Text Setting in African Composition
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9251129 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Akin Euba (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 119-132 |
| Publication date | 2001-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Research in African Literatures (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-5210 • E-ISSN: 1527-2044 |
| Publisher | Indiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2979/ral.2001.32.2.119 |
| OpenAlex | W2063259082 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 4 |
The strength of German Lieder (art songs) in the nineteenth century rested partly on the gifts of the poets who provided composers with the texts that they set to music. It occurred to me early in my composition career (in the mid 1960s) that African composers might equally look to African poets for the texts of their songs (see, e.g., Uzoigwe 25). This statement may seem to be self-evident, but the reader should consider the dilemma that I encountered in the mid 1960s, having recently (in 1957) returned from my study of composition at a British conservatory, the Trinity College of Music, London. I wanted to write African songs in English, but because that language is such a potent signifier of English traditions, it was not immediately clear to me how my English-language songs could be infused with an African identity. I decided that one solution to this problem was to reject British poets for Africans writing in the English language. Consequently, I began a search of the literature of modern African poetry in English (or English translation) and not only found that the existing material was copious but also made a number of discoveries about what African poets were doing. I was particularly fascinated by what they were doing and because their creativity inspired mine from both the stylistic and ideological points of view. One of my earliest settings was J. P. Clark's Abiku, which I "set" first as a dance-drama (1965) and only later as a song for three-part chorus and five Nigerian instruments. The song has never been performed, 1 but I have used Abiku in various other compositions (e.g., Dirges) in settings for speaking voice and African instruments
Art · Composition (language · Dilemma · Drama · German · Ideology · Linguistics · Literature · Poetry · Politics · Singing · Statement (logic · Diverse Musicological Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Music History and Culture · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,28 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2026 (19) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |