ÀJE KÚN ‘YÀ (A CAPELLA FOR SATB): BI-CULTURALISM AS THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR NIGERIAN ART MUSIC COMPOSITION

Abstract

As a result of the advent of Christianity and the Colonial experience in the African landscape, Nigerian composers from the 19th century till date have embraced a bi-cultural approach to creating art music. Gúnugún for SATB by Olaolu Lawal is representative of the creative efforts that merge African and European musical forces together in art music composition. This work is subjected to analysis to bring to the fore the stylistic elements, structural components, resources and procedures that define these two musical traditions. The compositional tools unearthed are then applied in the creation of an original composition for SATB, Àje kún ‘yà while spelling out through analysis how coherence is achieved within the applied bi-cultural framework.