Sowande lived a remarkable life in music, both as performer and composer.\u00a0\u00a0Known as the \u201cfather\u201d of Nigerian classical music, he was equally at home in jazz.\u00a0\u00a0He received a thorough music education in both his native country and later, in London, England.\u00a0\u00a0The son of a priest and college teacher, his early life in Nigeria was immersed in the great Anglican Church music tradition, singing in traditional cathedral choirs, and studying organ.\u00a0\u00a0As s chorister his musical experiences including not only the traditional English repertoire, but also the introduction of native Yoruba music into Nigerian ecclesiastic music.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His prowess as an organist led to the mastery of the great European organ works sufficient for a diploma from the Royal College of Organists.\u00a0\u00a0Moreover, concomitantly, he became a successful jazz bandleader!<\/p>\n
To further his education, and establish a secure financial future, Sowande immigrated to England in 1934 to study civil engineering.\u00a0\u00a0That didn\u2019t last long, for he was soon performing widely in the jazz world.\u00a0\u00a0His prowess as a pianist led to association with such luminaries as Fats Waller and Paul Robeson.\u00a0\u00a0He achieved signal recognition in as soloist in Gershwin\u2019s\u00a0Rhapsody in Blue<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0Blackbirds of 1936.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Along the way he was active as organist (including the pop Hammond organ) and choirmaster, rising to prominence in the highest echelons of the English musical world.<\/p>\n In addition to mastery of the singular styles of Anglican Church music, as well as traditional jazz styles, he was particularly devoted to composing works that blended traditional Nigerian music with Western classical styles\u2014both sacred and popular.\u00a0\u00a0Dance bandleader, choir director, jazz pianist, organist, composer, he moved deftly and successfully between all those musical worlds\u2014not to speak of African and European ones, as well.<\/p>\n He was appointed MBE by Queen Elizabeth in 1955, and moved to the United States in 1968, where he taught at several universities until his death in 1987 while a member of the faculty at Kent State University.<\/p>\n In addition to his choral and organ compositions, he composed several works for orchestra, including\u00a0Africa Suite<\/em>\u00a0for strings and harp. Written in 1944, its five movements are a study of Nigerian musical melodies, harmonies, and rhythms blended with traditional European orchestra techniques and textures.<\/p>\n The first movement,\u00a0Joyful Day,<\/em>\u00a0uses a melody composed by the Ghanaian composer,\u00a0Ephraim K\u0254ku Amu (1899-1995). He was a beloved teacher, cleric, musicologist, and performer in his country, and composer and collector of popular songs.Joyful Day<\/em>\u00a0is an effervesant study in taking a simple little repetitive tune and extending it into a substantial movement through a variety of textures, voicing, figurations, and harmonies.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nostalgia\u00a0<\/em>is a lush evocation of his homeland, away from which he spent much of his life\u2014in England and the US.\u00a0\u00a0While undoubtedly informed by Nigerian folk tunes, it is difficult to escape from a distinct impression that he was equally influenced by the rich string harmonies and folk-like melodies of the \u201cpastoralist\u201d composers of his new home in England:\u00a0\u00a0Vaughan Williams, Delius, Ireland, Butterworth, and others of that ilk.<\/p>\n Sowande once again draws upon a melody written by his fellow African, Amu, in the third movement,\u00a0Onipe.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>The latter is a small village in the Oyo State of Nigeria.<\/p>\n The gentle mood of the\u00a0Lullaby\u00a0<\/em>is based on a folk tune, and features a solo violin that contrasts with the surprising, turgid tremolos and active figures that soon become the accompaniment to the tune.<\/p>\n The finale to the suite is\u00a0Akinla<\/em>, features a spritely dance-like tune, an example of an important musical style in West Africa, called \u201cHighlife.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0A combination of Colonial European, Caribbean and African elements, it\u2019s a vigorous and popular, jazzy style that has spread throughout much of the world today.\u00a0\u00a0It has many variants\u2014\u201cPalm Wine,\u201d brass band, guitar band, and gospel\u2014even a German version called \u201cBurger Highlife.\u201d Sowande\u2019s take, though spirited, is a bit more sedate, but styles have evolved over the last seventy-five years or so.\u00a0\u00a0Interestingly,\u00a0Akinla<\/em>\u00a0is well known to Canadians, owing to its use as a theme on a popular radio show.<\/p>\n –Wm. E. Runyan<\/p>\n \u00a92022 William E. Runyan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[163],"class_list":["post-409","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-felasowande"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}