Archiving Yoruba liturgical choruses through art music compositions: A survey of some selected art music compositions

Abstract

Volume 8 Issue 4 December 31, 2025 DOI: https://doi.org//10.63102/jaac.v8i4.202518 https://jaac-sca.org ISSN 2637-3610 Abstract In the last over one and a half centuries of the growth and development of African Art Music Compositions, composers have depended on a number of preexisting materials as thematic materials in their syncretic compositions. Some of these materials are African folk music, traditional songs, rhythm and melodies that recalls traditional scenes, African hymnodies and common liturgical choruses. Most of the liturgical choruses used by these composers have been passed down through the ages by rote method, which is largely due to the inability of the composers to notate their ideas. Some of these art music composers who have depended on common liturgical choruses in their compositions, apart from producing artistic works that their audience can easily comprehend with, breaking barriers of musical cultures, they also succeeded in documenting and archiving these choruses unknowingly through using one of the best means of documentation, which is the staff notation (scoreography). This research is premised on the framework of Archival science theory. The work will be focused on some Choral Art music compositions of Sunday Olawuwo, Kayode Oguntade and Gbenga Obagbemi. The primary materials used in the three compositions are some common Yoruba liturgical choruses. In other to achieve the goal of this qualitative research, I depended largely on the staff notation of those music under focus, I also depended on direct interviews, interview through social media devices such as WhatsApp and Facebook as primary sources of eliciting information. My secondary sources of eliciting materials are bibliographical materials such as textbooks, journals, magazines and some internet sources. The work looked into some of the compositional tools used in achieving African authenticity of the intercultural liturgical choral composition. This research recommends a furtherance of African compositional musicology through artistic rebranding, archiving and documentation of preexisting liturgical choruses.