A Suite of Nigerian Songs for Cello Solo and Duet

A Suite of Nigerian Songs for Cello Solo and DuetThis is a collection of five cello solos and four cello duos based on Nigerian folksongs and indigenous hymn tunes. In this collection, there is something interesting for every level of cello performer. The cello solos are easy, while the intermediate and advanced performers would enjoy playing both the solos and duets at concerts and divine services. The theme of the first piece, Ise Oluwa (The Work of the Lord), is derived from a popular Christian

This is a collection of five cello solos and four cello duos based on Nigerian folksongs and indigenous hymn tunes. In this collection, there is something interesting for every level of cello performer. The cello solos are easy, while the intermediate and advanced performers would enjoy playing both the solos and duets at concerts and divine services. The theme of the first piece, Ise Oluwa (The Work of the Lord), is derived from a popular Christian hymn tune ascribed to the father of Nigerian church music, Thomas Ekundayo Phillips (1884-1969). It is herein arranged for cello solo, cello and piano, and two cellos. The second piece, Gbo Ohun Awon Angeli (Hear the Voices of Angels), is based on another Nigerian hymn tune. It is arranged for cello solo and cello duet. Honor Your Mother is a derivation of a didactic song extracted from a folktale, in which children are admonished to honor and respect their mothers, and vehemently discouraged from being rude to their mothers. The principal theme, ÒOmo to mo iya re lÕoju o, osi ni o tÕomo na paÓ (The child that looks disrespectfully at her/his mother, will indeed live a miserable life), is arranged for a solo cello and cello duo. The final piece, The Village Dance, is an exciting, lively, and captivating work based on a Yoruba folksong, ÒOwo o, Omo o, ma mÕomo se ireÓ (Money and children are both desired; I will embrace and revere them). The thematic material is arranged for cello solo and cello duet. It is the most advance and complex of the nine pieces infused with intricate rhythmic patterns, contrapuntal techniques, canonic imitations, and brief transition of tonal centers from the home key of F major at the beginning to D-flat major, B-flat major, and finally finds repose in the home key of F major in measure 89 through the end.