Egba Musical Totem for Violin and Cello

Egba Musical Totem for Violin and Cello is based on a popular Yoruba song, "Lori oke ati petele. . . Mayo, mayo, mayo o, l'ori Olumo" (On the hill and on the plain. . . Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice on Olumo Rock). The song belongs to the Egba people from Abeokuta in Ogun State of southwest Nigeria. In this piece, I arranged the melodic tune using various compositional devices including counterpoint, homophony, canonic imitation, fugal technique, dance rhythms, and free formal structure. To bring the composition closer to its cultural roots, I employed the five-tone pentatonic scale for the violin line as found in most Nigerian folk songs, while the cello is built on the diatonic scale. There are dramatic and playful sections with abrupt silences and dialogue between the two voices. It opens gently, moderately soft, but climaxed into a bravura of fast-moving sixteenth notes that triumphantly heralded the abridged final appearance of the main principal theme with fff in the last five measures.

Details

Publication Date: Jan 28, 2023
Language: English
Category: Music
Copyright: All Rights Reserved - Standard Copyright License
Contributors: By (author): Godwin Sadoh

Specifications

Format: PDF

Keywords

Godwin Sadoh Egba Musical Totem Nigerian art music Nigerian classical music African art music African classical music Nigerian composers African composers Violin and Cello Chamber Music

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About Prof. Godwin Sadoh

Prof. Godwin Sadoh is a Nigerian composer, church musician, pianist, organist, choral conductor, ethnomusicologist, and prolific publishing scholar with over 150 publications, including 12 books. At Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Sadoh distinguished himself as the first African to earn a doctoral degree in organ performance from any institution worldwide. He has received commissions and awards for his beautiful compositions including the ASCAPLUS Award for over 20 years. In 2019, he won the Special Prize with his composition, Egba Musical Totem for String Quartet, at the International Composition Competition in Malta. In the United States, the luminary received the Alvin Hatton Organ Scholarship, Spectacular Concert Scholarship, Dora Dean Emerson Memorial Music Fellowship, AGO Student Scholarship, and Dean’s Scholarship. He belongs to the Beta Lambda Chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. On 15 April 2023, Sadoh was honored at the International Africa Lyric's Opera Competition academic in Paris, France, where a special prize was given in his name. His music has been performed and recorded in all continents. Sadoh was a Professor of Music/LEADS Scholar at the National Universities Commission in Abuja, Nigeria. Sadoh's biography is listed in the Contemporary African Database, Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, Marquis’s Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Education, and Who's Who in the World.

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