Wednesday, April 15, 2020
"Professor Akin Euba was an expansive thinker in
the world of musicology, - not just African. He was
a theorist of immense world scope but with
unparalleled devotion to Africa's unique voice.
Without a doubt he not only coined the term,
'African Pianism,' he led the debate to define
what it entails." He will be missed!" - Fred
Onovwerosuoke (http://fredomusic.com)
the world of musicology, - not just African. He was
a theorist of immense world scope but with
unparalleled devotion to Africa's unique voice.
Without a doubt he not only coined the term,
'African Pianism,' he led the debate to define
what it entails." He will be missed!" - Fred
Onovwerosuoke (http://fredomusic.com)
Akin Euba ( April 28 1935 -
April 14 2020)
April 14 2020)
(Courtesy of Intercultural Music Initiative
archives in St. Louis, Missouri, USA)
archives in St. Louis, Missouri, USA)
(The following was culled from Wikipedia)
Born on 28 April 1935 in Lagos, Nigeria, Euba
studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the
Trinity College of Music, London, obtaining the diplomas
of fellow of the Trinity College London (Composition)
and fellow of the Trinity College London (Piano). He
was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in 1962.
He received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University
of California, Los Angeles, where he studied with Mantle
Hood, Charles Seeger, Professor J. H. Kwabena
Nketia, Klaus Wachsmann, and Roy Travis. He
holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the
University of Ghana, Legon (1974). While at Legon,
Euba's doctoral work was supervised by Professor
Nketia, and his dissertation is entitled "Dundun Music of
the Yoruba".
studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the
Trinity College of Music, London, obtaining the diplomas
of fellow of the Trinity College London (Composition)
and fellow of the Trinity College London (Piano). He
was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in 1962.
He received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University
of California, Los Angeles, where he studied with Mantle
Hood, Charles Seeger, Professor J. H. Kwabena
Nketia, Klaus Wachsmann, and Roy Travis. He
holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the
University of Ghana, Legon (1974). While at Legon,
Euba's doctoral work was supervised by Professor
Nketia, and his dissertation is entitled "Dundun Music of
the Yoruba".
He was professor and director of the Centre for
Cultural Studies at the University of Lagos, and has
also served as a senior research fellow at the
University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University)
in Nigeria. He served as head of music at the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation for five years. He
was a research scholar and artist in residence at
IWALEWA House, the African studies center of
the University of Bayreuth in Germany between 1986
and 1992. He was the Andrew Mellon Professor
of Music at the University of Pittsburgh between 1993
and 2011 and he is the current Andrew W. Mellon
Professor, Emeritus in music. He is the founder
and director of the Centre for Intercultural Music
Arts, London (founded in 1989), and director
emeritus of the Centre for Intercultural Musicology at
Churchill College, University of Cambridge.
Cultural Studies at the University of Lagos, and has
also served as a senior research fellow at the
University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University)
in Nigeria. He served as head of music at the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation for five years. He
was a research scholar and artist in residence at
IWALEWA House, the African studies center of
the University of Bayreuth in Germany between 1986
and 1992. He was the Andrew Mellon Professor
of Music at the University of Pittsburgh between 1993
and 2011 and he is the current Andrew W. Mellon
Professor, Emeritus in music. He is the founder
and director of the Centre for Intercultural Music
Arts, London (founded in 1989), and director
emeritus of the Centre for Intercultural Musicology at
Churchill College, University of Cambridge.
Euba's scholarly interests include the musicology
and ethnomusicology of modern interculturalism.
He has organized regular symposia on music in
Africa and the Diaspora at Churchill College,
Cambridge as well as the Central Conservatory of
Music in Beijing. These events have featured such
notable composers and scholars as J. H. Kwabena
Nketia and Halim El-Dabh. With his Elekoto
Ensemble, he has brought together musicians
from Nigeria, China, India, Germany, Malta, and
the United States.
His compositions involve a synthesis of African
traditional material (often from his own ethnic
group, the Yoruba people) and contemporary
classical music. His most ambitious composition is
the opera Chaka: An Opera in Two Chants (1970),
which blends West African percussion and atenteben
flutes with twelve tone technique.
1956 – Introduction and Allegro, orchestra
1963 – Five Pieces for English Horn and Piano for
Derek Bell
1964 – Four Pictures from Oyo Calabashes
1964 – Impressions From an Akwete Cloth, piano
1967 – Morning, Noon, and Night, singers,
dancers, and Nigerian instruments
1967 – Olurounbi (or Olurombi), Symphonic study for
Orchestra
1970 (rev. 1999) – Chaka, Opera
1970 – Ice Cubes, string orchestra
1970 – Scenes From Traditional Life, piano
1975 – Alatangana, ballet for singers,
dancers, and Nigerian instruments
1979 – Black Bethlehem, soloists, chorus,
Nigerian drums, and jazz ensemble
1987 – Wakar Duru: Studies in African Pianism 1-3,
piano
2003 – Below Rusumo Falls, voice, dancer,
kayagum, flute, drums, and piano (text: Olusola
Oyeleye)
Discography[edit]
1989 – Piano Music of Akin Euba,
performed by Peter Schmalfuss (includes
Scenes from Traditional Life and Wakar Duru:
Studies in African Pianism)
1999 – Chaka: An Opera in Two Chants, from an
epic poem by Léopold Sédar Senghor. Point
Richmond, California, United States: Music
Research Institute MRI-001CD.
2005 – Towards an African Pianism: An
Anthology of Keyboard Music From Africa and
the Diaspora. Vol. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
United States: A Bridge Across:
Intercultural Composition, Performance,
Musicology, Department of Music, University
of Pittsburgh, ABA 001 CD.
2005 – Towards an African Pianism: An
Anthology of Keyboard Music From Africa and
the Diaspora. Vol. 2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
United States: A Bridge Across:
Intercultural Composition, Performance,
Musicology, Department of Music, University
of Pittsburgh, ABA 002 CD.
Writings[edit]
Euba, Akin (1970). "Music Adapts to a
Changed World: A Leading Composer Looks
at How Africa's Musical Traditions Have
Expanded to Suit Contemporary Society."
Africa Report, November 1970, pp. 24–27.
Euba, Akin (1989). "Yoruba Music in the
Church: The Development of a Neo-African
Art Among the Yoruba of Nigeria." In
African Musicology: Current Trends: A
Festschrift Presented to J. H. Kwabena
Nketia, ed. J. C. DjeDje and W. G. Carter
(Atlanta, Georgia), pp. 45–63.
References[edit]
Uzoigwe, Joshua (1992). Akin Euba: An
Introduction to the Life and Music of a
Nigerian Composer. Bayreuth, Germany:
Bayreuth African Studies Series.
CLICK HERE to listen to Movement No. III
of Akin Euba's "Scenes from Traditional
Life," from Peter Henderson's CD, "A
Celebration of African Composers for
Piano," released on AMP label, AGCD 2706.
The eclectic high art of Yoruba drum
language tradition always fascinated
Euba and preoccupied his research for
much of his entire career as composer
and musicologist. Peter Henderson's CD
is available on Amazon or
African Music Publishers
(http://ampublishers.org)
and ethnomusicology of modern interculturalism.
He has organized regular symposia on music in
Africa and the Diaspora at Churchill College,
Cambridge as well as the Central Conservatory of
Music in Beijing. These events have featured such
notable composers and scholars as J. H. Kwabena
Nketia and Halim El-Dabh. With his Elekoto
Ensemble, he has brought together musicians
from Nigeria, China, India, Germany, Malta, and
the United States.
His compositions involve a synthesis of African
traditional material (often from his own ethnic
group, the Yoruba people) and contemporary
classical music. His most ambitious composition is
the opera Chaka: An Opera in Two Chants (1970),
which blends West African percussion and atenteben
flutes with twelve tone technique.
Works
Six Yoruba Folk Songs, arranged for voice and piano1956 – Introduction and Allegro, orchestra
1963 – Five Pieces for English Horn and Piano for
Derek Bell
1964 – Four Pictures from Oyo Calabashes
1964 – Impressions From an Akwete Cloth, piano
1967 – Morning, Noon, and Night, singers,
dancers, and Nigerian instruments
1967 – Olurounbi (or Olurombi), Symphonic study for
Orchestra
1970 (rev. 1999) – Chaka, Opera
1970 – Ice Cubes, string orchestra
1970 – Scenes From Traditional Life, piano
1975 – Alatangana, ballet for singers,
dancers, and Nigerian instruments
1979 – Black Bethlehem, soloists, chorus,
Nigerian drums, and jazz ensemble
1987 – Wakar Duru: Studies in African Pianism 1-3,
piano
2003 – Below Rusumo Falls, voice, dancer,
kayagum, flute, drums, and piano (text: Olusola
Oyeleye)
Discography[edit]
1989 – Piano Music of Akin Euba,
performed by Peter Schmalfuss (includes
Scenes from Traditional Life and Wakar Duru:
Studies in African Pianism)
1999 – Chaka: An Opera in Two Chants, from an
epic poem by Léopold Sédar Senghor. Point
Richmond, California, United States: Music
Research Institute MRI-001CD.
2005 – Towards an African Pianism: An
Anthology of Keyboard Music From Africa and
the Diaspora. Vol. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
United States: A Bridge Across:
Intercultural Composition, Performance,
Musicology, Department of Music, University
of Pittsburgh, ABA 001 CD.
2005 – Towards an African Pianism: An
Anthology of Keyboard Music From Africa and
the Diaspora. Vol. 2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
United States: A Bridge Across:
Intercultural Composition, Performance,
Musicology, Department of Music, University
of Pittsburgh, ABA 002 CD.
Writings[edit]
Euba, Akin (1970). "Music Adapts to a
Changed World: A Leading Composer Looks
at How Africa's Musical Traditions Have
Expanded to Suit Contemporary Society."
Africa Report, November 1970, pp. 24–27.
Euba, Akin (1989). "Yoruba Music in the
Church: The Development of a Neo-African
Art Among the Yoruba of Nigeria." In
African Musicology: Current Trends: A
Festschrift Presented to J. H. Kwabena
Nketia, ed. J. C. DjeDje and W. G. Carter
(Atlanta, Georgia), pp. 45–63.
References[edit]
Uzoigwe, Joshua (1992). Akin Euba: An
Introduction to the Life and Music of a
Nigerian Composer. Bayreuth, Germany:
Bayreuth African Studies Series.
CLICK HERE to listen to Movement No. III
of Akin Euba's "Scenes from Traditional
Life," from Peter Henderson's CD, "A
Celebration of African Composers for
Piano," released on AMP label, AGCD 2706.
The eclectic high art of Yoruba drum
language tradition always fascinated
Euba and preoccupied his research for
much of his entire career as composer
and musicologist. Peter Henderson's CD
is available on Amazon or
African Music Publishers
(http://ampublishers.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment