V Kofi Agawu
Biographic Data
| ID | 115165 |
|---|---|
| NAME | V Kofi Agawu |
| GIVEN NAMES | V Kofi |
| FAMILY NAME | Agawu |
| SIGNATURE | AGAWU V K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Princeton University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1984 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The African imagination in music
The African Imagination in Music offers a fresh introduction to the vast and complex world of Sub-Saharan African music. Through close readings of traditional music and references to popular music, Agawu considers topics including the place of music in society, musical instruments, language and music, and appropriations of African music
Communication in Eighteenth-Century Music
Written by ten leading scholars, this volume assembles studies of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music under the broad rubric of communication. That such an impulse motivates musical composition and performance in this period of European musical history is often acknowledged but seldom examined in depth. The book explores a broad set of issues, ranging from the exigencies of the market for books and music in the eighteenth century throu…
African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective
Prologue 1. Rhythms of society 2. Rhythms of language 3. Rhythms of song 4. Rhythms of drumming and dancing 5. Rhythms of musical performance 6. Rhythms of folktale performance 7. Epilogue: representing African rhythm
Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music
African Musicology: Current Trends, Volume I. A Festschrift Presented to J. H. Kwabena Nketia
Variation Procedures in Northern Ewe Song
The major organizational principle of Northern Ewe song is one shared by numerous African, Oriental, and European musical traditions: a small number of models (variously described as basic shapes, archetypes, background structures, basic designs, core patterns, deep structures) is transformed in a wide variety of ways during performance. Variation takes place on different hierarchic levels both within and between songs and includes practically al…
Schenkerian Notation in Theory and Practice
Brahms and the Principle of Developing Variation
Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu
"Nna lo senu kuwe, fie oresire somoloo?" ("Who laid a mat for him, so that he slept so deeply?") With this rhetorical question, the Akpafu of Southeastern Ghana initiate a period of public mourning occasioned by the death of one of their number.1 The philosophic significance of death in Akpafu culture is twofold. First, it marks the completion of the earthly cycle of existence, birth-circumcision-puberty-marriage-death. Second, it opens the door …
Tone and tune: The evidence for Northern Ewe music
Opening ParagraphOne of the most intriguing features of most African languages is that of tone, by which variations in speech tone generate different meanings (Pike, 1948, offers a valuable introduction to this subject and includes an extensive bibliography; Fromkin, 1972, is a comprehensive evaluation of specialised studies). In the Ewe language, for example, the word to [H] pronounced with a high tone means 'ear', as in To le venye (HLMM), 'I h…
The Making of A Composer
Gi Dunu,' 'Nyekpadudo,' and the Study of West African Rhythm
This premise informs almost all writing about West African music as can be observed in recent studies by Koetting (1970), Pantaleoni (1970, 1972a, 1972b, 1972c), Ekwueme (1975-6), Chernoff (1979), Locke (1978, 1982) and Arom (1984a, 1984b), to name only the most important ones. Although these studies show differences in notation and methodology, they leave unchallenged the basic assumption regarding the paramountcy of rhythm (Mensah 1980:176-80, …
Structural 'Highpoints' in Schumann's 'Dichterliebe
The phenomenon of climax is central to our musical experience.* In no other repertoire is this more evident than that of the nineteenth century. When we hear a symphony by Bruckner or Mahler, a tone poem by Liszt or Richard Strauss, or even a song by Schumann or Wolf, our experience is shaped primarily by those focal points into which the various strands of the piece seem to coalesce and thereby make a strong emotional impact. Thus we speak of 'd…
The Impact of Language on Musical Composition in Ghana: An Introduction to the Musical Style of Ephraim Amu
In most cultures of the world, the creative act of composition may be defined simply as the transformation of pre-existing material into new, individualized structures. The precompositional resource may be a system such as the hierarchical arrangement of triads that forms the basis of Western tonality, a set of formulas that generates such genres as Gregorian chant and West African storytelling, or even a rigidly defined set of relationships such…
Tone and tune: The evidence for Northern Ewe music
Opening ParagraphOne of the most intriguing features of most African languages is that of tone, by which variations in speech tone generate different meanings (Pike, 1948, offers a valuable introduction to this subject and includes an extensive bibliography; Fromkin, 1972, is a comprehensive evaluation of specialised studies). In the Ewe language, for example, the word to [H] pronounced with a high tone means 'ear', as in To le venye (HLMM), 'I h…
Variation Procedures in Northern Ewe Song
The major organizational principle of Northern Ewe song is one shared by numerous African, Oriental, and European musical traditions: a small number of models (variously described as basic shapes, archetypes, background structures, basic designs, core patterns, deep structures) is transformed in a wide variety of ways during performance. Variation takes place on different hierarchic levels both within and between songs and includes practically al…
Structural 'Highpoints' in Schumann's 'Dichterliebe
The phenomenon of climax is central to our musical experience.* In no other repertoire is this more evident than that of the nineteenth century. When we hear a symphony by Bruckner or Mahler, a tone poem by Liszt or Richard Strauss, or even a song by Schumann or Wolf, our experience is shaped primarily by those focal points into which the various strands of the piece seem to coalesce and thereby make a strong emotional impact. Thus we speak of 'd…
The Impact of Language on Musical Composition in Ghana: An Introduction to the Musical Style of Ephraim Amu
In most cultures of the world, the creative act of composition may be defined simply as the transformation of pre-existing material into new, individualized structures. The precompositional resource may be a system such as the hierarchical arrangement of triads that forms the basis of Western tonality, a set of formulas that generates such genres as Gregorian chant and West African storytelling, or even a rigidly defined set of relationships such…
Schenkerian Notation in Theory and Practice
Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu
"Nna lo senu kuwe, fie oresire somoloo?" ("Who laid a mat for him, so that he slept so deeply?") With this rhetorical question, the Akpafu of Southeastern Ghana initiate a period of public mourning occasioned by the death of one of their number.1 The philosophic significance of death in Akpafu culture is twofold. First, it marks the completion of the earthly cycle of existence, birth-circumcision-puberty-marriage-death. Second, it opens the door …
Gi Dunu,' 'Nyekpadudo,' and the Study of West African Rhythm
This premise informs almost all writing about West African music as can be observed in recent studies by Koetting (1970), Pantaleoni (1970, 1972a, 1972b, 1972c), Ekwueme (1975-6), Chernoff (1979), Locke (1978, 1982) and Arom (1984a, 1984b), to name only the most important ones. Although these studies show differences in notation and methodology, they leave unchallenged the basic assumption regarding the paramountcy of rhythm (Mensah 1980:176-80, …
Brahms and the Principle of Developing Variation
Structural 'Highpoints' in Schumann's 'Dichterliebe
The phenomenon of climax is central to our musical experience.* In no other repertoire is this more evident than that of the nineteenth century. When we hear a symphony by Bruckner or Mahler, a tone poem by Liszt or Richard Strauss, or even a song by Schumann or Wolf, our experience is shaped primarily by those focal points into which the various strands of the piece seem to coalesce and thereby make a strong emotional impact. Thus we speak of 'd…
The Impact of Language on Musical Composition in Ghana: An Introduction to the Musical Style of Ephraim Amu
In most cultures of the world, the creative act of composition may be defined simply as the transformation of pre-existing material into new, individualized structures. The precompositional resource may be a system such as the hierarchical arrangement of triads that forms the basis of Western tonality, a set of formulas that generates such genres as Gregorian chant and West African storytelling, or even a rigidly defined set of relationships such…
Gi Dunu,' 'Nyekpadudo,' and the Study of West African Rhythm
This premise informs almost all writing about West African music as can be observed in recent studies by Koetting (1970), Pantaleoni (1970, 1972a, 1972b, 1972c), Ekwueme (1975-6), Chernoff (1979), Locke (1978, 1982) and Arom (1984a, 1984b), to name only the most important ones. Although these studies show differences in notation and methodology, they leave unchallenged the basic assumption regarding the paramountcy of rhythm (Mensah 1980:176-80, …
The Making of A Composer
Brahms and the Principle of Developing Variation
Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu
"Nna lo senu kuwe, fie oresire somoloo?" ("Who laid a mat for him, so that he slept so deeply?") With this rhetorical question, the Akpafu of Southeastern Ghana initiate a period of public mourning occasioned by the death of one of their number.1 The philosophic significance of death in Akpafu culture is twofold. First, it marks the completion of the earthly cycle of existence, birth-circumcision-puberty-marriage-death. Second, it opens the door …
Tone and tune: The evidence for Northern Ewe music
Opening ParagraphOne of the most intriguing features of most African languages is that of tone, by which variations in speech tone generate different meanings (Pike, 1948, offers a valuable introduction to this subject and includes an extensive bibliography; Fromkin, 1972, is a comprehensive evaluation of specialised studies). In the Ewe language, for example, the word to [H] pronounced with a high tone means 'ear', as in To le venye (HLMM), 'I h…
Schenkerian Notation in Theory and Practice
African Musicology: Current Trends, Volume I. A Festschrift Presented to J. H. Kwabena Nketia
Variation Procedures in Northern Ewe Song
The major organizational principle of Northern Ewe song is one shared by numerous African, Oriental, and European musical traditions: a small number of models (variously described as basic shapes, archetypes, background structures, basic designs, core patterns, deep structures) is transformed in a wide variety of ways during performance. Variation takes place on different hierarchic levels both within and between songs and includes practically al…
Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music
African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective
Prologue 1. Rhythms of society 2. Rhythms of language 3. Rhythms of song 4. Rhythms of drumming and dancing 5. Rhythms of musical performance 6. Rhythms of folktale performance 7. Epilogue: representing African rhythm
Communication in Eighteenth-Century Music
Written by ten leading scholars, this volume assembles studies of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music under the broad rubric of communication. That such an impulse motivates musical composition and performance in this period of European musical history is often acknowledged but seldom examined in depth. The book explores a broad set of issues, ranging from the exigencies of the market for books and music in the eighteenth century throu…
The African imagination in music
The African Imagination in Music offers a fresh introduction to the vast and complex world of Sub-Saharan African music. Through close readings of traditional music and references to popular music, Agawu considers topics including the place of music in society, musical instruments, language and music, and appropriations of African music
Art (10 works) · Diverse Musicological Studies (7 works) · Musicology and Musical Analysis (7 works) · Literature (6 works) · Music History and Culture (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Visual arts (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · History (4 works) · Music (4 works)