Gaulier: Cape Town Harmonies

"Cape Town�s public cultures can only be fully appreciated through recognition of its deep and diverse soundscape. We have to listen to what has made and makes a city. The ear is an integral part of the �research tools� one needs to get a sense of any city. We have to listen to the sounds that made and make the expansive �mother city�. Various of its constituent parts sound different from each other � [T]here is the sound of the singing men and their choirs (�teams� they are called) in preparation for the longstanding annual Malay choral competitions. The lyrics from the various repertoires they perform are hardly ever written down. [�] There are texts of the hallowed �Dutch songs� but these do not circulate easily and widely. Researchers dream of finding lyrics from decades ago, not to mention a few generations ago � back to the early 19th century. This work by Denis Constant Martin and Armelle Gaulier provides us with a very useful selection of these songs. More than that, it is a critical sociological reflection of the place of these songs and their performers in the context that have given rise to them and sustains their relevance. It is a necessary work and is a very important scholarly intervention about a rather neglected aspect of the history and present production of music in the city."