INTERCULTURAL EXPRESSIONS IN THE YORà™Bà NATIVE AIR TRADITION OF REV. CANON J. J. RANSOME-KàšTàŒ

Abstract

The evolution of indigenous Yorà¹bà¡ Church music can be traced to the activism of some pioneer Church men who were passionate about generating appropriate idioms and medium for musical expression. Rev. Canon Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kàºtଠcan be regarded as a progenitor of the Yorà¹bà¡ native air tradition in Christian liturgy. This paper employed the theory of interculturalism in identifying the elements of intercultural expressions in his musical output that formed the appendix of the Yorà¹bà¡ Hymn book Iwe Orin Mimo fun Ijo Enia Olorun ni ile Yorà¹bà¡. His upbringing showcases simultaneous exposure to the worlds of Yorà¹bà¡ traditional and European Church music. Intercultural expressions identified in the song collection of Canon
Kàºtଠincludes documentation, set keys, instrumentation and rhythm, harmonic progression, structural form, as well as open air music performance.