Orchestral music was the music of the working class : Indian popular music, performance practices and identity among Indian South Africans in Durban, 1930-1970.
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Date
1999
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Abstract
During the mid-1930s, a tradition of music-making
which drew its repertoire almost exclusively from
the music of Indian films began among Indian South
African ensembles in and around the city of Durban.
This dissertation examines the ways in which the
re-created music of Indian films served as a popular
expressive medium for the majority of Indian South
Africans in and around the city of Durban between
1930 and 1970. Unlike ethnomusicological and popular
music studies that focus on musics which are generally
both composed and performed by the same group
of people, this study deals with a repertoire that
was by and large imported directly from another geo-
'graphic, political, and social context: India. The
study is based on the premise that the performance
of music can serve as a valuable historical text,
and it posits that the musical structures and performance
practices of the ensembles under study encode
vital information about shared socio-political
experiences and the Indian South African identities
that emerged during the period under discussion.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.
Keywords
Indians--South Africa--Music--History and criticism., Indians--KwaZulu-Natal--Music--History and criticism., Popular music--KwaZulu-Natal--Durban., Theses--Music.