[Three Nigerian Dances (8:34); National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation; Richard Cock, Conductor; Marco Polo 8.223832 (1995)]
Oxford University Press:
Samuel Akpabot: Three Nigerian Dances
Samuel Ekpe Akpabot was born into the Ibibio people in southeastern Nigeria on 3 October 1932. A scholarship enabled Akpabot to travel to England in 1954 and enroll in the Royal College of Music in London where he studied organ and trumpet. His teachers included John Addison, Osborn Pisgow, and Herbert Howells. While in England Akpabot also studied at Trinity College. In 1959 he returned to Nigeria and became a broadcaster with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He continued his studies in musicology at the University of Chicago (M.A.) and Michigan State University (Ph.D.). In 1995 he was appointed Professor of Music at the University of Uyo, Nigeria. His music has been played by the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Alabama Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the BBC Welsh Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Savannah Symphony, and the Chicago Chamber Orchestra as well as at many colleges and universities. Three Nigerian Dances has been recorded by the National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation led by Richard Cock (Marco Polo 8.223832). Samuel Akpabot died on 7 August 2000.
His training helped equip Akpabot to notate traditional Nigerian material in such a way as to make it accessible to western audiences. As far as the Three Nigerian Dances are concerned, the composer wrote:
"I was inspired in writing this work by Dvorak's Slavonic Dances which I enjoy listening to very much. Jolly good fun was my key word here and I think string orchestras would enjoy getting introduced to the dances which we, in Africa, have enjoyed through the years. They all consist of an opening section, a middle section which does not modulate, and a closing section. Modulation is very foreign to African instrumental music and I wanted very much to get away from the ABA form so common to early European instrumental music."
Score and parts for Three Nigerian Dances for strings and timpani (duration: 9 minutes) are published. A perusal score and recording are available on request.
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[Samuel Ekpe Akpabot is profiled at AfriClassical.com]
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