PHOTO:
© Musical Belongings #4 (c) Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, Foto: Robert Paul Kothe, lautten compagney Berlin
Musical Belongings IV. lautten compagney BERLIN trifft Karibische Punta-Musik: Punta gegen Polly. How to decolonize the Beggar’s Opera?
In the organizer's words:
The ballad opera "Polly" by Johann Christoph Pepusch and John Gay was written in 1729 as a sequel to "The Beggar's Opera", which had been celebrated as a sensation in London in 1728. Due to political turmoil, however, it was not premiered until 1777. In this opera, a colourful 18th century London society is transported to the Caribbean, to the so-called West Indies, whose name testifies to the stupidity of the first European colonizers, who thought this Caribbean archipelago was part of India.
This English ballad opera also features so-called "Indian" characters such as Pohetohee and Cawwawkee as well as various pirates who meet "Polly Peachum". In contrast to the exotic projections, there will be original music from the Caribbean, in particular the so-called Punta, an Afro-indigenous dance form practiced by the Garifuna in the Antilles. The discourse program will deal with European projections onto the Caribbean, but also with the musical traditions of the Garifuna, who came to Honduras as slaves in 1797. For this program, the most famous Punta song "Sofa de Caracol" will be arranged for old European instruments and typical Punta percussion instruments (turtle bells, Garifuna drums, shekere, congas). The new composition by a composer from the Caribbean will deal with the colonial view of the "Polly" opera and react to it in a contemporary way.
- 18.00 Introduction
- Duration: 90 min
- No language skills required
- Location: Room 2, ground floor
- Part of: Musical Belongings
- 16,00 EUR / reduced 8,00 EUR
Location
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