Music From Nigeria #1

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Music from Nigeria the first of four programs.
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The music for this series was recorded by Robert G Armstrong professor of
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linguistics and director of the Institute of African studies at the University
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of Ibadan.
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Professor Armstrong introduces today's program in the last 10 years
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we have seen the development of a new style of opera with drums among
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the young people of Western Nigeria and West Africa.
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By now almost 20 of these lively works are in the current repertoire
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of various theatrical companies and the names of the
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day the composer actors are famous in Nigeria.
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The palm wine drinker is a satirical folk opera by color
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which is based on the well-known novel but the opera
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was first produced at the Arts Theatre of the University of Ibadan in
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1962. And you will be listening to a live recording made of
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one of the first performances. We meet a palm wine drinker in the
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midst of a very merry party. He is wealthy has houses money
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children and servants. All of this is vanity he says
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because palm wine is his wealth. His wife and his life.
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Family is what they're singing about.
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They tell riddle a lot.
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On the surface of the water and not on land.
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I know. It's a reflection of this morning in the
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Stasi.
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What falls into the water without making a splash.
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A big rock is in the middle of the river.
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It's.
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The way the drives out the £50.
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It's.
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Nothing.
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Like that.
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I think you will agree with me that the drum orchestra in these operas does everything
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for opera that the orchestra in an Italian
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opera does for a vet is opera. At this point the guests
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have run out of palm wine. The longest sentence for his palm wine Tapper.
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He climbs a palm tree and after he's been at the
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top pee falls out of the tree and the guests remain without their palm wine
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or.
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Has reached the top of the tree.
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The bottom line Tapper is killed by falling out of the tree
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and sing they sing his praises.
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I am my I'm.
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The God of broken the spilled
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dead. What kind of a thing is this.
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And. That.
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Was. The palm wine is finished and
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the longest people bring in a big gourd of water. The guests try
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it spit it out. This is not good enough for them and they leave in some irritation
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longer the palm wine drinker just tries the water himself. He spits it out this
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isn't what he wants. He sings a
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satirical praise of palm wine and ends up by saying his
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palm wine Tapper must come back.
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Oh.
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My oh my. OH MY GOD
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MY.
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God.
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Oh yeah he was there right.
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Yeah all right. You know you go.
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I go.
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I mean that was.
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One of my little you know me.
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You know morning
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and you go is it true or is it a lie.
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We don't it is a town where the dead people live and one where one may
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find the dead people.
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If it is true I must find that town.
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I mean I must find my palm wine tap.
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You know it's such a
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town.
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What do you know my name.
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If it is so good oh I must go that
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I must bring out about my home on top of back on I am not. He
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must come back he must come back.
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Right.
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And then Greene goes and starts his wanderings. He goes first into the
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forest and meets the king of the forest who gives him a medicine which will take him
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through all his troubles on his way to the town of the dead. He comes
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across to Spirit Europeans who give him some kinds of
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tests he passes these tests. He comes to a
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marketplace and finds the girl who is slated to become his wife.
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She follows him through various troubles and finally they
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come to the place of the king of evil the king of cruelty.
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They sit talking and not knowing where they are and the evil spirit
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comes up and we hear the entrance of the cruel King. Having come
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into this place they are to be sacrificed by the king. They say from this fate
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by the girl who comes peddling illnesses peddling
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sicknesses. She has headaches for sale stomachache for sale
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worms and various diseases and the court
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hears of the cruel King gets so busy buying illnesses
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that they don't notice that long K. and his girlfriend b
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c slip out on one side and the king is very angry when he
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discovers this.
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What was.
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Was.
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What.
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Was what.
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Was you know what.
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You.
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You're.
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They praise the cruel King for loving to whip mothers of children.
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The king is determined to sacrifice long and his girlfriend
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B.C. to the king's God Langa
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is interrupted and his plea for his life by the girl who
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sells diseases and we hear the girl peddling diseases
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in the next hour.
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Yes.
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I mean you know how much for one head it can be
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two pounds three shillings.
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Your Majesty. Well you know I have just bought a headache
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already when I die
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tonight.
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Mother which give me 60 anyway.
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You're mad. I have just bought six. I got
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one.
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Oh yeah yeah.
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Now the king now
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asks for the two mortals who want us to get on with the sacrifice
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they have escaped the king is very angry.
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I know.
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That.
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Now his next adventure is to go to visit the kind mother the kind
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mother arranges for a long married
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B-C and the marriage takes place. She helps him
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on to his final stage which is the town of the dead. He
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enters the town of the dead and we hear the voices of the dead
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and he asks there if he may see his his dead calm mind Tapper out
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about.
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There is a slow dance of the spirits of the dead in the background.
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STOP RIGHT YOU GOING model.
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I like I want to do whatever he.
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Explains that he's looking he's looking for a
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late mind have run out about and asked if he knew I had to see him.
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He is told that on about his career and has only come recently
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so that line can talk to him much more.
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Long get metes out about the tapper and
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explains to him how much he wants and about to come back to life
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and tells him that all the people at home are awaiting his return very eagerly and
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thirstily. Alibaba tells him that unfortunately it is forbidden for him to
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leave the town of the dead now that he has come there but he wishes
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lunkhead well and to give flunking a magic egg which will turn water
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into palm wine.
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Donkey returns to his native town and meets the
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people there. He tries the magic egg with water.
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Change and changes water into very good calm wine which everybody drinks.
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They have a grand time but in the excitement the egg is dropped and broken.
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In the last scene of the opera. The people of his native
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village come upon him lying in the road. Just
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beginning to recover from the merry drinking party of the night before.
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And he comes gradually to realise that he has been dreaming and that the
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various scenes that we have accompanied him through and during the
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opera are in fact stories from your
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traditional mythology and the people of the town find they join in
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the cheerful song palm wine. All right.
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The.
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The palm wine drinker was presented at the Algiers festival of
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African arts by the Nigerian team. And
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once more all Gamala played the pot of lime get up on line being
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good in the opera but she has written and produced before the
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international audience in Algeria's music from Nigeria
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recorded by Robert G Armstrong professor of linguistics and director of the
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Institute of African studies at the University of Ibadan.
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Professor Armstrong is also the commentator for this series of four programs the first of
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which was presented today. These programmes were produced by Linda clowder
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at W H A. The University of Wisconsin station in Madison.
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Generally speaking this is the national educational radio network.