Criteria for the Evaluation of New African Art Music

Church music is purpose-driven and functional art. The search for authentic African experience in Christian worship among Nigerian Baptists brought about the introduction of art music compositions into the drama of worship. The paper discusses the development and contextualisation of Baptist worship by the inclusion of new music(s) written, composed and performed by Africans for the purpose of the liturgy, serving as a voice within the culture. The research adopted an ethnographic research design. Data were collected from published works and recorded art music compositions, content analysis of worship bulletins, personal interviews with art music composers, choirmasters and pastors within the denomination. Textual analysis of art music compositions reveals that there are four different modes of communication in the drama of worship: Kerigmatic, Leitourgic, Koinonia, and Reflexive. The emergence and performance of art music compositions in the drama of worship have facilitated communication, indigenisation and acculturation of Christian worship among Baptists in Nigeria.

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The Challenge of African Art Music

Circuit Musiques contemporaines ◽

10.7202/1005272ar ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 49-64 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kofi Agawu

Keyword(s):

Piano Music ◽

Traditional Music ◽

Art Music ◽

African Art ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Steve Reich ◽

Oxford University ◽

Creative Achievement ◽

Gyorgy Ligeti ◽

Musical Knowledge

This essay offers broad reflection on some of the challenges faced by African composers of art music. The specific point of departure is the publication of a new anthology, Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, edited by Ghanaian pianist and scholar William Chapman Nyaho and published in 2009 by Oxford University Press. The anthology exemplifies a diverse range of creative achievement in a genre that is less often associated with Africa than urban ‘popular’ music or ‘traditional’ music of pre-colonial origins. Noting the virtues of musical knowledge gained through individual composition rather than ethnography, the article first comments on the significance of the encounters of Steve Reich and György Ligeti with various African repertories. Then, turning directly to selected pieces from the anthology, attention is given to the multiple heritage of the African composer and how this affects his or her choices of pitch, rhythm and phrase structure. Excerpts from works by Nketia, Uzoigwe, Euba, Labi and Osman serve as illustration.

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