i AKIN WANI JIN’BA WA YAYAI PYEN ‘Peace and Progress’ (AN ANTHEM for S.A.T.B.) A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (M. A.) IN MUSIC BY EKPO, OMOTOLANI EBENEZER PG/MA/14/67526 DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA MAY, 2015 ii APPROVAL PAGE This is to certify that this project has been approved for the award of the Degree of Masters of Arts (M.A.) in Music, of the Department of Music, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. _____________________________ _________________ Prof. Christian Onyeji Date (Supervisor) ______________________________ _________________ Rev. Sr. M. T. O. Keke Date (Head of Department) ______________________________ _________________ Prof. Dan. C. C. Agu Date (External Examiner) iii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my husband Mr. Ebenezer Etim Ekpo. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My utmost gratitude goes to God almighty, who is the Author and Finisher of my life. Also, my sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor, Prof.Christian Onyeji, for his constant attention, brilliant corrections and encouragement availed me in making sure this project is a success. I deeply appreciate my darling husband, Mr. Ebenezer E. Ekpo, who is the inspiring force behind this pursuit and my wonderful children, Jonathan and Sharon, for their unimaginable understanding and cooperation all through this programme. ‘Funmi and Faith, my baby sitters God bless you. Also, I won’t forget the humble contributions of my colleagues who willingly ran errands for me when I needed them most- Mathins, Tosin, Micheal and the host of others I cannot remember, God bless you all. “Uncle” Ade, I appreciate your sincere help and encouragements. Dr and Dr (Mrs) Olawale Otitoju, I deeply appreciate your love and care all through my stay in Nsukka. I cannot but recognize my loving colleagues- Mrs Soretirre, Elder Samson, Jonathan and Chijoke, you guys are wonderful, you made my stay stress free, God bless you! I also thank the entire staff and students of my Department and the authorities of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Finally, I appreciate the Jukun Traditional Musicians (Baba and his group) in Wukari, for their time and encouragements. OMOTOLANI E. EKPO UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA v TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page - - - - - - - - - - i Approval Page - - - - - - - - - ii Dedication - - - - - - - - - - iii Acknowledgements - - - - - - - - - iv Table of contents - - - - - - - - - v Abstract - - - - - - - - - - vii CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION - - - - - - 1 1.1 Aims and Objectives - - - - - - - - 3 1.2 Statement of Problem - - - - - - - - 3 1.3 Need for the Study - - - - - - - - 4 1.4 Significance of the Study - - - - - - - 4 1.5 Methodology - - - - - - - - - 5 1.6 Background of the Study - - - - - - - 5 1.7 Scope, Location and Concept of Composition - - - - 8 CHAPTER TWO – LITERATUREREVIEW 2.1 Nigerian Traditional Music - - - - - - - 9 2.2 Modern Nigerian Art Music - - - - - - - 9 2.3 The Revolution - - - - - - - - - 13 2.4 Native Air - - - - - - - - - - 16 2.5 Jukun Traditional Music - - - - - - - - 27 vi CHAPTER THREE – THE COMPOSITION - - - - - 29 3.1Akin Wani Jin’Ba wa yayai Pyen - First Movement - - - - 30 3.2 Akin Wani Jin’Ba wa yayai Pyen – Second Movement - - - - 53 3.3 Akin Wani Jin’Ba wa yayai Pyen – Third Movement - - - - 62 CHAPTER FOUR – ANALYSIS OF THE COMPOSITION - - - 89 4.1 Analysis of the First Movement - - - - - - 90 4.2 Analysis of the Second Movement - - - - - - 92 4.3 Analysis of the Third Movement - - - - - - 95 CHAPTER FIVE – CONCLUSION - - - - - - 98 REFERENCES - - - - - - - - - 100 vii ABSTRACT The Jukun music is a sub-genre of African traditional music. Like every other African music, it is woven around day to day events of the people’s life from birth through death. It constitutes complex messages which are rooted in specific cultural practices; using elaborate vocal polyphony tunes, polyrhythm, dance drumming, horn ensemble, xylophone, rattles and so on. The Jukun traditional music makes use of extensive repetition of exclamations, call and response, song words as an opening up of space for contemplation, a temporary freezing of verbal content, and giving room for other participant of the music to give a certain turn of phrase, cadential approaches and a spontaneous composition of embellishments. The Jukuns are categorized into two- “the Wapa and the Wanu”. This work will focus more on the wapas being the majority tribe of Wukari town where this research is carried out. The Wukari town has witnessed series of ethnic, political and religious crisis over the years, this brought about the theme of my composition as found in the third chapter of this project work ‘AKIN WANI JIN’BA WA YAYAI PYEN’meaning “PEACE AND PROGRESS”. Unlike many other Nigerian indigenous music which have enjoyed scholarly interventions, Jukun music seems still unexplored. This work aims at searching for the unique features of Jukun music, while drawing from its idioms in composing an anthem advocating for peaceful cohabitation within the community and the nation as a whole. The research was carried out via observation and participatory methods. Also, verbal interviews and relevant literature were employed in the work. These, were combined with some western music elements and techniques, in writing this work of art. 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The art of composition, like many other works of art, is endless. It is a vast platform upon which creativity can be explored. Music composition is an ever evolving aspect of human life that attracts improvement and modifications over and over again, just like life itself. The new discoveries and innovations employed in the act of composition are still very dependent on the old and fundamental rules that stand as a solid foundation upon which they are built. It is an endless practice that encourages hard work. According to Onyeji (1994), “….because creative minds are always reaching out for the undiscovered, different musical resources have been explored at different times and in different degrees by different composers of different countries” (p. 1). Efforts have been made by different people at various levels to come up with something entirely new, but the fact remains that no man is an island of knowledge. Ideas are still drawn consciously or unconsciously from older works the composer is exposed to over time. Onyeji (1994, p.1) wrote that “in their deliberate efforts to arrive at new musical interpretations of existing phone-facts, and at creating entirely new music, many composers all over the world have made conscious and unconscious efforts to draw on the folk materials of their peoples” Ethno- composition as described by Onyeji (1994) is simply “drawing creative inspirations from folk sources as well as utilizing folk musical materials in assembling new music…that captures the folk essence” (p. 2). Therefore, this work of art being an aspect of ethno-composition draws its inspiration and creativity from the existing musical idioms of the ethnic group the composer is set to work with and some indispensable western compositional techniques. 2 However, various attempts have been made in defining music composition. American Heritage dictionary described music composition as “the art or process of arranging or putting together of sounds in combination by rhythm, harmony and melody to please or interest a listener” (p. 4). As defined by Nwankwo (2012, p.1) “ music composition is the art of combining musical fragments to form a whole musical thought, it is a deliberate and conscious activity undertaken by a musician known as a composer… it deals with the conception and bringing to reality of musical imaginations for the purpose of performance”. Also, Jacobs (1967, p. 80) considered it as “the result of a deliberate individual creative art”. Meanwhile, Onyeji (2003, p. 148) said it is “the substance/fact of music that signifies structuring, restructuring and unearthing of finished music or part of it”. Therefore, music composition can be defined as the expression of a musician’s creative thought in an oral or written form, made available for the interest of both the performer and listeners. Music composition in African setting is usually done orally, and in most cases at the place of event. Musicians depend solely on improvisation, while building on existing rhythm and melody. Unlike the Western music; they are neither written nor documented; they were passed on through oral tradition of which Jukun music is not an exemption. Meanwhile, art music in Africa came into being as a result of the introduction of Christianity. Ukpong (2006) recorded that “Written music was introduced into Africa by Christian Missionaries in the form of hymns. They provided a model for Nigerian composers”. (p. 11) This composition will probably serve as the first written form of Jukun music, and is aimed at laying solid foundation for further musical research work on it. 3 1.1 Aims and objectives The Jukun music as I observed, exhibits the richness coherent in many African music. It is keenly connected to the people’s tradition and culture. The Jukun music is presently still in oral form, though attempts have been made by the church to translate the church hymns and anthems to Jukun language. Popular musicians also have employed the Jukun music in their compositions. However, there still exist a huge vacuum in terms of scholarly writing and documentation of Jukun music. Therefore, this work sets to put Jukun music in written form, while expressing its musical, socio-cultural, ideological and historical aspects and bringing it to lime light for further research and appreciation. This composition will provide relevant data on Jukun music and the essence of peace and progress it conveys. Specific objectives of this work are to: • Ascertain the prominent musical scale, mode, harmonic style and instrumental accompaniments of Jukun music. • Compose choral and instrumental music by drawing from the Jukun music idioms. • Contribute to the existing wells of ethno-compositions. 1.2 Statement of problem Jukun music, unlike many traditional music of some tribes in Nigeria, has not been visited nor thoroughly researched by music scholars.