Chief Olufela Obafunmilayo “Fela” Sowande MBE (29 May 1905 – 13 March 1987) was a Nigerian musician and composer. Often regarded as the father of modern Nigerian art music, Sowande is arguably the most internationally recognized African composer of pieces in the European “classical” style.
Early Life
Sowande was born in Abeokuta, near Lagos, the son of Emmanuel Sowande, a cleric and trailblazer of Nigerian church music. As a youngster, he sang in the Cathedral Church of Christ’s choir. He received his education at the C.M.S. Grammar School and King’s College, Lagos. The influence of his father and Dr. T. K. Ekundayo Phillips (composer, organist, and choirmaster) was significant in his formative years. Through Phillips, Sowande was first introduced to European church music such as the works of Bach and Rheinberger. During this period, Sowande was a choirboy and became familiar with new Yoruba compositions being integrated into church services. Under Phillips’ guidance, Sowande achieved the Fellowship Diploma (FRCO) from the Royal College of Organists. Simultaneously, he was a bandleader, performing jazz and popular highlife music.
Career
In 1934, Sowande traveled to London to study European classical and popular music. By 1936, he was the solo pianist in a rendition of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” He also performed as part of a piano duo with Fats Waller, served as a theatre organist for the BBC, choirmaster at Kingsway Hall, and pianist in the 1936 production of “Blackbirds.” In 1939, he played the organ on recordings by popular singers Adelaide Hall and Vera Lynn. Later, he received private organ instruction from Edmund Rubbra, George Oldroyd, and George Cunningham, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists in 1943 and earning the Limpus, Harding, and Read Prizes.
He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of London and became a Fellow of Trinity College of Music. During World War II, he worked as a musical advisor for the Colonial Film Unit of the Ministry of Information, primarily providing background music for educational films and lecturing on music for the BBC Africa Service.
From 1945 to 1952, he served as organist and choirmaster at the West London Mission of the Methodist Church. During this time, he gained recognition as a dance pianist, bandleader, and Hammond organist, performing popular tunes of the era.
He returned to Nigeria for academic work with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation and later the University of Ibadan.
In 1952, Sowande became musical director of the Nigerian Broadcasting Service; in 1955, he was appointed MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his contributions. In 1962, he traveled to the United States on a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship. In 1968, he joined Howard University in Washington, D.C., and later moved to the University of Pittsburgh.
Music
Sowande’s compositions blend Western and African elements, including organ works such as “Yorùbá Lament,” “Obangiji,” “Kyrie,” “Gloria,” “Jesu Olugbala,” and “Oba Aba Ke Pe.” These pieces often reflect a strong influence from Anglican Church music combined with Yoruba pentatonic melodies, appealing to members of the West London Mission of African descent.
His orchestral works, including “Six Sketches for Full Orchestra,” “A Folk Symphony,” and the “African Suite for String Orchestra,” showcase African rhythmic and harmonic traits. The final movement of “African Suite” became known to Canadian audiences as the theme of the popular CBC music program “Gilmour’s Albums” and is now a Canadian orchestral staple. He also composed a significant body of secular and sacred choral music, primarily a cappella, much of which was created during his tenure with the BBC Africa Service.
Nigerian Art Music
Ronnie Graham highlights the “art” music – or the acculturated music of Nigeria’s educated and Westernized elite – as an understudied area, possibly due to its close resemblance to Western classical music. In Nigeria, Graham identifies other composers of Nigerian art music, such as Samuel Akpabot, Ayo Bankole, Lazarus Ekwueme, Akin Euba, Adam Fiberesima, Oakchukwu Ndubuisi, Josiah Ransome-Kuti, and Ikole Harcourt Whyte. Many of their compositions adapt folk songs and traditions to Western classical arrangements and instruments. Similar developments have occurred in Ghana and South Africa.
Later Life
In his later years, Sowande taught in the Department of Pan-African Studies at Kent State University and resided in nearby Ravenna, Ohio, with his wife, Eleanor McKinney, one of the founders of Pacifica Radio. He passed away in Ravenna and is interred in Randolph Township, Ohio.
In addition to his academic role, Sowande held the chieftaincy title of the Bariyo of Lagos. There is currently an effort to establish a center to research and promote his works, as many remain unpublished or out of print.
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