Page "Music of Madagascar" Paragraph 39

The hira gasy troupes of today are remnants of a tradition of court musicians that persisted through the end of the 19th century.

Under Queen Ranavalona III, the final monarch in the Merina dynasty, there were three official groups of state musicians: one for the queen, one for her prime minister, and another for the city of Antananarivo.

The queen's troupe consisted of over 300 musicians.

Until slavery was abolished, musicians in these groups were members of the slave class ( andevo ) directed by a Hova ( free Merina ).

Each year at Christmas, the directors of each group would arrange a performance before the queen of a new original composition ; the queen would select a winner among the three.

While court musicians ( and therefore the earliest hira gasy troupes ) originally performed using traditional instruments-namely the sodina, jejy voatavo and drums-over the course of the 19th century the increasing European influence led court musicians and hira gasy troupes alike to make increasing use of foreign instruments such as violins, clarinets, trombones and trumpets.

The tradition of the court musician died out with the abolition of the monarchy in Madagascar after French colonization, but the hira gasy tradition has continued to thrive.