ZA on Music Theory Print

Zajal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

According to Lane’s Lexicon, the root verb zajila means variously to make a sound, to utter a cry, to evince emotion, to play or sport. Adnan Haydar, a scholar specializing in Arabic language and literature, cites Ibn Manzur’s 14th century lexicon Lisan al-Arab in attributing the meaning of “to raise the voice in singing” to the root verb zajala. Focusing on one of the meanings given by Lane, another scholar maintains that the etymology of zajal is related to play and musical entertainment.

Zaju

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The Yuan zaju were poetic music dramas comprising four acts, with the “act” (, chu) defined as a set of songs following and completing a certain musical modal progression. Occasionally one or two “wedges” (, xiezi), or short interludes in the form of an aria performed by another character might be added to either support or enhance the plot. Within the acts, lyrics were written to accompany existing tunes or set-rhythmic patterns; and, the major singing roles were restricted to one star per act. The zaju featured particular specialized roles for performers, such as dan (female), sheng (male), hua (, painted-face) and chou (clown). In addition to these main roles there were also a collection of side roles known as ‘waijiao’ (extra roles) and these consisted of: the jiatou (emperor), the beauty pining in her boudoir, the bawd, the coquettish young girl, the high official, the poor, the brigand, the government servant and those categories concerning immortals and Taoist deliverance, and family matters.

Zamacueca

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The word Zamacueca comes from the 16th-century Spanish dance Zamba Antigua combined with kwa-kwa, which in the African Kikongo language means cajón. This fusion, called Zamba Kwa-kwa (“Zamba of the drum”) later evolved into Zamacueca. The origin of zamacueca, also known as canto de jarana or marinera limeña, comes from the mestizaje music that occurred between the Romani people and the Mulatto people that inhabited Lima during the Viceroyalty of Peru. Founded in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru served as a major administrative division of the Spanish Empire. It encompassed modern-day Peru and much of Spain’s South American territories with political authority centered in the capital city of Lima. Zamacueca dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries when this mixed musical form began to stand out in the Rímac and Barrios Altos neighborhoods of Callao as well as in bars located among Lima’s bridges, alleyways, and balconies. The dance primarily emerged among enslaved people as a rhythmic and seductive courtship dance.

Zamba (artform)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Name and origin#

The name “zamba” refers to a colonial term for zambo (people that are descendants of Amerindian and African people). It is therefore called zamba because its lyrical content was aimed at its native listeners. The dance originated in the Argentine province of Salta in the Creole genre known as the zamacueca of Peru, in 1824 at the same time that Peru, under José de San Martín, obtained independence. It came to Argentina through Upper Peru, a region that is modern day Bolivia and through Chile between 1825 and 1830.

Zamrock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Zamrock’s roots can be traced back to the 1950s, with northern singers from the Copperbelt Province such as Stephen Tsotsi Kasumali, William Mapulanga, and John Lushi. Zamrock as a musical movement came of age in the turbulent first decade after Zambia’s independence from British colonialism, rising and falling in tandem with the country’s economic success. In order to celebrate the culture of the newly independent nation, Kaunda decreed that 95% of music played on radio stations had to be Zambian in origin. When the country offered to shelter refugees, Zambia’s power stations were bombed. Once-prosperous cities were at the mercy of blackouts and curfews. The AIDS epidemic played a huge part in bringing Zamrock to an end. The disease began to spread in the 1980s and has continued to devastate the nation since. It is estimated that between 1.2 million and 1.3 million have died from AIDS in Zambia as of 2019. Every member of WITCH except Emanuel “Jagari” Chanda had died of AIDS by 2001. In the last 5 years since his return in 2017, he has performed in several European cities such as Moscow and Paris, something he never got the chance to do in his band’s prime. He has also toured around the United States, and been awarded for his achievements by the Zambian National Arts Council.

Zarzuela

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Baroque zarzuela#

In 1657 at the Royal Palace of El Prado, King Philip IV of Spain, Queen Mariana and their court attended the first performance of a new comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, with music by Juan Hidalgo de Polanco titled El Laurel de Apolo (The Laurels of Apollo). El Laurel de Apolo traditionally symbolises the birth of a new musical genre that had become known as La Zarzuela. Like Calderón de la Barca’s earlier El golfo de las sirenas (The Sirens’ Gulf, 1657), El Laurel de Apolo mixed mythological verse drama with operatic solos, popular songs and dances. The characters in these early, baroque zarzuelas were a mixture of gods, mythological creatures and rustic or pastoral comedy characters; Antonio de Literes’s popular Acis y Galatea (1708) is yet another example. Unlike some other operatic forms, there were spoken interludes, often in verse.