Source

The styles of Venda music vary according to their social function. The metrical pattern of work-songs is regular and depends on the nature of the work; but that of beer-songs is irregular and emphasised by hand-claps or by the step of solo dancers. The girls' dance, tshigombela, and the boys' reed-pipe dances are not sufficiently important to merit the use of the bass drum, which is reserved for the music of domba initiation and the national dance. Similarly, only the tenor and alto drums are used in the girls' initiation schools, vhusha, tshikanda, and sungwi. No drums are used for the music of boys' circumcision schools, because they are held in secret in the bush. When the bass drum is needed for the music of possession dances, it is played in an entirely different way, and by a man, so that common use of the bass drum need not imply a close functional relationship between the possession cult and those institutions in which it is played in the traditional manner by women - the domba initiation and the national dance. The differences between these styles both in tempi and in drum techniques express the opposing social interests that the institutions represent: the possession cult is practised chiefly by commoners, whereas domba and the national dance represent the interests of rulers. Musical styles that show various degrees of assimilation of Western techniques express the extent to which their performers have aligned themselves with the Western way of life. Thus drums are taboo to all educated Christians of European-organised churches, not because their musical sound is objectionable, but because as objects they are symbolic of pagan associations. Those who belong to the Salvation Army tolerate the use of a Western-type bass drum, and of course jazz drums are acceptable in a secular context. Members of separatist churches, who seek a compromise between European-organised Christianity and traditional Venda culture, are happy to use a drum that is a copy of the Western bass drum and sing music that is related both to traditional Venda and Western Christian styles.

Both the frequency and conditions of performance of Venda communal music depend to a great extent on the cycle of seasons and the existence of an economic surplus. During the period of planting and weeding, for instance, only important ritual music and work-songs are performed regularly. Towards the end of the weeding season, when the first green maize cobs are appearing, girls begin to practise for their dance, tshigombela, which they may take to another part of the country, as representatives of their local headman. Circumcision schools are held during the winter, and possession dances and boys' communal dances take place chiefly during the period of rest between harvest and planting. Communal music is never performed without some kind of reward, either to the performers or to the organisers, so that in a lean year none but the more important items are played. If the countryside resounds with music, especially at night when it is cool, it is a sign of good times. Venda communal music is not a substitute for happiness, but an expression of it.

Beer-songs play an important part in family life: many social events call for the drinking of beer, particularly the organisation of work-parties, discussions about marriage arrangements, and celebrations of a birth or of the return of a young person from initiation school. Above all, families who are related by marriage send each other gifts of beer, which generally give rise to singing and dancing: in the course of this, the in-laws sing a series of songs that express the solidarity and cleavages within the two families, and allow for friendly criticism. Even a ruler must take in good part criticism that is expressed in music.

Communal dances for boys and girls are agreeable pastimes whose performance is partly regulated by the passage of the seasons: for instance, girls would find it difficult to dance tshigombela in the mud of the rainy season, even if they were not required at that time to help with the weeding of the crops, the collection of food, and other domestic duties. These communal dances also introduce young people to patterns of tribal authority: the music is sponsored by rulers, and one ruler sends his dance-teams on expeditions to other rulers, either to confirm his relationships with them or, if he is a chief and they are headmen, to exact tribute. The musical expeditions consolidate both the lineage ties of rulers, who are separated spatially because of their responsibility for district government, and the neighbourhood ties of clans folk living in different districts, and hence the bonds between these people and their district headman.

The music of the boys' and girls' circumcision schools advertises the power of the doctors who sponsor them, and possession dances enhance the prestige and influence of the families who belong to the different cult groups. Within the traditional music system, ambitious commoners are able to attract a following and further their interests by means of the music that is performed under their auspices. This is similar to the way in which influential men used the music of Hayden, Mozart, and many others.

Music is therefore an audible and visible sign of social and political groupings in Venda society, and the music that a man can command or forbid is a measure of his status. When a ruler holds domba initiation, all other music in his district is banned, except for his own tshikona (the national dance), beer-songs, and personal instrumental music.

Nobody is compelled to perform music or to observe these bans, and indeed many Venda Christians ignore them altogether. Music has meaning for the Venda only in so far as its social contexts concern them. It can only express emotions and attitudes that have already been experienced: it reaffirms and enhances the social meaning of the institutions that it embellishes.

Because in Venda society the sound of music is always the result of human activity, it expresses something about the human condition which is understood at various levels by those who are involved. A chief, his subjects, master and initiates, all appreciate the music of the domba initiation for a variety of reasons that are related to the meaning of initiation in their lives. And yet there is a level where the music means the same to all of them: it expresses the spirit of brotherhood. Obviously chief and subject, master and initiates see in different ways the means to expressing the end of brotherhood. However, I noticed that when Venda work in town and talk of initiation music with feelings of nostalgia, there is no trace of the differences in appreciation that are apparent in Vendaland, because in the urban situation the regional social conflicts have less meaning than the more general spirit of Venda brotherhood.

Conversely, a particular style of music may mean only one thing to a large number of people, and yet signify a division of social groups. Music may settle peacefully a political dispute: the volume of sound of communal music is an indication of the number of its performers, and hence of the supporters of its sponsor. On one occasion, a chief withdrew his candidate for a headmanship when he heard that the music of his dance team was not as loud as that of the rightful incumbent.