The Nigerian Art Music Composer, His Training, Vocal Compositions and His Language

Abstract

The music arena has undergone some changes within the past decades in Nigeria; partly due to contact of Nigerians with music of the other world cultures and due to intercultural borrowings within Nigeria. This trend has been a masterminding force in the shaping of the musical arena in Nigeria with the art music composer being the most affected. The art music composer, who is a musically literate fellow therefore, has the tools, which help him in harnessing the inherent traditional elements in his culture while incorporating features consciously or unconsciously acquired from external musical influences for his works. The resulting works are enwrapped with elements from different cultural backgrounds, giving them the ability to communicate to the world at large. This paper therefore, intends to take a look at how well the Nigerian Art Music Composer is able to harness his music training and the vocal pieces without much distortion to the linguistic implication to his languages.