THE FACE OF NAMCAPA. ON THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN THE ANDEAN MYTH

• Authors: Gruszczynska-Ziolkowska Anna
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The musicological and linguistic analysis of pre-Spanish Andean myths contained in 16th century texts written in Quechua language in the Huarochiri region, popularized in the 20th century in its Spanish translation by José Maria Argueadas 'Dioses y hombres de Huarochiri', reveals several interesting aspects of sound and music idea in the Andean tradition. Sound phenomena are omnipresent in these tales, both those cosmological, and those linked to rituals. Music instruments, singing and dancing are frequently mentioned in the context of the world's creation. The role of music linked to ceremonial dances was also to confirm relationships between inhabitants of different worlds. The authoress interprets the texts, by juxtaposing them with the contemporary practice of the ritualized dancing-and-singing practices activities, where sonoric identification with the supernatural beings is realized in the form of exclamations, reciting and dialogues, executed by the males in falsetto voice. The analysis of the myths permits to state that all the sound phenomena obey some specific logic and that music, being in part the divine and in part the human creation, becomes at last their common means of communication.

Keywords

EN

ANDEAN MYTH; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; SOUND PHENOMENA

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Musicology Today
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 4
• Pages: 17-37
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Gruszczynska-Ziolkowska Anna

• Anna Gruszczynska-Ziolkowska, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Instytut Muzykologii, ul. Krakowskie Przedmiescie 32, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

09PLAAAA067311