Sources of inspiration for music composition in Okpe

Abstract

This article investigates various sources of inspiration evident in creative compositions of traditional music in the Okpe culture (Nigeria), as observed personally and according to eyewitness and insiders or practitioners’ accounts collected via interviews, discussion, observation and participation. The focus of the article is on the forces that drive the Okpe to compose music rather than on other aspects of music such as performance, transmission, dissemination and reception. The collected traditional songs reflect social, ritual and social-religious activities and are transcribed in Western staff notation to allow readers to participate actively in the analytical discourse of the social-spiritual influences that inspire compositions.

JOURNAL OF THE MUSICAL ARTS IN AFRICA VOLUME 8 2011, 23–47