Song

Chapter 5, Song That Moves Men to Tears

* Wherever there is music there is some kind of theory underlying its production and significance.

* Kaluli song terminology and conceptualization of musical form relate systematically to the terminology of waterfalls, water sounds, and water motion. Numerous waterway terms in Kaluli are visual metaphor for forms of sound.

* Gisalo, “melody” or “song,” in the sense of sound in conceptualized as a melodic pattern derive from bird while sa-gisalo is the text, conceptualized as a talk pattern borrowed from birds.

* In gisalo nodolo, both the melody and a portion of the text containing innovative metaphors and bali to imagery are resused; the newly composed element is the map. Text is the symbolically persuasive core of the song in which the composer makes his mark.

Primary Metaphors | Melody (Gisalo) | Text (Sa-Gisalo) |

Water | Water pool | Water fall |

Birds | Bird sound | Bird sound words |

Space | Outside and around | Inside and down |

Additive metaphor | Sing | Compose |

Underlying metaphors | Mythic and “given” bird nature | Created and “composed” man culture |

* The two principal intervals for the Kaluli are the descending major second (“gese” – make one feel sorrow or pity) and the descending minor third (“sa” – can stand alone to mean waterfall, symbol of sadness, isolation and loss).

* There are 9 basic terms in Kaluli terminology of melodic intervals and contours of gisalo. Two of these name specific intervals, and two others describe motion toward and duration of the tonal center. The other 5 describe patterns of descent, level, and ascent in melodic movement.

* Kaluli indicated three levels at which gulu (waterfall flow) is applied in the pacing of gisalo: the bodily movement of the dancer, the pulse and timbre of the sob mussel shell rattle accompanying all gisalo, and the pulse and timbre of the fasela, the streamers of shiny yellow stripped palm leaves that are a...