| Description |
The Chopi timbila was proclaimed as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. This international recognition is a source of great pride in Mozambique, for the state and the timbileiros (timbila practitioners). In the application produced by the Mozambican government and sent to UNESCO, the cultural expression was described as follows: Timbila means not only the ensemble of instruments but also the music played by those instruments and the accompanying dance. The timbila orchestras, together with the dance associated with them, are known as migodo (plural of n'godo) and represent the ‘classical’ music of the Chopi. The orchestras consist of five up to thirty timbila of varying sizes and ranges of pitch, but the usual size of an orchestra consists of around twelve timbila, carefully constructed in five sizes and tuned to cover a range of four octaves (República de Moçambique 2004, 5). |
