MUSIC IN THE THEATRE

 

BY

 

 

INNOCENT OHIRI

 

 

 

© 2002 INNOCENT OHIRI

ISBN 978 – 34629

All rights reserved.  No part of  this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission  in writing from he copyright owner(s) or publishers.

 

Published by: LILINO VENTURES PUBLISHERS

 

PORT HARCOURT

No. 2 Water Works Road,

Rumuola

Port  Harcourt,

Rivers State.

 

OWERRI:

No. 183A Douglas Road,

Owerri

Imo State

Nigeria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEDICATION

 

For Darling, Gift, and Amarachukwu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I sincerely acknowledge the assistance I got from the contributions of authors like Oscar Brockett and Adolf Ahanotu.  Other writers whose contributions on Music  enhanced this work include Fidelia Amaechi, Yusuf A. Lateef, G.U. Nwaji, Choo Tony Saleh, Joy Lo-Bamijoko, L.E. Amadi, Iyortange Igoil, Amorella Eugene Inanga and  Richard Okafor to mention but a  few.  I therefore thank these authors for the wealth of materials, experience, inspiration and encouragement I got from their opinions on the subject of this book.

 

I thank my colleagues whose examples, advice and encouragement enhanced my determination to publish.  These include Dr. S.O. Obuh, Dr. H.L. Bell-Gam, Dr. F. Shaka, Dr. Emma Oga, Dr. B. Ejiuofor, Dr. J. Agberia, and Dr. Noel Anyadike.  I remain greatly indebted to Professor Dapo Adelugba who supervised my Ph.D Thesis and reacted to my contributions on Music in the theatre.  I was greatly inspired by the works of Professor T. Nnolim, Professor T. Maduka and Professor (Mrs.) H. Chukwuma.  I thank them for the inspiration I got from their works and academic achievements .  I wish I can attain their “heights” in my lifetime.

I owe a lot of gratitude to students of the Department of Theatre Arts, Imo State University Owerri.  The obligation of teaching them Music some years ago aroused my desire to write this book.

I thank my wife and children for accepting to “miss” some of their “play-hours” with me in the course of my writing this book.   Above all, I give all glory, all honour, all adoration and all thanksgiving to the Almighty God for his enablement and blessings.

 

 

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INNOCENT CHINYERE OHIRI, Ph.D.

PREFACE

 

Music is one of the aspects of Theatre Arts that have been less developed in terms of research and publications.  Very few universities in the country teach Music up to post graduate level while very many do not offer it at all.  In some Nigerian Universities, Music is studied as a branch of Theatre Arts while in the others like the university of Nsukka it has a department of its own – the Music department.  Which ever is the case, Music has not been studied like the other areas of the humanities.

 

 

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The reason for this has been because Music is a practical course that requires less formal or classroom teaching.  Other people have attributed this situation to the fact that the average Nigerian has a different impression, about Music, from the one he has about courses like Medicine and Engineering.  Being offered as a course in the department of Theatre Arts in some universities, it has suffered the fate of Drama and Dance as areas of  specialization.  People’s conceptualization was that Music is not a lucrative and a worthwhile course. It can be played or sung by everybody and it is the interest and pre-occupation of the “good for nothings” or “jobless people”.  To this effect, people were believed to study Music only as a last resort-when they could not gain admission to read other courses.  Fortunately these erroneous beliefs are fast fading away as a result of the awareness of the great potentials of the course.  Present events and dispensations have proved that Music can be lucrative and dignifying.  The few people who, inspite of these wrong notions of yesteryears, studied Music to good levels are today comfortably employed and admired.  This present realization has attracted many applications to the departments of Music and Theatre Arts nationwide.  This is a very positive development.  But there exists a big problem that requires an urgent solution if the aspirations and interests of the new admirers  of the profession must be protected.  This is the problem of materials or documents on the subject – Music.  There is, consequent on the bad impressions and notions of past years, a dearth of materials on the subject.  The urge to contribute to the solution of this enormous problem formed the basis for this work.  Though this work focuses more on Music in the theatre, it is believed that it will create more awareness of the course, provide a document for researchers and enhance the teaching of the course in the schools in Nigeria.

 

The work is made up of six chapters.  Chapter one defines the term “Music” and also explains and its origin. Chapter two examines the importance and general uses of music while chapter three explains the uses of music in the theatre. Chapter four is an analysis of  musical instruments and their uses while chapter five explains the process of producing music for reproductions. Chapter six is an examination of musical notation. It is worthy of note that this work is part of the enlarged work on the rudiments of directing and forms a chapter of the book tiled Rudiments of Directing.

 

 

 

 

 

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CONTENTS

 

Chapter one: Definition and

Origin of Music……………………..           1

 

Chapter two: Importance and General

uses of Music………………………………20

 

Chapter Three: Music in

the Theatre……………………………….. 27

 

Chapter Four:  Musical

Instruments…………………………………48

 

Chapter Five: Music for a

Theatrical Production………………………62

 

Chapter Six: Musical Notation…………..…71

 

Bibliography-…………………… 78

CHAPTER ONE

 

 

DEFINITION AND ORIGIN:

 

Music   has been defined in many ways by many people.  One can say that there are as many definitions of the term “Music” as there are musicians.  This is because each musician and each lover of Music defines Music according to his or her own perception and understanding of Music. Because many people are interested in Music, these definitions are as many and different as their number is high. Some of these definitions are, however, presented in this work to throw some light on the understanding of the word. 

 

 

Music has been defined as the art of combining sounds in a manner  pleasing to the ear (Choo Tony Saleh 1985:25)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

 

 

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This definition has been criticized as one with a very narrow perspective and has allegedly been  understood or taken as one emanating from a western scholar who is not conversant with other musical forms apart from the European. The contention is that since African Music is based on a totally different premise from European music it cannot be correctly defined or explained with European vision, which is often considered (sometimes erroneously) the criteria for assessment. An analysis of other musical traditions that have emerged in recent times has proved that European musical tradition has a peculiar perspective that cannot be used for generalization. 

 

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Looking at the term Music from the African perspective, Francis Bebe (1975:3) opines that African Music, rather than combining sound in a manner pleasing to the ear, aims at expressing life in all its aspects through the medium of sound. He seems to share a similar opinion with John Blacking (1973:89)  who states that:-

Music is a synthesis of cognitive processes

which are present in culture and in human body: the form it takes and effects it has on people, are generated by the social experiences of human bodies in different cultural environments.  Because Music is a humanly organized sound, it expresses aspects of the existence of individuals in society.

Both Francis Bebey and John Blacking give utilitarian quality to Music.  To them, it is not merely an art of combining organized sound for pleasurable purposes.  They believe that Music touches on the life of the people and the affairs of the society.  Blacking adds that:

Music is not a language that describes the way society seems to be but a metaphorical expression of feelings associated  with the way society really is.  It is a reflection of, and  response to, societal forces, and particularly to the consequences of the division of labour in society (John Blacking 1973:104).

 

 

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Choo Tony Saleh (1975:25) explains Blacking’s view as expressed in this definition to be that the society generate a response which become reflected metaphorically in Music.  In defence of this utilitarian quality of African Music J.H.K Nketia asserts that:

----- for the African , Music and life are inseparable, for there is Music  for many of the activities of everyday life as well as Music whose verbal texts express the African attitude to life, his lapses and fears, his thoughts and  beliefs.  Music is said to “sweeten” his labours, to comfort him when bereaved , to keep up his morale at the battle front, to assist him in the worship of his gods.  In short, Music in his culture has a markedly utilitarian function (.J.H.K. Nketia, 1963:4)

 

W.O. Olu-Aderounmu et al (1999:40) also advocated this utilitarian quality of Music when they defined Music as:

A combination of organized sounds agreeable to the ear.  An art, a medium through which one’s mind can be meaningfully expressed.

 

Adolf Ahanotu (2000:1) is of the opinion  that:

Music is the art and science of organized sound.  With the emphasis on organized sound it means that share noise is no Music.

 

He explains that Music has four basic elements which are pitch, duration or rhythm, amplitude or dynamics and timbre.  He argues that Music is a science because it has such scientific  attributes  like Mathematics, Acoustics, Electronics and so on (Ahanotu 2001:4)

 

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A broader definition of Music is given by Fidelia Amaechi. To her, Music is a succession of organized sound that pleases the ear whether  sung or played.  Music is an art Music is a universal language of the soul  because no matter the language used the sound pleases the ear that listens to it.  Music is an organized sound because the artist prepares his mind on what to sing or play.  Every Music has an order of arrangement.  If it is well performed it manifests because it can easily be played or sung as arranged (Fidelis Amaechi 1998:2).

 

This definition agrees with the other two on the issue of Music being an organized sound and also being pleasant to the ear.  The reference to the universality of Music gives a wider scope to the term Music.  The utilitarian quality of Music is however only implied in the assertion that it is used as a language.  This definition therefore looks at Music from a more generous perspective, than the first one that was criticized by Choo Tony Saleh.

 

Amechi explains the term Music further by identifying its characteristic elements which she explains, to include rhythm, melody, harmony, tone, and colour.

 

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF MUSIC

Music is one of the oldest art.  It is believed to be as old as human speech.  Music is believed to have started from the primitive man’s imitation of the sounds of birds and other  natural  phenomena like wind and  flowing streams.  These sounds were later imitated on drums and pipes made from reeds.  It has been observed that:

 

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Most of the drawings and pictures of musicians and their instruments which were discovered among the ruins of older civilizations revealed to some extent, that people must have been making use of musical instruments for a very long time. The rapid growth of Music up to about a thousand years before Christ – the time when the Jewish temples were sounding with singing and large orchestras, could be traced through the pictures found in Egypt and Mediterranean countries.  The various musical instruments such as trumpet, harp, tumbrel, cymbals, organ and stringed instruments used for worshipping to the glory of God were listed in Psalms in 81 and 150. 

 

On Music in Ancient Greece and Rome, F.O. Ogunbayo et al (1999:13) observes that:

The Music of the Christian Church marked the beginning of the history of Western art Music.  People in various fields of work all through the middle ages and even to date, have continually turned back to Greece and Rome for instructions, correction and inspirations.

 

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It should  be noted that the middle ages possessed not a single example of Greek or Roman Music as a result of the fact  that most of the Greek Music discovered in the late periods were in fragments and this made it difficult to know how the Music were meant to sound. In the same vein, there are no genuine and reliable remains of Roman Music.  The tradition of Roman musical practice disappeared at the beginning of the middle ages solely because most of the Music were used for social occasions or with pagan religious activities.  The early church was not  pleased about this and therefore made every effort to remove or destroy completely such Music that would recall abomination to the minds of the faithful followers.  In spite of these moves, some of the features of ancient Musical practice were still noticed in the middle ages because a complete eradication of ancient Musical practice from church Music would have led to the abolition of Music in its totality simply because, the ancient Musical theory was the foundation of medieval theory.    In this respect, if one wants to understand medieval Music he must know something about the Music of the ancient peoples and most especially , the Musical practice and theory of the Greeks.

 

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The Greeks believed that Music has a divine origin and as such associated it with gods and demigods such as Apollo, Amphion and Orpheus who were regarded as its inventors and earliest practitioners. In this wise, people believed that Music had magic powers which could heal sickness, purify the body and mind, and cold perform wonderful miracles.  In the Holy Bible, Music is associated with these similar powers.  For example, it is revealed in the Old Testament that David played the harp to cure Saul’s madness (I Samuel xvi 14 – 23).  In Joshua (6:12-20), it is also revealed that the walls of Jericho fell through shouting and blasting of trumpets. It should be borne in mind that, Music was an inseparable part of religious ceremonies right from the earliest time. Finally, it could be said that the trace left by the Greeks on our Music is a series of Greek names which were borrowed by the early church Musicians to describe the scales or sequences of notes on which their tunes and chants were built.  These scales were called ‘modes’ and they were given Greek names such as Lydian, Dorian, Phyrigian, Aeolian, Ionian, Mixolydian etc.

 

The Christian era witnessed the use of religious melodies like plainsong, plainchants, Gregorian chant and cantus planus.  Explaining the nature of these F.O. Ogunbayo said that:

 

 

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Plainsong or Gregorian chant consists of single melody sung to latin words by unaccompanied men’s voice in a flexible rhythm articulated by means other than regular accentuation in a scale system different  from our major or minor scales. Plainsong or Gregorian chant is the solo unison choral chant of the Roman Catholic Church composed in one of the eight church ecclesiastical modes with time values differing from those which came into Music later.  Plainsong grew up during the earliest centuries of Christianity.  It was influenced possibly by the Music of the Jewish Synagogue and certainly by the Greek modal system.

 

At the end of the fourth century, Ambrose, Bishop of Mila finding a great disorder in the church Music of Christendom, introduced four scales to be used and through this, the repertory was set in order.  At the end of the 6^th century, Pope Gregory again took the whole subject under review by adding four more scales or modes.  The major difference between Ambrosian chant and Gregorian chant is that Gregorian chant has a consistent use of the principle of a dominant or reciting note.  Gregorian chant is also quite definite and more varied because of its greater number of modes. Having been discovered, Music started a gradual but steady development to its present state.  Many periods of its development  can be identified with the main ones being the Renaissance period (1450 –1600), the Baroque Period (1600 – 1750), The classical Period (19750 – 1820), and The Romantic Period (1820 – 1900).

 

The renaissance period was a period of rebirth.  Many have claimed that it was the period when polyphony made the greatest impact hence it was called the golden age of polyphone.  It was within this period that Jacquin des Prez composed his motets, which included  “Ave Maria” and “Hail Mary”.  Other important composers of this period include William Byrd (1543 – 1623) and Giovanni Pierhuigi da Palestrina (1525 – 11594)..

 

 

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The Baroque period is also known as harmonic period.  Baroque is an era of ecstasy and exuberance of dynamic tensions and sweeping gestures.  It is an era of self denial much in contrast to the assuredness and self-reliance of the Renaissance.  This period witnessed many developments in the Music profession.  It has been noted by F.O. Ogunbayo et al (1999:24) that:

Music like the architecture and painting of the time, was majestic and designed on a grand scale.  Several developments during this period brought Music to its modern forms.

One was the birth of the Opera and the other innovation was the Oratorio.The Baroque period brought a new interest in instrumental Music keyboard instruments including Clavies, harpsichord and Organ came into use.

During this period, there was a change in Musical evolution which was known as the “teaching of humanism”.  The humanist doctrine implied the domination of the Music by the texts i.e. the texts became more important while the Music served as subordinate to the text.  The basic principle of Baroque Music was a national device known as either Basso continuo or Thorough Bass and latter called figured Bass.

 

He identifies the Musical forms of the baroque period to include:

 

 

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Sonata de Camera: The Sonata de Camera which is otherwise known as chamber sonata is often synonymous with the suite.  It has four movements derived from the earlier court dances such as Allemande, Sarabande, Courante and Gigue.  It often begins with a prelude.

 

Sonata de Chiesa: the Sonata da chiesa which is also called church sonata is frequently played during church ceremonies.  It is more serious in character than the Sonata de Camera.  The movements bear only speed indications, although they contain elements of dance forms. The order is normally slow, fast (usually fugal), slow, fast (often in  the rhythm of a giga).  Instrumentation was similar to that of Sonata da Camera and the organ possibly replacing the harpsichord.

 

Opera: Opera is play set to Music with solo voices and chorus with instrumental accompaniment, costumes and actions.

 

Oratorio: Oratorio is a biblical story set to Music with solo voices and chorus with instrumental accompaniment but without any theatrical action.

 

Contata: The term is applied to a work for several solo voices and chorus, much like a short oratorio or an opera without scenery or acting.

Recitative: This could be called a song speech or song dialogue.  It is a style of solo vocal composition in which ordered melody, rhythm and metre are largely disregarded in favour of some imitation of the natural inflections of speech.

 

Ogunbayo identifies the important composers of this period to include

 

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Johann Sabastain Bach (1685 – 1750).  He was born in Eisenach in Thuringia, Germany in 1685 in the year Handel was born.  Born of a Musician father, Bach studied Music and was able to compose many works.  These included St. Matthew’s Passion” Christmas Oratorio”,  “St Anne Fugne and many orchestral Music.

 

2. Henry Purcel: He was one of the England’s greatest composers.  He was called the father of English Music and his works influenced those of Fredric Handel tremendously. Handle built on his work. Writing about his works, F.O. Ogunbayo said:

 

 

Purcell composed both church and theatre Music.  The works include Odes for chorus and Orchestra’, ‘Cantatas’, ‘Catches’, Anthems; Chamber Sonatas and keyboard works.  He also wrote incidental Music for 49 plays. He wrote real Opera to the story of Dido and Aenas. Other Operas include, ‘Diocesian’; King Arthur’, ‘The fairy Queen’, The Indian Queen’ and ‘The Tempest’.

 

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George Fredric Handel: Born in Halle Saxony in North Germany in 1685, handle was the greatest Musician of his time.  His Music have stood the taste of time and he is also called the Musician of all ages.  His father did not  initially support his studying Music.  As a result he first studied law, a course of his father’s choice, before he took up a career in Music.  He later became an expert organist and harpsichordist.  He composed about 46 operas – which included ‘Agrippina’, Nero, Rinaldo, and Florindo, F.O. Ogunbayo (1998:27) explains that:

 

His Oratorios include St. Johns passion, Esther, Deborah, messiah, Isreal in Egypt, Samson etc., He composed instrumental Music, such as Water Music, Forest Music, fire work Music, etc.

 

His Musical Styles

He used the formalized Italian style in his operas and much of his Music is Italianated in style.  His operas are used to comment on something of the past (after thought) e.g. “Wherever you walk”, “I know that my Redeemer liveth” etc.  He made use of recitations to get on with a story quickly – describing the actual action as it happened e.g. “There were shepherds abiding in the field”.

 

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