African musical instruments from a contemporary global perspective: Mbira and Xizambi

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I strongly believe in the divine force beyond ourselves, that guides us through the path and to meet the people to go with. I am grateful to this force. Having come to the end of a phase of my career, the Ph.D. studies, it is time to acknowledge and thank all those who have been there for me in all different ways during the research and writing of this dissertation. I thank the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar for the scholarship! when I was almost losing hope, this scholarship enabled me to move to Germany to pursue my Ph.D. studies, financing the whole of my first year of study; and, the Ernst-Abbe-Stiftung that supported me for the subsequent years. Without this support my Ph.D. studies would not have materialized in the way they did, or, they would have not materialized at all. I also should not miss to acknowledging that the scholarship mentioned above and the actual access to the university, would not have been possible without the hand of my supervisors, Professor Tiago de Oliveira Pinto, and Professor Gerhard Kubik, who strongly believed in my work, encouraged and supported me to apply for the studies and the scholarship. But also, whose expertise and open dialogue with me, contributed to sharpening my critical thinking and re-evaluation of my work. My dear Mukhavele family, my wife Birgit Plank-Mucavele, my sons Elia and Nyiko Mucavele, and all of you my sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews in Mozambique! You have been always the motivation and the reason for my aspirations, and my tirelessness in my effort to achieve my goals, which I, actually, consider to be family goals —I did not achieve them alone! Birgit, Elia and Nyiko, I remember how much I deprived you of your leisure or resting time with my overnight shifts, irritating sound experiments, rehearsals, and visits of collaborators, that sometimes got out of hand, and the financial burden that this work posed in our family. My nephews Ivan Mucavele and Ozias Macoo, your enthusiasm substantiated, catalyzed and verbalized my research among the younger generations of musicians in Maputo/Mozambique. I would not have reached them without your intervention. Prof. Michael Nixon, from the University of Cape Town, who patiently interacted with me in the early stages of my Ph.D. research and assisted me with links to relevant online sources; Prof. Meki Nzewi who always discussed insightful philosophical issues of African music scholarship; Dr. Klaus-Peter Brenner, from the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, your support with sources and discussions has been very helpful; the late Prof. Dumisani Maraire, my former lecturer and mentor, at the Zimbabwe College of Music, whose insights sharpened my perspective and approaches to the study of African musics, through his concept that he called “An eye opener”. My dear colleagues in Weimar, Mariano Gonzales, Mukasa Wafula, Omid Burgin, and Peter Lell; and Jordan White, a very enthusiastic member of my Mukhambira Band in Weimar. I am grateful for your sincere and insightful interactions. I also want to thank my disciples and/or research collaborators, among them, my band members Madala Nkovani, and the late Madala Mathusi, Amade Khosa, and Xakada Simango and others; and, my disciples and students who became my collaborators, identifying themselves with my research, and giving substance and visibility through its implementation in their careers: Micas Silambo, Ozias Macoo, Ivan Mukhavele, Helio Mavanga, Mauro Muhera, and many more. Your company during this journey proved that the Wumunhu, as I learnt it from my mother, most popularly known as Ubuntu, translated as Humanism, is not a utopia! It is a reality that is part of our being! Let me say in xiChangani, my mother tongue, the language of my heart! Inkomu! - Thank You! Luka Xikhapani Mukhavele