Talking Xylophones: The Musical Language of the Sambla

Monday, October 10, 2016, 4:00 pm
Faulkner Recital Hall, Hopkins Center

Lecture by Professor Laura McPherson (Linguistics) followed by a performance of traditional Sambla music: Mamadou and Seydou Diabaté, xylophone, and Dramane Dembélé, flute.
Event is cosponsored by The Leslie Center for the Humanities and the Department of Music.

The Sambla are a small West African ethnic group living in southwestern Burkina Faso whose traditional music centers around the balafon, a kind of resonator xylophone. What makes this musical tradition particularly fascinating is that this xylophone can talk. Like better known “talking drum” traditions, the spoken language (known as Seenku) can be mimicked in a xylophone speech surrogate, and musicians can communicate this way with their audience, dancers, or each other without ever uttering a word. Brothers Mamadou and Seydou Diabaté are part of the venerable lineage of xylophone masters in Bouendé, Burkina Faso, dating back to the very arrival of the instrument in Sambla territory. They are accompanied by Dramane Dembélé, a Burkinabe flutist, whose captivating melodies and Fula flute language complement the music and engage the talking xylophones in multilingual musical dialogue.       

In this event, Professor Laura McPherson (Linguistics) will speak about the history of the musical tradition and the relationship between the spoken language and the musical language, with live examples provided by the Diabatés. The talk will be followed by a performance of traditional Sambla music by these three world-class musicians.

Come see firsthand how the xylophone can speak, how it can sing, and how it can recount the history of the Sambla people in a tradition where music and language are inexorably intertwined.

For more information, email Laura.E.McPherson@Dartmouth.edu

This event is free and open to the public!