Michael-Fredrick Paul Sauka
Michael-Fredrick Paul Sauka , also Michael Fred Sauka (* 1934 ; † August 15, 1990 ), was a poet and composer from Malawi . He wrote in Chichewa , the most widely spoken language in Malawi.
Live and act
At the age of 29, Sauka wrote and composed Mulungu dalitsa Malaŵi , a song in the style of African folk songs that became the national anthem of Malawi in 1964.
Michael Sauka was working at the time of composing the hymn, which emerged victorious from a competition, in the auditing department of the government of Nyasaland, as Malawi was called in British colonial times, and was also a teacher.
The poet and composer also dealt theoretically with traditional music and poetry in Africa. In 1967 he gave a much-noticed lecture in Malawi, A Talk on Tribal Music
Sauka, who died in poverty in 1990, never received compensation from the state of Malawi for composing the national anthem. For many years, his family tried unsuccessfully to obtain severance pay from the government.
Impact history
Michael Sauka's work is one of the most important cultural assets in Malawi. His musical and poetic work is hardly known in Europe. The Romanian-German musicologist Alexander Šumski tried to make Sauka known outside of Malawi. Šumski edited Sauka's four-part choral work in G major Mchona (“The Emigrant”).
Individual evidence
- ^ Sarah De Capua: Malawi in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books 2009, ISBN 9780822585756 , p. 69
- ^ Time & Tide Business World, Vol. 45 (1964), p. 14
- ^ The Society of Malawi Journal , Vol. 20 (1967), p. 5
- ↑ Family of Malawi national anthem composer said to sue over unpaid royalties. Asia Africa Intelligence Wire , August 29, 2005
- ↑ Alexander Šumski (Ed.): Mchona
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sauka, Michael-Fredrick Paul |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sauka, Michael Fred |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Malawian poet and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1934 |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 15, 1990 |