rec session of “Nhemamusasa” (chamber version)

a 1000 years old song from shona people (zimbabwe) for the first time arranged for a 14-pieces classical orchestra

Anticipating the release of the new album CIRCLES (Oct 13, 2023) here it comes a special song that forms part of it.

Among the tracklist this is the only not-original one, as it is a “mode” dating back around one thousand years, by the Shona people situated between Limpopo and Zambesi river, descending from the Great Zimbabwe Empire. It’s a music born and usually played on mbira and its lyrics slightly changes according to the situation but mainly it means “to build a refuge, in the middle of the bush”, or “finding a shelter, when among difficulty”

For the first time this song is presented in an original arrangement for 14-pieces classical orchestra, plus mbiras. In particular the original mbira parts are splitted here into the mbira dzavadzimu played by arranger Marco Zanotti, the mbira nyunga nyunga played by Anna Palumbo and harpsichord by Valeria Montanari. Also, this arrangement features hosho and ngoma parts, as usually played in Zimbabwe, in addition to a strings quartet, double bass and a woods quartet.

Marco Zanotti came up with the idea of this arrangement after a long stay in Zimbabwe in 2020 studying mbira with maestros Salani Wamkanganise Nagaadza and Kudzai Kadzai and attending traditional ceremonies.

Nhemamusasa is part of “CIRCLES”, the new concept-album of Classica Orchestra Afrobeat, to-be-released on Oct 13, 2023, by Brutture Moderne ed.

Press office: l’Altoparlante

the release of “CIRCLES” – Oct 13, 2023

We’re almost ready to announce the amazing featuring and all the details about our fourth album

It will be released on all digital stores on the 13th of October

produced by Brutture Moderne and Classica Orchestra Afrobeat

press office: l’Altoparlante

Once again the Classica Orchestra Afrobeat is irreverent and joyful in an intercultural territory that stimulates an individual and collective reflection on coexistence in an ethical and sustainable environment, where time and life are not straight lines but CIRCLES with an infinite spiral.

The seasons, the rains and the stars follow circular movements,
while the plastic, the concrete and the logic of the profit are straight lines.

Among the rites, the prayers, the songs and the music of many ancient or indigenous cultures, people’s search for a greater degree of spirituality is conveyed by circular movements or geographies, which generate abstraction, knowledge and, ultimately, peace and joy. As in an upward spiral, the collective rite tends to raise the spirit of people above material matters, to better understand the past and observe the future.

For example, the musical instruments mbira and sanza (lamellophones, South and Central Africa), tell about a circular concept of music and life, which takes its cue from a continuous and vital dialogue with the ancestors who are in heaven, to whom people on earth ask for comfort and wisdom in daily choices.

Expanding the perspective, the sound and imaginary mosaic that is composed in CIRCLES represent the world in a disthopic future, in which the human being finally looks up toward a more noble, sustainable and harmonious life. A fundamental aspect of this future is inevitably the focus on ecology, from upcycling to the circular economy.