Description
Book SynopsisToday, the Kammu are an upland people mainly found in Laos, Yunnan, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam. This people - who have retained their orally based culture through to the present day - provide an example of complex sung poetry that has seldom been studied in detail.
What this volume offers is an ethnomusicological presentation of one person's vocal performance of rather highly varied sets of words in different manners of performance, and the use of these competences in communication with other singers. This orally transmitted form of singing is unique to the Kammu but is related to a much larger complex in Southeast Asia. It will thus be of interest to a wide group of musicologists.
Table of ContentsFigures v ii Preface ix Kammu Pronunciation x Symbols and Abbreviations xi Prologue: A Departure 1 1. Introduction 3 2. Kam Raw - His Cultural and Musical Background 27 3. Vocal Genres Other Than For Feasts 47 4. Teem Performances 71 5. Elaborate Teem Performances 89 6. Nature Imagery and Meaning 121 7. Teem Dialogues 139 8. Concluding Discussion 163 Epilogue: A Return 177 Appendices: 1. Glossary of Kammu Terms and Names 181 2. Index of Kam Raw's Repertoire 185 3. Recordings and Samples 195 4. Song Transcriptions 201 5. Music Transcriptions 203 6. Contents of Compact Disc 219 Sources 223 References 223 Index 235
