The Living, Dead and Dying: Music of the New Guinea Wape

The Living, Dead and Dying: Music of the New Guinea Wape is an exploration of a highly ceremonial and musical culture. Recorded over an 18-month period spanning 1970 and 1971, anthropologist William E. Mitchell documents a people struggling with famine and disease. To combat their struggle, they hold curing festivals, sing demon chants, and conduct other musical remedies. This field recording consists of songs from these events, as well as a number of typical routines and rituals of the Wape people, such as the burning of bamboo trees to clear out unwanted fog that settles in villages. The liner notes include short descriptions of each track and photographs of Wape life.

Track Listing

101	Call to the Forest	Yamtulu calling to her sister, Sengu in te Taute Village	01:01
102	Parade of the Niyl Masks	Celebrants in the Wilkili Village	03:45
103	Maikasi Chant	Young people in the Otemgi Village	01:12
104	Mani Demon Chants	Men of the Taute Village	03:00
105	Mani Demon Chants	Men of the Wilkili Village	02:01
106	Wene Demon Chants	Men of the Taute Village	02:50
107	Poril Demon Chants	Men of the Wilkili Village	08:06
201	Death of Waibu	Two sisters and their husbands of the Taute Village	03:01
202	Epilo's Funeral	Women mourners of the Taute Village	01:12
203	Entrance of the Mani Mask	Women of the Wilkiki Village	01:09
204	Mani Demon Chants (Solo)	Suwe a men from the Taute Village	03:38
205	Bamboo Fire Ritual	Burning bamboo thicket in the Taute Village	00:55
206	A Lonely Wife's Lament	So'ope, a monan of Taute Village	01:35
207	The Reluctant Bride's Lament	Kuruwai, a man of Taute Village	01:47
208	Lament of Ugly Man & the Brother In-Laws Lament	Waiape, a man of Tuatue Village	03:18
209	Lament of Parisko Maidens	Yenge, a boy of Taute Village	03:02
210	Lament of Compromised Maiden	Kumoi, a man of Taute Village	01:30
211	Night Laughter	Bilu, an older man with women and young people in the Taute Village	01:01
212	Call to the Forest	Suwe calling to her daughter in the Taute Village	00:54