European styled Military Music in Nigeria

This book investigates the origin in European tradition of military music in Nigeria and its subsequent development and indigenization within the Nigerian cultural milieu. Among other things, the results show that there are four historical periods with regard to the processes of evolution and indigenization of military music in Nigeria. It also reveals that, even though European styled military music, as practised in Nigeria still depends heavily on the use of many European structural forms, composers employ a lot of Nigerian traditional musical devices. The study concludes that Nigerian composers of military music in both the military and para-military forces have created a new military musical tradition characterized by new musical contents, compositional techniques, and performance contexts germane to the Nigerian socio- cultural milieu. This new development is the logical consequence of the processes of adapting European musical forms suitable for the Nigerian socio- cultural environment.

Autorentext

Dr. Michael Olutayo Olatunji is an Associate Professor and currently the Head of the Department of Music, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His areas of specialisation are Performance (Brass and Woodwinds instruments), Compostion and Orchestration. He is also the Director of the University Band and Orchestra.