Bɔnkutu music in Okyir festival at Anomabu.

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.