Efferent Verb Team:

Meet Godwin Sadoh, a talented Nigerian composer and multifaceted musician with an extensive background in various musical disciplines. As an ethnomusicologist, church musician, organist, pianist, and choral conductor, his expertise is both broad and deep. Apart from his performance talents, Sadoh is a prolific publishing scholar with over 100 high-quality publications to his name, including 12 books.

Currently, he holds the position of Professor of Music and has shared his knowledge at numerous esteemed institutions, such as Obafemi Awolowo University-Ile-Ife in Nigeria, the University of Pittsburgh, Thiel College in Pennsylvania, Talladega College in Alabama, Golden West College in California, LeMoyne-Owen College in Tennessee, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Interviewer: At the age of 16, you became a school organist and choirmaster. How did you achieve such success at a young age, and what were your initial experiences like leading a choir at Eko Boys’ High School?

Interviewer: What aspects of Nigerian ethnomusicology and organ work inspired you to continue your education in the United States after successfully studying piano, organ, and composition in Nigeria?

Godwin: The traditional, popular, classical, and church music, in Nigeria, inspired me to relocate to the United States for advanced studies in music. Similarly, the organ works of the most famous Nigerian classical musician, Fela Sowande (1905-1987) were a great inspiration to me in Nigeria. I heard some of his organ music performed in Lagos at various services and concerts. It made me determined to be like him. He influenced most of my organ works that I later composed and published in the United States.

Interviewer: Being the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D. in music performance, how has your groundbreaking achievement influenced the music scene in Nigeria?

Godwin: I am thrilled and satisfied that hearing of this feat at home and upon my arrival in Nigeria, this achievement has challenged and inspired many professional musicians at home leading to a large number of young Nigerian church and concert organists.  I am always excited to watch them perform challenging pieces at recitals.  It is also worth noting that quite a number of B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. theses and dissertations have been written on my compositions, including my organ works in Nigerian universities and abroad.

Interviewer: Among your numerous publications, over 100, and 12 books, is there a particular work or study that stands out as especially significant to your creative and academic development?

Godwin: One of my books, Intercultural Dimensions in Ayo Bankole’s Music, topped the bestseller list as No. 1 on Amazon in 2007.  This was one of the highest rewards for an academic author.  Several copies were sold around the world and it has been incorporated into the syllabuses of numerous undergraduate and graduate courses around the world, and it has been referenced in quite a number of scholarly articles in journals, books, and theses and dissertations worldwide.  I was appointed Full Professor of Music shortly after the publication of this monumental book in 2007 in the United States.  Additionally, I also published two other books in the same year.  My second book of utmost significance to the academic development of music in Nigeria is titled, Five Decades of Music Transmutation in Nigeria and the Diaspora (2015).  I succinctly discussedall the musical genres in Nigeria today and broadly categorized them into five major sects—traditional music, popular music, church music, art music, and Nollywood music.  The past fifty years have witnessed tremendous growth and immense innovations.  The book takes us through an odyssey of musical ingenuity from the postcolonial era of the 1960s to the 21st century in Nigeria. 

Interviewer: Your book Intercultural Dimensions in Ayo Bankole’s Music topped the bestseller list on Amazon in 2007. What inspired you to write this particular book, and what factors do you think contributed to its immense success?

Godwin: Intercultural musicology was in vogue at the time in a lot of academic programs around the world, including international conferences. Being aware of this trend, I quickly utilized the opportunity to write a whole book on the life and music of one of Nigeria’s prolific composers, Ayo Bankole (1935-1976).  I employed an intercultural approach to examine the compositions of Ayo Bankole, demonstrating how various cultures in Nigeria and European epochs influenced his creative thoughts.  In the book, I also traced intercultural practices in Nigeria to the pre-colonial era, which I coined as the period of ‘intra-culturalism.’  This was the period of interaction of musical genres in Nigeria among diverse ethnic groups, the Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.  Musical elements, structures, and instruments, from the groups were featured in a single composition.  It was the arrival of the Christian missionaries and colonialists in the mid-nineteenth century that led to the emergence of appropriating musical elements from other nations, particularly the European and American styles, which is termed as ‘intercultural music.’  My idea was novel, hence, many music scholars from around the world were highly impressed leading to a large sale of the book.

Interviewer: You have performed solo piano recitals in various cities such as Kaduna, Abuja, Ile-Ife, and Lagos. Could you share the most memorable moment or experience encountered during one of these concerts?

Godwin: The most memorable experience I ever had at my concerts in Nigeria was at one of the epic concert series of maestro Christopher Oyesiku at the University of Ibadan, southwest Nigeria, in the early 1990s. At that event, I performed the piano works of both Nigerian and European composers. Two eventful scenarios occurred after my performance; first, I was given a standing ovation with a rousing loud applause that lasted several minutes; second, and to my greatest surprise, I became an instant celebrity because of my brilliant performance.  Several people comprising of academic staff including professors and students, came to me at the end of the show to sign autographs for them.  I was overwhelmed with joy and a sense of great accomplishment, which made me conclude that those countless hours I spent practicing on the piano, eventually paid off.  Thus, I held to the saying that, it is good to be very hard-working.

Interviewer: You have instructed various courses and have extensive experience in choral conducting. In your opinion, what critical skills and qualities should a student develop to become a successful conductor, particularly in the field of church music?

Godwin: Be friendly with your choir members while maintaining discipline. Without rules, the whole place will become rowdy.  Set an example in everything you do.  For instance, punctuality should be strictly adhered to.  If the director sets the time of practice at 7 PM, the director should be there a few minutes before that time.  Identify the talented singers and instrumentalists among your singers.  Give opportunities to them to shine at special events such as singing solos, and playing piano or organ at concerts.  The students should pay attention to repertoire from various periods and nations.  In this day and age, most churches love to have multicultural music programs in congregational singing, choral anthems, liturgical sessions, and concerts.  The more experienced you are with music from other cultures, the higher your chances of securing a choral conducting position in the church and schools.

Interviewer: Your repertoire includes numerous compositions spanning various music genres. Could you discuss your creative process and the techniques or philosophical ideas you employ when composing for less familiar or indigenous folkloric texts for the organ?

Godwin: My compositions exemplify the process of intercultural music as three distinct cultures are vividly and copiously utilized in them; these cultures are Nigerian/African, European, and American.  Jazz idiom in some of my early piano works is the major American influence on my music. As regards Nigeria, it could be further broken down to the influence of the Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa cultural traits. In terms of Africa as a continent, I have incorporated elements from South Africa and Ghana into my piano works especially the ten-movement Childhood Dreams.  The Nigerian musical elements are quite glaring in my music because I always want my music to be conceptualized in that way, music written by a modern Nigerian composer.  I deliberately make painstaking efforts to infuse a lot of Nigerian musical flavors into my music.  Hence, I employ Nigerian traditional, popular, and church music resources in my compositions.  Some of these elements are the rhythmic patterns, tonal organizations, parallel harmony, formal structures, timbres, folk melodies, instrumental resources, and indigenous languages as exemplified in my Five Nigerian Songs for Vocal Solo and Piano, Three Yoruba Wedding Songs for Soprano and Piano, and most of my choral songs that are in Yoruba.

Quite a number of my organ works are based on indigenous church tunes, traditional, and folksongs. In terms of tonality, I combine European pitch collections with indigenous Nigerian tonal schemes such as diatonic, pentatonic, hexatonic, and octatonic scales, atonality, as well as the 12-tone row method. For illustration, Memoirs of Childhood for Piano is a three-movement work based mainly on the pentatonic scale. My Nigerian Organ Symphony is largely influenced by 19^th-century French organ symphonic techniques, in particular, Louis Vierne and Charles Marie-Widor. Even though the character, style, and registrations of the five-movement work are influenced by French music, the Nigerian Organ Symphony is infused with distinct African music creative and performance procedures such as scales, ostinati, call-and-response technique, interlocking rhythmic patterns, dance nuances, folk melodies, bell patterns, foot stamping, and hand clapping rhythms. Structurally, the forms of my music range from simple binary, ternary, rondo, theme and variations, sonata form, aria, strophic, through-composed, canonic imitation, and contrapuntal forms to other freestyles.  In the area of instrumental resources, I do conjoin Western and Nigerian traditional instruments, such as the Fisherman Song for Flute and Organ, African Nostalgia for Xylophone, Harmattan Overture for Symphony Orchestra and Nigerian Instruments, Iya Ni Wura Iyebiye for String Orchestra and Percussion Instruments, Nigerian Wedding Dance for Concert Band and Percussion Instruments, and Folk Dance for a Percussion Ensemble of Four Players.

One of my most successful intercultural compositions is The Misfortune of a Wise Tortoise for Organ and Narrator (An African Folktale).  It is a work created to introduce kids to the nature and workings of the pipe organ.  This composition could be regarded as “Nigerian program music,” in which the organ replicates the narrated folk story in sonic space. There are eight short pieces that are actually variations of the original song that goes with the folktale.  Each organ piece is given divers registrations to introduce the children to the various sounds that the pipe organ is capable of producing. I am always excited to hear comments from organists around the world telling me how much they enjoy playing my music and that my compositions are practically different in style from all the other organ repertoire they have ever played. That is so cool to hear.  They could feel the Africanesques in my music. Here are some comments from selected organists and pianists:

i) In a letter on March 17, 2008, American organist, John Abuya, writes: “Dear Dr. Sadoh, . . . Your music is interesting and delightfully refreshing.  I have nothing like it in my repertoire. I am entranced by the authentic African melodies and rhythms.  You can be assured that I will use them in my service playing at church and my organ recitals.  God has truly blessed you with a great gift. . .”

ii) In The Organ, a British journal, August 2008, No. 345, a review of the Nigerian Organ Symphony, Roger Rayner, writes: “Sadoh makes an important contribution to our repertoire in introducing African rhythms and a style of playing possibly unfamiliar to most of us.”

iii) From Michael Vollmer, German organist, Bielefeld, Westphalia: “Godwin, let me tell you briefly about last Sunday.  We had a feast with our congregation, we had fellowship the whole day. My best friend and I lead the Gospel Choir and we sang some songs.  I had your Nigerian Suite No. 2 with me and we were so full of Gospel music that (when everyone was having lunch outside) I pulled out your Suite and started playing.  Of course, I held back “K’a Juba,” this is for tomorrow. 🙂 But I played the last movement, the “Royal Dance.”  My friend grabbed a pair of Bongos and joined me.  It was so much fun, so vivid, so full of life.  We played the entire suite *three times* and hearing us from the outside, people would pop in and listen.  When we finished, the church was a quarter full and your music earned much applause! 🙂 Thank you for this music, it is new to me and although I may not always understand the background, I feel the life and the spirit behind every written bar!” [April 14, 2011].

iv) Stephen Jenkins of the American Guild of Organists, Holland, Michigan Chapter, writes: “I find Godwin Sadoh’s work fun to play and refreshing.  I love the way he uses Nigerian riffs on the pipe organ.  Dude rocks.”  He made this remark after listening to the recording of “Konkonkolo” from Five African Dances for organ solo. [February 24, 2015].

v) E-mail message on February 10, 2016, Italian international concert pianist, Silvia Belfiore, comments on my compositional style: “Your music plays an important role in my repertory. The interest that it arouses is extraordinary.  Your music is characterized by metric mixtures, syncopation, rhythmic counterpoints, and above all, clarity and transparency.  Through your music, I discovered that the process of composing music and creating hierarchies within the voices of a piece is the dichotomy between traditional practicum and modern expressionism.  I can also attest that the public reactions were amazing everywhere I played your music, in any country, and for any type of audience.”

vi) Facebook comment on February 20, 2016, American musician, Daniel Walton, writes, “This is super cool. I’ve never heard these definitely African sounds out of an organ, and it’s such a joyous noise.”  Reacting to Mark Pace’s performance of “Ijo Oba” (Royal Dance) from Nigerian Suite No. 2 for organ.

vii) Chase Castle: “Looking forward to playing selections from Godwin Sadoh‘s Impressions from an African Moonlight. Sadoh is a Nigerian organist, composer, and ethnomusicologist, who offers trans-cultural and exciting modern organ repertoire.” [October 8, 2016].

viii) Monty Bennett: “Godwin, they loved your pieces! You should have heard the applause after the toccata!!!! The best part was that because the consol is turned so the organist looks at the auditorium, there was a camera placed on me and was shown on a big screen at the front of the hall. They could see my feet playing the toccata and the fast pedal work.”  This is a report of the audience response to the Middle-Eastern Premiere of Nigerian Suite No. 1 for solo organ, at the prestigious Israel International Organ Festival 2016-2017, under the auspices of the Israel Organ Association, at the Hecht Museum Auditorium, Haifa University, Israel, on February 24, 2017.

Interviewer: As a composer who has gained international recognition and received prestigious awards such as the ASCAPLUS Award, could you share your experiences in maintaining your music’s uniqueness in today’s globalized world?

Godwin: The way I demonstrate the uniqueness of my compositions is in one word, “ethnic identity.” In all my compositions, I always infused and maintain the Nigerian cultural traits to make them stand out.  I am often tickled to hear performers of my music say to me that, my music is different and sounds different from the Western classical works they have ever known. You cannot successfully play my piano or organ music the way you play Bach, Buxtehude, Beethoven, Haydn, Max Reger, or Mozart. The percussive African performance practice has to be utilized to a great extent to give the rightful and best interpretation of my keyboard music.

Godwin Sadoh expresses his eagerness to participate in new commissions of African Classical Music of all styles. By pursuing such collaborations, Sadoh aims to explore and contribute to the diverse landscape of African Classical Music, further enriching the global music community.

Contact:

Email: sadohgodwin@yahoo.com

Website: www.reverbnation.com/godwinsadoh