Vosa Kei Na Itovo Vakaviti (Institute of Fijian Languages and Culture), Suva, Fiji.
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F. Saracin and J. Roux: Nova Caledonia (Wiesbaden, 1913–26)
E. Hadfield: Among the Natives of the Loyalty Groups (London, 1920)
M. Leenhardt: Documents néo-calédoniens (Paris, 1932), 509–10
M. Leenhardt: Gens de la Grande Terre (Paris, 1937), 159ff
M. Leenhardt: Notes d’ethnologie néo-calédonienne (Paris, 1930), 143–78
A.-G. Haudricourt: ‘Nature et culture dans la civilisation de l’igname: l’origine des clônes et des clans’, L’Homme, iv (1964), 93–104
A. Bensa and J.-C. Rivierre: Les chemins de l’alliance (Paris, 1982), 586ff
L. Weiri: ‘La musique kanak dans les radios de Nouméa’, La case, patrimoine kanak, vii (Nouméa, 1986), 19–24
A.C. Capell, ed.: A New Fijian Dictionary (Glasgow and Sydney, 1941, rev. 3/1968)
C. Thompson: ‘Fijian Music and Dance’, Transactions and Proceedings of the Fiji Society, xi (1966), 14
J. Rabukawaqa: Early Fijian Music (Suva, 1973)
R. Moyle: ‘A Preliminary Analysis of Lau Music from Lakeba and Vanua Balavu’, Lau – Tonga (1977), 23–38
L.L. Good: Fijian Meke: an Analysis of Style and Content (thesis, U. of Hawaii, 1978)
S. Kaisau: ‘The Functions of Fijian Mekes’, Essays on Pacific Literature, ed. R. Finnegan and R. Pillai (Suva, 1978), 20–31
S. Kubuabola, A. Seniloli and L. Vatucawaqa: ‘Poetry in Fiji: a General Introduction’, ibid., 7–19
D.S. Lee: Music Performance and the Negotiation of Identity in Eastern Viti Levu, Fiji (diss., Indiana U., 1983)
W.M. Ratawa: Na Iri Masei: a Preliminary Investigation of Music and Culture in Lambasa, Fiji (thesis, Deakin U., 1986)
K.L. Glamuzina: Contemporary Music and Performance Practice in Levuka (thesis, U. of Auckland, 1993)
C. Saumaiwai: ‘Urban Fijian Musical Attitudes and Ideals: has Intercultural Contact through Music and Dance Changed them?’, Music-Cultures in Contact: Convergences and Collisions, ed. M.J. Kartomi and S. Blum (Basle, 1994), 93–9
Aquarelle tahitienne: Les Nouvelles-Hebrides: chants, danses et documents, coll. M. Bitter, Musidisc 30 CV1273 (n.d.) [incl. disc notes]
Pilou-pilou: Songs and Dances of New Caledonia, Viking VPS 278 C (1969)
Polynesian Traditional Music of Ontong Java (Solomon Islands), Vogue LD 785 (1971)
Polynesian Traditional Music of Ontong Java (Solomon Islands), ii, LDM 30109 (1972) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]
Melanesian Panpipes, ‘Are‘are, Vogue LDM 30104/5, i (1971), ii (1972) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]
Melanesian Music ‘Are‘are, Vogue LDM 30106, iii (1973) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]
Polynesian Songs and Games from Bellona (Mungiki), Solomon Islands, Ethnic Folkways FE 4273 [incl. notes]
Polynesian Dances of Bellona, Solomon Islands, Folkways FE 4274 (1978)
Kanake, Melanesia 2000 Festival, rec. 1975, Office Culturel, Nouméa, OC 101 (1984)
Papua New Guinea Music Collection, coll. D. Niles and M. Webb, Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies 008 (1987)
Chants kanaks: cérémonies et berceuses, coll. J.-M. Beaudet, K. Tein and L. Weiri, Chant du Monde LDX 274 909 (1990) [incl. notes]
Fataleka and Baegu Music, Malaita, Solomon Islands, rec. 1974, Auvidis D 8027 (1990) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]
Polyphonies of the Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal and Savo), Chant du Monde LDX 274 663 (1990) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]
Iles Salomon: musique de Guadalcanal, Ocora C 580049 (1994) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]
Solomon Islands: ‘Are‘are Panpipe Ensembles, Chant du Monde LDX 274 961.62 (1994) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]
Vanuatu (New Hebrides) Custom Music, coll. P. Crowe and others, rec. 1972–7, AIMP CD-796 (1994) [incl. disc notes]
Solomon Islands: ‘Are’are Intimate and Ritual Music, Chant du Monde CNR 274 963 (1995) [incl. notes by H. Zemp]