Ifè: Three Yorùbá Songs U.S. Premiere in San Francisco

NORMAN CAHN

on August 6, 2015 at 6:00 am

It has been 81 years since the premiere of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. The opera’s then-controversial cast of classically trained African American singers questioned the delicate sensibilities of many seasoned concert-goers. However, Gershwin’s work is one of many precedential pieces that define the music enjoyed today. The composer pioneered the fusion of genres—Porgy and Bess itself being a synthesis of jazz, folk song, and operatic arias and recitatives. As such, audiences can no longer follow the evolution of “classical” music through a strict European-tradition lens. It is thus fitting that the July 10, 2015 U.S. premiere of Angélique Kidjo’s Ifè: Three Yorùbá Songs began with selections from Gershwin’s seminal opera. Written in collaboration with American composerPhilip Glass, and performed by the San Francisco Symphony, Kidjo and Glass’s Ifedefies the stalwart conservatism of the “classical” genre, reflecting the triumphant cultural unity of modern times.

The Kidjo/Glass musical trilogy weaves three different Yoruba legends, sacred to the African kingdom of Ife. The three poems, sung by Kidjo in the Yoruba language, are accompanied by Glass’s iconic cyclical, repetitive orchestration. Kidjo’s soulful voice maintained its spotlight in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall—at no point being overshadowed by the orchestra. Indeed, the symphony added a certain precision to the vocalist. Kidjo’s linguistic rhythms, arranged by Glass, intersect with the instrumentalists seamlessly, much like the soloist in a concerto.

Philip Glass – Photo Credit: Stephanie Berger

“Olodumare,” the first of the Three Yoruba Songs, represents creation—a deity responsible for creating the land. The number is a veritable fanfare, commencing explosively with rapid two-note oscillations in the strings. Kidjo is accompanied by a flute countermelody as she declares, translated into English, “There they are, together, lugging a bag on their shoulders. And from this bag a wondrous child is to be born, this bag must birth the World.” This bird-like woodwind timbre soars to carefree heights at the piece’s conclusion with rising arpeggiated figures that join Kidjo’s moving syllabic cries. The sense of togethernessemphasized in the lyrics palpitated in the audience. English-speakers (and those I assume were true Yoruba-speakers) raised their arms in approval, communally sharing Kidjo’s music.

“Yemandja,” signifying a feminine force and the mother of waters, follows “Olodumare.” The song is a slower, lyrical refrain from the first piece—a characteristic common with romantic violin concerto second movements. In particular, I was reminded of the second movement to Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Similar to the Russian composer, Glass introduces Kidjo’s phrases with slowly ascending and descending passages in the woodwinds. However, the meter seems to alternate between 3/4 and 6/8, as the strings frustrate the rhythm with syncopated accents. The calm yet alternating pulse seems appropriate for Kidjo’s water-deity: all of the voices phase in-and-out of each other in flowing harmony. 

Angelique Kidjo

Kidjo concludes Ife with “Oshumare,” a piece embodying the rainbow snake that surrounds the earth, preventing it from falling. Those familiar with Philip Glass’s work will recognize the persistent repetitive figures featured in this number. Persistent staccato in the upper strings are punctuated by syncopated, irregular beats in the lower registers of the orchestra. This steady skeleton structure allows Kidjo’s repetitive proclamation of “Axe, Oshumare” (“I praise you, Rainbow Serpent”) to evoke the concept of perseverance.

Following intermission, Kidjo concluded her performance with selections from her repertoire, several of which appear on her most recent album, Sings. The vocalist, decorated in an array of colors, was a true image of liveliness. Kidjo engaged the audience, emphasizing themes such asfreedom, family, and, most of all, brotherly union through music.  At the conclusion, the performer left the stage to join the audience, microphone-in-hand, wading amongst her admirers. The crowd was ecstatic, as Kidjo embraced her fans. In all ways, Kidjo’s music transcends boundaries—we are all connected universally through song.

Beautiful! See front page stuff.
@ ishilove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=832iQMod-iM

Building Our Own Bridge


One of the most common misconceptions about Africa, my continent, is that its culture and its arts are primitive. It suggests that African art is closest to the beginning of mankind, closer to a time when we were still half-beast/half-man! Why so much ignorance? Would it be because the story of Africa has been told by the Western and Middle Eastern civilizations, who had to dehumanize African people in order to justify slavery?

But the truth is our culture is extraordinarily rich, diverse and beautiful. A few years ago, I was visiting the IFÉ exhibition of Nigerian art at the British Museum in London. I was struck by these magnificent bronze sculptures with very realistic features. When they were discovered in the Yoruba kingdom at the beginning of the 20th century, scientists were so puzzled by their realism that they claimed a Greek tribe must have landed on the shore of the African Gold coast in the 14th century. Such sophistication could not belong to what used to be called the "Dark Continent"!

As a globe-trotting singer-songwriter from West Africa, I have always felt that my mission on this earth was to bring the warmth, the beauty and sophistication of African culture to the attention of the rest of the world. I wanted to fight the preconception of a primitive Africa. On this journey, I have made many musical collaborations with Brazilian, Cuban and American artists. It came naturally because the music of the slaves has travelled so much and influenced the music of these cultures. But through all that, one last frontier always remained: the world of Classical music. It appeared insurmountable because it had been made to embody the essence of civilization and contrasted with the supposed primitiveness of African music.

Then, one day Timothy Walker, the artistic director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, heard me sing in New York and told me: "I am not familiar with the African musical traditions but I love your voice and I think it would be a perfect match with an Orchestra." When he asked which contemporary composer I would like to work with, I told him: Philip Glass. I loved the man and his music and I knew the respect and knowledge he had for cultures outside of the Western world.

And there it was: the idea for the philharmonic piece -- IFE, THREE YORÙBÁ SONGS, which will premiere on July 10th with the San Francisco Symphony -- was born out of a discussion in Philip's kitchen. It was all about the marriage between the mysterious Yoruba legends of the kingdom of IFÉ and the beautiful style of his music, which is like a living organism, constantly growing, moving and developing in a hypnotic way, all of which resembles the trance of my Beninese rhythms.

Philip told me: "Angelique, together we have built a bridge that no one has walked on before." In this world we're living in today, in which every community seems so connected yet so isolated from one another, it is all the more important to build this kind of bridge.

Maybe I am naïve, but I believe music is a powerful tool of social change. Last year in August, on the night Ferguson was burning, during a James Brown tribute at the Hollywood Bowl, I told the crowd: Music has to be the language of the people, has to be the freedom of the people. Now I want you to understand one thing tonight: we're all Africans, so when I say "Say It Loud", please tell me, all of you, it doesn't matter what skin color you think you have, that you are "Black and Proud"! To my amazement, I saw 15,000 people, from all origins, stand up and, caught in the moment, they sung with me James Brown's Anthem: "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." It made me feel so good!

Music has the power of breaking boundaries and unifying people beyond all the barriers we create. IFE, my collaboration with Philip Glass, represents exactly this: we're the living proof cultures are not exclusive one to the other -- they can and they will melt with each other. I hope this piece will change the meaning of "African music" and "Classical music." Their limits are just in our minds. The reason this kind of collaboration hasn't been done before is because, for hundred and hundred of years, the legacy of colonization has made everyone think of African people as primitive and ignorant people. This is the same logic that prevented Jazz music from entering the concert hall for decades and rap lyricists from being considered great poets. But, in the end, when politics fail, art can succeed.

In her famous TED talk, Chimamanda Adiche has warned us that people are easily buying into the single story of Africa. In fact, it's not just about the single story of Africa or the single story of Classical music, it's about fighting the danger of the single story everywhere. It tends to always be "us" versus "them" but I believe, in art, there should only be "us"!

Philip, I'm so proud of the bridge we have built and I encourage everyone to built his or her own.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7736262

Angelique Kidjo sings mainly in Yoruba language (at least 60% of her songs). She has done a lot in promoting the Yoruba-Fon cultures. I came across a selection of her songs while on an intercontinental flight and was shocked that almost all the songs were in a dialect of Yoruba that is peculiar to people living close to Nigerian/ Benin border with Fon and French influences on the tonation.
It is worthy of note that she had a collaboration with Asa on the song titled "Eva" in her album titled Eve. The Beninese icon Angélique Kidjo won her second Grammy for Best World Music Album for her eleventh LP in 2015. Named after Kidjo’s own mother, Eve is an ambitious 13-track (plus three interludes) celebration of female empowerment packed with collaborations from the likes of ASA, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, Dr. John, Kronos Quartet, and choirs from villages in Benin and Kenya.
It seems the Africans in diaspora are more passionate about our cultures and traditions than the ones living in Africa. Her passion for the Yoruba cultures shows no matter where you are located the link will always be there.