Abstracts
Abstract
This essay offers broad reflection on some of the challenges faced by African composers of art music. The specific point of departure is the publication of a new anthology, Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, edited by Ghanaian pianist and scholar William Chapman Nyaho and published in 2009 by Oxford University Press. The anthology exemplifies a diverse range of creative achievement in a genre that is less often associated with Africa than urban ‘popular’ music or ‘traditional’ music of pre-colonial origins. Noting the virtues of musical knowledge gained through individual composition rather than ethnography, the article first comments on the significance of the encounters of Steve Reich and György Ligeti with various African repertories. Then, turning directly to selected pieces from the anthology, attention is given to the multiple heritage of the African composer and how this affects his or her choices of pitch, rhythm and phrase structure. Excerpts from works by Nketia, Uzoigwe, Euba, Labi and Osman serve as illustration.
Keywords:
- African music,
- pre-colonial Africa,
- Steve Reich,
- György Ligeti,
- transmission
Résumé
Cet article livre des réflexions générales sur quelques défis auxquels les compositeurs africains de musique de concert sont confrontés. Le point de départ spécifique se trouve dans une anthologie qui date de 2009, Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, rassemblée par le pianiste et chercheur ghanéen William Chapman Nyaho et publiée par Oxford University Press. L’anthologie offre une grande panoplie de réalisations artistiques dans un genre qui est moins associé à l’Afrique que la musique « populaire » urbaine ou la musique « traditionnelle » d’origine précoloniale. En notant les avantages méthodologiques d’une approche qui se base sur des compositions individuelles plutôt que sur l’ethnographie, l’auteur note l’importance des rencontres de Steve Reich et György Ligeti avec des répertoires africains divers. Puis, se penchant sur un choix de pièces tirées de l’anthologie, l’article rend compte de l’héritage multiple du compositeur africain et la façon dont cet héritage influence ses choix de sons, rythmes et phraséologie. Des extraits d’oeuvres de Nketia, Uzoigwe, Euba, Labi et Osman servent d’illustrations à cet article.
Mots-clés :
- musique africaine,
- Afrique précoloniale,
- Steve Reich,
- György Ligeti,
- transmission
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Appendices
Note biographique
Kofi Agawu
Kofi Agawu est professeur de musique à l’Université de Princeton ainsi que professeur adjoint à l’Université du Ghana. Il a publié, entre autres, Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music (1991), African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective (1995), Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions (2003) et Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music (2008). Il est membre de la Ghana Academy of Arts, de même que Sciences and Corresponding Fellow de la British Academy.
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