“MISE GLI LOO”: ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE MUSICAL FABLE SELF-SERVING, PREDICATED ON THE MUSICO-DRAMATIC GENRE OF STORYTELLING

Abstract

This paper examines Mise Gli Loo, the opening chorus of Self-Serving: A Musical Fable, as a creative embodiment of E?e storytelling traditions within contemporary African art music. Grounded in Acquah’s (2019) Anansegorndwom compositional model and informed by indigenous performance structures, the study analyses how traditional narrative practices such as call-and-response, antiphonal texture, and tonal language inflections are transformed into a modern musico-dramatic form. Drawing on practice-based research methodology, the work explores how African oral tradition can inform compositional processes, musical structure, and community engagement in performance. Through detailed analysis of rhythm, melody, texture, and harmony, the paper reveals how Mise Gli Loo functions not only as a musical invocation but also as a vessel for cultural memory and moral reflection. The findings contribute to ongoing conversations around the integration of indigenous African aesthetics into formal art music composition and pedagogy.