Last Thursday (3
May 2007), Queen Elizabeth II of
England
visited
Jamestown,
Virginia,
as part of
America’s 400th
anniversary commemoration of this site,
England’s
first established colony in the
New World
(1607). The settlers found friendly indigenous people—-misnamed “Indians”—-who
welcomed the new opportunities for trade. In 1619, a Dutch trading ship brought
20 persons abducted from Africa in exchange for goods, thus beginning the
institution of slavery in
North America. In
her speech last week, Queen Elizabeth noted that, “[In] those early years in
Jamestown . . . three
great civilizations came together for the first time—-Western European, Native
American, and African . . . .” These three civilizations were also in the
process of converging in South and Central America and the
Caribbean.
With this
convergence occurring over the entire
Western Hemisphere,
different musical styles were born from this assimilation of the different
cultures. Let us start in
Latin America. In
class we learned that there are man different Native American societies in this
region of the world. “There are African American cultural enclaves where
African beliefs, practices, and styles are primary models for social and
artistic life.”
But the
predominate influence in
Latin America is
Iberian influence. Iberian influence meaning, influenced by
Spain or
Portugal. From certain study, one
should see these influences exemplified by languages spoken by the inhabitants.
For instance, Portuguese is spoken in majority in
Brazil, while in the other
countries a variation of Spanish is spoken. This Iberian influence is also seen
in the musical culture. The Mestizo musical values and musical styles can be
seen throughout
Latin America. Mestizo is a
term that represents the concept of blending of “European with local Native
American cultural heritages and worldviews.”
In
certain cases, this can also be applied to African elements.
Certain elements
of European influence on Latin America are the
dance and costumes at festivals. These elements can be traced back to the
colonial era where Missionaries used music, dance, and costumes to attract the
indigenous people to Christianity. Other elements included in the influence are
stringed instruments: violins, guitars, and mandolin type instruments. Along
with the instruments, the missionaries also taught the European scales and
harmony, and these too were widely incorporated.
As we suggested
earlier, African elements of “cyclical forms, call-and-response, interlocking
melodic and percussion parts, and an appreciation of dense overlapping
textures…” were large influencers of the Latin American Culture.
For example, along the Pacific Coast of Ecuador and
Columbia, a person can find an African
American culture using the marimba. The marimba in this region of the world is
largely used for an event called the currulao. This event was basically a meet
and greet for men and women to form friendships. At this event the marimba is
accompanied with drums and shakers. As in
Africa,
the marimba uses ostinatos with improvised variations.
Let us briefly
cover the
Caribbean. In the Caribbean the
influences are
Europe and African without any
indigenous cultural influence because the populations were wiped out by the
early colonists. The music is predominantly African with elements of European
musical values. The Caribbean is influenced by
Africa
musically through the African-styled drums, the musical bow, and lamellaphone.
In
Cuba
the influences are seen through the d
anzón, which is derived from the European contradanza.
In North America the influences
are seen through the adoption of western ideas toward their music. For
example, in the Plains, the concept that all songs are supernatural in origin
has been replaced with the acceptance of composition. Western ideas have also
influenced music in such a way that certain Native Americans have simply
accepted the idea that music is for entertainment value and put less emphasis
on the supernatural carrying power.
Through this short
essay on influences that these 3 great cultures have had on the western
hemisphere, one should realize that the music we hold dear now, is the product
of years of assimilation of other cultures musical tendencies. We take something
that is not our own and make it our own. The music that we listen to today
would not be the same without these influences.
