Tracy, Hugh (Travers)
Tracy, Hugh (Travers)
Tracy, Hugh (Travers), South African ethnomusicologist; b. Willand, Devon, Jan. 29, 1903; d. Krugersdorp, Transvaal, Oct. 23, 1977. He emigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1921, and in 1929 began to record indigenous songs. From 1930, on advice from Hoist and Vaughan Williams, he devoted himself to recording folk music from sub-Saharan Africa; also began a career as a broadcaster. He was regional director for Natal of the South African Broadcasting Corp. (1935-47); was co-founder of the African Music Soc. (1947), serving as its secretary and ed. of its newsletter (1948-53); also ed. the journal African Music (1955-71). He established the International Library of African Music in Roodepoort (1953); under his direction, it acquired an important collection of instruments and recordings, largely through his own field work; he also ed. a series of more than 200 commercial recordings from its holdings. Tracey lectured at more than 50 univs. in Africa, Britain, and the U.S., and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Univ. of Cape Town (1965). His publications and broadcasts were largely concerned with the role of African music in African education, and in the growth and understanding of modern African society.
Writings
Nyoma: An Introduction to Music for Southern Africans (London, 1941); Chopi Musicians: Their Music, Poetry, and Instruments (London, 1948; 2nd ed., 1970); African Dances of the Witwatersrand Gold Mines (Johannesburg, 1952); The Lion on the Path (London, 1967).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire