List of illustrations Foreword Gyorgy Ligeti Preface Acknowledgements Map Book I. The Music of the Central African Republic: 1. General introduction 2. The general features of traditional music 3. Typology Book II. African Polyphonic Music: Introduction 1. A classification of African polyphonies 2. Previous studies: the present state of the subject Book III. Technical Tools: Methods of Recording Polyphonic Music For Transcription: 1. The need for transcription 2. The difficulties of transcription 3. Earlier methods 4. Towards a new method 5. Theoretical assumptions 6. Technical equipment: description and use 7. From recording to transcription 8. Checking the results 9. Potentialities 10. Anthropological acceptability Book IV. Theoretical Tools: 1. The notion of relevance 2. Description and analysis 3. The question of transcription Book V. The Organisation of Time In African Music: 1. A brief survey of Western rhythmics 2. Towards precise terminology 3. African rhythmics Book VI. Structural Principles And Their Applications: 1. Typology 2. Analytical notions 3. Strict polyrhythmics 4. Polyrhythmics as a way to polyphony: Hocket 5. Polyphony produced by melodic instruments 6. The association of polyphony and polyrhythmics Conclusion Bibliography Discography Index.