[Fela Sowande in 1946 Theatre Organ World (From Alan Ashton)]
The Nigerian composer, organist and professor Fela Sowande (1905-1987) is featured at AfriClassical.com and is called the "Father of Nigerian Art Music" by his biographer, Bode Omojola. The Works of the Nigerian composer Akin Euba have been compiled at the website by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
By Benson Idonije
AS we begin a new year, nothing can
be more appropriate and befitting than showcasing Fela Sowande,
Africa’s foremost classicist whose evergreen sound is comparable to
Handel, Bach, Beethoven, Chaikovsky and all the European musical idols
who are being globally worshipped today as revered heroes. Sowande
particularly deserves this honour because he brought an incredibly
creative approach to bear on his accomplishment by pioneering modern
African music. Call it ‘Classical African Music’, if you please.
It all began in Lagos where, as a young man, he made considerable impact
playing the organ and composing. He eventually registered as an
external student with the Royal College of Organists and displayed
extraordinary talent by obtaining the Fellowship of the college in 1943.
Fela Sowande would probably not have emigrated to the U.K. and U.S. had there been a greater appreciation in Nigeria of the role he played in the development of Nigerian music. A likely victim of this same circumstance is Prof. Akin Euba who is presently working in Europe and America. It is akin to the case of the prophet who’s not recognised in his own country.
...
There was a fascinating and attention-getting signature tune for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programme on West Africa that was introduced in 1943 and was on until the 1960s for its immense value despite frequency of impression. This tune was based on the Obangiji theme, a well-known Yoruba sacred song composed by late J.J. Ransome Kuti. It was crafted by the late great composer, Fela Sowande.
...
Sowande’s works cover three major media - the organ, the voice and the orchestra. Some of his organ compositions include Kyrie, Oyigiyigi, Laudamus Te, Prayer, Go down Moses, Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Yoruba Lament, Via Dolowsa and Obangiji.
...
“...Sowande’s idea of the new modern African art music composition is a fusion of Western musical techniques with African folk melodic contents.
...
Sowande’s other compositions in the vocal medium include Arts Songs for Tenor Voices, String Orchestra, and St. Jude’s Responses for choir, organ and Negro spirituals like My Way’s Cindy arranged for mixed voices and piano.
This concept of music composition was also extended to the standard Western orchestra exemplified by the highly acclaimed African suite, recorded at the Hamstead studios of Decca Record Company in 1951. African suite, which is in five movements, uses African folksong themes and European harmonic techniques within the framework European technical forms.
Sowande, awarded professor emeritus music (Pittsburgh University), consistently fought against what he called musical colonialism of the African culture by promoting the use of identifiable African musical traits and characteristics without compromising ecstatic standards.
For example in 1960, he decided to take his African Symphony, which he composed to celebrate the Nigerian independence to the United States of America for performance and recording because of the lack of an orchestra that could play the composition. In spite of the furor that greeted his decision, Sowande said of himself: “I don’t compose unless I feel that I have to put it this way. I never say to myself that I must write something: Something says to me: ‘I want to be written’. This is the only time I compose.”
This revered African musician and composer died at the ripe age of 82 on his 22-acre American home in Rudolph, Ohio, in the United States of America, in 1987. An organist, composer, researcher and writer of international repute, Sowande’s unrivalled list of achievements in the field of music art and humanities are a glorious tribute to Nigeria and Africa. But the protection of his legacy is said to have been largely left to the discretion of only his family.
Fela Sowande would probably not have emigrated to the U.K. and U.S. had there been a greater appreciation in Nigeria of the role he played in the development of Nigerian music. A likely victim of this same circumstance is Prof. Akin Euba who is presently working in Europe and America. It is akin to the case of the prophet who’s not recognised in his own country.
...
There was a fascinating and attention-getting signature tune for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programme on West Africa that was introduced in 1943 and was on until the 1960s for its immense value despite frequency of impression. This tune was based on the Obangiji theme, a well-known Yoruba sacred song composed by late J.J. Ransome Kuti. It was crafted by the late great composer, Fela Sowande.
...
Sowande’s works cover three major media - the organ, the voice and the orchestra. Some of his organ compositions include Kyrie, Oyigiyigi, Laudamus Te, Prayer, Go down Moses, Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Yoruba Lament, Via Dolowsa and Obangiji.
...
“...Sowande’s idea of the new modern African art music composition is a fusion of Western musical techniques with African folk melodic contents.
...
Sowande’s other compositions in the vocal medium include Arts Songs for Tenor Voices, String Orchestra, and St. Jude’s Responses for choir, organ and Negro spirituals like My Way’s Cindy arranged for mixed voices and piano.
This concept of music composition was also extended to the standard Western orchestra exemplified by the highly acclaimed African suite, recorded at the Hamstead studios of Decca Record Company in 1951. African suite, which is in five movements, uses African folksong themes and European harmonic techniques within the framework European technical forms.
Sowande, awarded professor emeritus music (Pittsburgh University), consistently fought against what he called musical colonialism of the African culture by promoting the use of identifiable African musical traits and characteristics without compromising ecstatic standards.
For example in 1960, he decided to take his African Symphony, which he composed to celebrate the Nigerian independence to the United States of America for performance and recording because of the lack of an orchestra that could play the composition. In spite of the furor that greeted his decision, Sowande said of himself: “I don’t compose unless I feel that I have to put it this way. I never say to myself that I must write something: Something says to me: ‘I want to be written’. This is the only time I compose.”
This revered African musician and composer died at the ripe age of 82 on his 22-acre American home in Rudolph, Ohio, in the United States of America, in 1987. An organist, composer, researcher and writer of international repute, Sowande’s unrivalled list of achievements in the field of music art and humanities are a glorious tribute to Nigeria and Africa. But the protection of his legacy is said to have been largely left to the discretion of only his family.
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