Music of the Star Mountains: A Naturalist’s Guide to the Composition of Songs in Central New Guinea

Christopher Roberts

This book is an intimate portrait of the people of the remote Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea as the sudden impact of outside cultures and twentieth century industry altered the world around them. The songs were selected by the singers and taught to the author as a trusted guest and a musician with the ability to transcribe the songs for future generations. The singers describe their changing landscape and material culture, the relationships of lovers and family members, and the emotional dichotomy between observing traditional culture and accepting the new. These original poems and melodies are grouped into song families unique to the Star Mountains and encoded with symbolism, local lore, and the personal aesthetic experience of nature. Sacred ritual songs were given particular emphasis by the cultural leader Gesok, who stressed the importance of preserving these stories for future singers in his culture and beyond. The book includes an audio CD.

status	Copy #1 (8720): in
genre	Music » Songbook
publisher	Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies
publish date	2014
popularity	checked out 0 time(s)