Abstract:
Research on festivals and their inherent musical practices in Ghana has primarily
focused on few ones that have been popularised, leaving the others unrecognised. One
of such music festivals deemed to have not been recognised is the Bɔnkutu Music of
the Anomabu people of Ghana. This thesis, therefore, was a study to bring to fore the
Bɔnkutu Music in Okyir Festival at the Anomabu Traditional Area and the musical
practices embedded in it. It sought to highlight its origin, nature, of the inherent musical
practices as well as the effect it has had on the indigenous people of Anomabu. The
study employed the ethnography research design in qualitative research and made use
of purposive sampling procedure to select thirteen (13) respondents who were the main
participants for the study. Interview and observation were the main instruments used in
collecting the data. It was revealed that the Bɔnkutu music with its ideals and the
musical heritage came into existence as a result of acculturation. The ceremony is
characterised with unique musical performance of an ensemble, couples with ritual
activities. The music performed is so exclusive to the people that the performance
cannot be dispensed, as seen differently from other musical performances in the
vicinity. It is, therefore, envisaged that ethnomusicologists, composers, music
educationist and other professionals in the cognate disciplines make the frantic effort
to document the sonic aspect of the music for posterity.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of Music Education,
School Of Creative Arts, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Music Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba.
