Hugo Zemp (born 14 May 1937,

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) is a Swiss-French ethnomusicologist.The Center for Ethnomusicology at Columbia University: A Conversation With Hugo Zemp
/ref> A prolific recorder of ethnic music and a writer on the subject, he has also shot a number of films about music of various regions, including 1988 film ''Voix de tête, voix de poitrine'' and 2002 film ''An African Brass Band'' filmed by him in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

in 2002. His wide musical expertise includes music notably in Africa, Oceania and Switzerland. He also had particular interest in yodeling and lullabies. His recordings of lullabies from Solomon Islands were later released by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as part of their '' Musical Sources'' collection. One lullaby he recorded in 1970, a traditional Baegu lullaby from the Solomon Islands called "Rorogwela" was sung by Afunakwa, a Northern Malaita old woman. The recording was later used in

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of Michel Sanchez (musician), Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electro ...

's song " Sweet Lullaby". Zemp studied

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

graduating in 1961. He also finished a diploma in percussion at the City of Basel Music Academy in 1960. He attended

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

for his doctorate. He joined

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

(CNRS) becoming a director of research. He taught

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

at the University of Paris X-Nanterre. In 1982, he became editor the recording series (''Collection du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et du Musée de l'Homme'' on the ''Le Chant du Monde'' record label. In tens of productions by Zemp, it included music from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ivory Coast, Romania, Solomon Islands and various countries in Central Africa. There were also a number of recordings of yodeling from Switzerland.

Select bibliography

*''Musique dan. La musique dans la pensée et la vie sociale d'une société africaine'' (1971) *''Aré'Aré: un peuple mélanésien et sa musique'' (1978, with Daniel de Coppet). Paris: Editions du Seuil

Select filmography

*''Musique 'Aré'aré'' (1979) *''Tailler le bambou'' (1979) *''Le Chant des harmoniques'' (''The Song of Harmonics''), 1989 with Trân Quang Hai

Select discography

*''Musique de Guadalcanal: Solomon Islands'' (1970) – recording *''Musique Polynésienne Traditionnelle d'Ontong Java (Iles Salomon)'' (1971) – recording *''Flutes de pan mélanésiennes 'Are'Are 1'' (1971) – recording *''Flutes de pan mélanésiennes 'Are'Are 2'' (1972) – recording *''Fataleka And Baegu Music - Malaita, Solomon Islands'' (1973) – recording

References

External links

Hugo Zemp Collection - audio and video archives

1937 births Living people Swiss musicologists Ethnomusicologists University of Basel alumni Yodeling {{France-music-bio-stub