Text Setting in African Composition

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.

Pertinent to a discussion of African composition is the relevance of African composers to the African society, a point that has recently been discussed by several writers (see, e.g., Irele; Soyinka, "African Traditions" 26) and is something that has frequently engaged my attention (see, e.g., Uzoigwe 45). I basically agree with the idea that African composers need to write music that is relevant to Africans and persons of African descent who, to my mind, constitute their primary audience. This idea may contradict the principle of artistic freedom, but my argument is that there is a paradox when an African composes music that communicates with non-Africans but not with Africans. This argument is strengthened by the fact that African composers are in any case marginalized on both fronts and have so far failed to make an impact within or outside Africa. ² My intuition leads me to think that they cannot hope to make an impact outside Africa without making one at home and in the diaspora.

In order to make an impact in Africa, composers need first to develop a voice that speaks to Africans, and this leads to the question of identity. Creating an identity for music, whether it is based on race, nationality, ethnicity, or self, is something that has engaged the attention of Western composers. Originality is one of the principles of Western composition and a competent composer is expected to have a voice that distinguishes him or her from others (see, e.g, Troup 5). Group identity (usually based on nationality) has also been well documented in the history of Western art music (see, e.g., Finkelstein). Nineteenth-century European nationalism is well known, but the concept extends further back in Western history. According to Sidney Finkelstein, Bach used the chorale to establish a German identity in such a way that even when surrounded by complex counterpoint, Germans never failed to recognize the chorale tune (50). In England, Handel mobilized audiences not only through his choice of oratorio topics (which addressed social injustice that was prevalent at the time) but also by writing great choruses, in response to the popularity of the choral tradition among the English (42-44).

According to Finkelstein, some Western composers effaced national...