Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Music
Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar
, by
Colleen J McElroy, is a journey through Malagasy oral traditions and
myths.
Most traditional Malagasy music revolves around favourite dance rhythms: the s
alegy
of the Sakalava tribe, with both Indonesian and Kenyan influences;
watsa watsa
from
MozambiqueandtheCongo;the
tsapika
,origin-atinginthesouth;andthe
sigaoma
,similar
to South African music.
The most widely played traditional wind instrument is the
kiloloka
, a whistlelike length
of bamboo capable of only one note. Melodies are played by a group of musicians, in a
mannersimilar toabellensemble. Thetubularinstrument you'llseeonsaleattouristshops
and craft markets is a
valiha
, which has 28 strings of varying lengths stretched around a
tubular wooden sound box; it resembles a bassoon but is played more like a harp. It has
fallen out of favour in Madagascar but is still played in Malaysia and Indonesia, which may
suggest that it was brought to Madagascar by the earliest settlers of the island.
Arts Performances
»
Hira gasy
, Antananarivo
»Zegny'Zo festival, Diego Suarez
»Donia festival, Nosy Be
»Le Glacier, Antananarivo
»Institut Français, Antananarivo
Apart from at special events such as the Donia festival in Nosy Be, traditional Malagasy
music can be hard to find and it is often restricted to rural areas. Malagasy pop music is
usually a cheesy blend of guitar rock, rough-and-ready rap and hip hop, and soulful bal-
lads, a genre best represented by national treasure Poopy (yes, that's her real name). For
more traditional sounds, Jerry Marcos, a master of
salegy
, is guaranteed to have you shak-
ing your stuff like there is no tomorrow.
A number of musicians have artfully mixed pop and traditional influences, including
the wonderful singer-songwriter Nogabe Randriaharimalala (
www.nogabe.com
)
, Njava
(
www.myspace.com/njava
)
and Tarika.
Apart from the Donia and Zegny'Zo festivals, the best place to see live performances is
at the bigger venues in Antananarivo - look in the newspapers on Friday for event details
(
Click here
)
.
