Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs

Johnson Akpakpan; Ime Dan Ukpanah

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17

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Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs

Johnson Akpakpan, Ime Dan Ukpanah

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 6)

Received: 18 July 2021 Accepted: 23 November 2022 Published: 8 December 2022

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Abstract

With the linguistic and musical liberalisation of Catholic worship occasioned by Vatican II, there was a shift from the total application of the plainchant and the exclusive use of Latin in the liturgical celebrations globally. This development gave rise to music compositions in the indigenous languages of the locations of these Catholic Liturgical Celebrations. The same scenario is also applied to the Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Setting. However, while the traditional Catholic Latin liturgical songs were lucky to have been anthologised and archived, the post-Vatican II Nigerian counterparts, especially the earlier ones, have not been so fortunate. This paper, therefore, attempts to uncover the factors responsible for the non-preservation of these songs and proffer solutions to the notable absence of the preservation and archival modules for the indigenously composed Nigerian Catholic liturgical songs. The main finding was that there is a dearth of both anthological and archival modules for liturgical music compositions in Nigeria. The paper recommends that to preserve our musical heritage, concerted efforts should be made toward the collection, documentation, and archival of indigenous liturgical compositions in Nigeria.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17
Page(s)	395-398
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Preservation, Indigenous, Nigerian, Liturgy, Catholic Songs

References

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[6]	Kanu, I. A. & Kanu, C. (N.d). Inculturation of Catholic Liturgical Music: Challenges and Prospects for the Church in Nigerian. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https: //acjol.org/index.php/bodija/article/view/2137/21
[7]	Umezinwa, E. (2012). Lee nnukwu ukochukwu. Ezenduka’s musical experiments and tradition. Nimo: Rex Charlse and Patrick Ltd.
[8]	Akpakpan, J. (2018). Toward Standardising Indigenous Liturgical Music Compositions in Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene, Nigeria. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 6, 57-68.https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2018.65005.
[9]	Chukwuneta, R. I; & Agu, D. C. C (n.d.). The Evolution Of Liturgical Music In The Catholic Archdiocese Of Onitsha From 1887 To 2010. Retrieved, November 19, 2022, from Https://Phd-Dissertations.Unizik.Edu.Ng/Onepaper.Php? P=272.
[10]	Ayorinde, O., Talabi, G & A. Okunade, A. (2020). Documenting and Archiving the Nigerian Musical Arts: Notes on Methods, Processes and Practices Journal of the Association of Nigerian Musicologists, 14: 78-91, 2020.
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[15]	Agbo, B. N. (2017) "Inculturation of Liturgical Music in the Roman Catholic Church of Igbo Land: A Compositional Study," Journal of Global Catholicism: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 2. p. 6-27. DOI: 10.32436/2475-6423.1013. Available at: https://crossworks.holycross.

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Johnson Akpakpan, Ime Dan Ukpanah. (2022). Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs. Social Sciences, 11(6), 395-398. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17

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Johnson Akpakpan; Ime Dan Ukpanah. Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs. Soc. Sci. 2022, 11(6), 395-398. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17

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Johnson Akpakpan, Ime Dan Ukpanah. Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs. Soc Sci. 2022;11(6):395-398. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17,
  author = {Johnson Akpakpan and Ime Dan Ukpanah},
  title = {Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {6},
  pages = {395-398},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20221106.17},
  abstract = {With the linguistic and musical liberalisation of Catholic worship occasioned by Vatican II, there was a shift from the total application of the plainchant and the exclusive use of Latin in the liturgical celebrations globally. This development gave rise to music compositions in the indigenous languages of the locations of these Catholic Liturgical Celebrations. The same scenario is also applied to the Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Setting. However, while the traditional Catholic Latin liturgical songs were lucky to have been anthologised and archived, the post-Vatican II Nigerian counterparts, especially the earlier ones, have not been so fortunate. This paper, therefore, attempts to uncover the factors responsible for the non-preservation of these songs and proffer solutions to the notable absence of the preservation and archival modules for the indigenously composed Nigerian Catholic liturgical songs. The main finding was that there is a dearth of both anthological and archival modules for liturgical music compositions in Nigeria. The paper recommends that to preserve our musical heritage, concerted efforts should be made toward the collection, documentation, and archival of indigenous liturgical compositions in Nigeria.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs
AU  - Johnson Akpakpan
AU  - Ime Dan Ukpanah
Y1  - 2022/12/08
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T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
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EP  - 398
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
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AB  - With the linguistic and musical liberalisation of Catholic worship occasioned by Vatican II, there was a shift from the total application of the plainchant and the exclusive use of Latin in the liturgical celebrations globally. This development gave rise to music compositions in the indigenous languages of the locations of these Catholic Liturgical Celebrations. The same scenario is also applied to the Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Setting. However, while the traditional Catholic Latin liturgical songs were lucky to have been anthologised and archived, the post-Vatican II Nigerian counterparts, especially the earlier ones, have not been so fortunate. This paper, therefore, attempts to uncover the factors responsible for the non-preservation of these songs and proffer solutions to the notable absence of the preservation and archival modules for the indigenously composed Nigerian Catholic liturgical songs. The main finding was that there is a dearth of both anthological and archival modules for liturgical music compositions in Nigeria. The paper recommends that to preserve our musical heritage, concerted efforts should be made toward the collection, documentation, and archival of indigenous liturgical compositions in Nigeria.
VL  - 11
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Johnson Akpakpan

Department of Music, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria
Ime Dan Ukpanah

Department of Music, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria

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APA Style

Johnson Akpakpan, Ime Dan Ukpanah. (2022). Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs. Social Sciences, 11(6), 395-398. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17

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ACS Style

Johnson Akpakpan; Ime Dan Ukpanah. Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs. Soc. Sci. 2022, 11(6), 395-398. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17

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AMA Style

Johnson Akpakpan, Ime Dan Ukpanah. Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs. Soc Sci. 2022;11(6):395-398. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17,
  author = {Johnson Akpakpan and Ime Dan Ukpanah},
  title = {Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {6},
  pages = {395-398},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20221106.17},
  abstract = {With the linguistic and musical liberalisation of Catholic worship occasioned by Vatican II, there was a shift from the total application of the plainchant and the exclusive use of Latin in the liturgical celebrations globally. This development gave rise to music compositions in the indigenous languages of the locations of these Catholic Liturgical Celebrations. The same scenario is also applied to the Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Setting. However, while the traditional Catholic Latin liturgical songs were lucky to have been anthologised and archived, the post-Vatican II Nigerian counterparts, especially the earlier ones, have not been so fortunate. This paper, therefore, attempts to uncover the factors responsible for the non-preservation of these songs and proffer solutions to the notable absence of the preservation and archival modules for the indigenously composed Nigerian Catholic liturgical songs. The main finding was that there is a dearth of both anthological and archival modules for liturgical music compositions in Nigeria. The paper recommends that to preserve our musical heritage, concerted efforts should be made toward the collection, documentation, and archival of indigenous liturgical compositions in Nigeria.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sustaining Our Musical Heritage: Towards an Anthology and the Archiving of Indigenous Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Songs
AU  - Johnson Akpakpan
AU  - Ime Dan Ukpanah
Y1  - 2022/12/08
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 395
EP  - 398
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20221106.17
AB  - With the linguistic and musical liberalisation of Catholic worship occasioned by Vatican II, there was a shift from the total application of the plainchant and the exclusive use of Latin in the liturgical celebrations globally. This development gave rise to music compositions in the indigenous languages of the locations of these Catholic Liturgical Celebrations. The same scenario is also applied to the Nigerian Catholic Liturgical Setting. However, while the traditional Catholic Latin liturgical songs were lucky to have been anthologised and archived, the post-Vatican II Nigerian counterparts, especially the earlier ones, have not been so fortunate. This paper, therefore, attempts to uncover the factors responsible for the non-preservation of these songs and proffer solutions to the notable absence of the preservation and archival modules for the indigenously composed Nigerian Catholic liturgical songs. The main finding was that there is a dearth of both anthological and archival modules for liturgical music compositions in Nigeria. The paper recommends that to preserve our musical heritage, concerted efforts should be made toward the collection, documentation, and archival of indigenous liturgical compositions in Nigeria.
VL  - 11
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download