Ghanaian Choral Music Compositional Styles: An Appraisal of The Approach of Jacob Paulinus Johnson

Abstract

The paper sought to present a compositional style of J. P. Johnson emanating from a consensus of three of his choral art compositions. The paper also presented a background of J.P. Johnson tracing his musical background, influences and development as an astute Ghanaian art music composer. Data was collected through interviews and music score analysis. The selected songs were analysed to bring to the fore techniques of traditional indigenous Ghanaian music idioms employed in J. P. Johnson’s Wɔnhyɛ Twerampɔn Enyimnyam (Tell Ye the Glory), Wonyi Ewuradze Ayɛ (Let us Praise God) and Da Yi Na Ewuradze Ahyehyɛ (this is the Day the Lord has made). The analytical parameters adopted for the study included melody, harmony, rhythm, and form. The paper examined J. P. Johnson’s exploration of traditional idioms such as call-and-response phrasings, repetition, text-tune relationships, and parallel thirds in his creativity. These compositional techniques depict his cultural belief as an African composer with knowledge of Western music tradition. Keywords: Compositional Styles, Identity, Generation, Choral Art, Re-labelling, and Language.