Mende love song

Ethnomusicological sound recording made by Cootje van Oven. A Mende love song accompanied by shegbureh playing. The song means when one loves, the one loved should surely respond . The song speaks of respect for the gift of love. The shegbureh, apparently always played by women, is a stalked gourd surrounded by a network of beads or buttons (occasionally shells) on strings. The end of the strings is held in one hand, the stalk of the gourd in the other. Rhythmic movements of the gourd produce the desired rattle of the beads or buttons against the gourd.

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Further Information

• Type: Sound Recording, Musical instruments
• Object: Mende love song
• Materials: No Data / Other
• Culture Group: Mende
• Dimensions: No Data
• Production Date: 1966.12.21
• Associated Places: Potoru, Barri Chiefdom, Pujehun District [Place recorded]
• Associated People: Cootje van Oven [Sound Recordist]; Herb Clark [Sound Recordist]; Hawa Klomah [Main Singer and Shegbureh]; Yata Magonah [Shegbureh, Chorus]; Mesi Fofanah [Shegbureh, Chorus]; Fatmata Fofanah [Shegbureh, Chorus]
• Museum: Cootje Van Oven Collection
• Accession Number: CVO:256

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