Rhythms of Power: Royal Drumming in Aburi -Akuapem, Ghana
Gelfand, Alexander Lyon
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/85878
Description
Title
Rhythms of Power: Royal Drumming in Aburi -Akuapem, Ghana
Author(s)
Gelfand, Alexander Lyon
Issue Date
2000
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Thomas Turino
Department of Study
Music
Discipline
Music
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Art History
Language
eng
Abstract
Chapter I provides the historical and ethnographic background needed to understand the array of forces that have shaped court music and the chieftaincy in Akuapem since the late 19th century. Chapter II presents an overview of musical activity in Aburi and explains the mechanics of Akan speech surrogates. Chapter III explores the seemingly conflicting attitudes toward innovation and conservation displayed by Aburi court drummers, who fiercely resist change in repertoire and performance practice yet accept it in the realm of performance context. Chapter IV presents detailed ethnographies of three distinct fontomfrom performance contexts in Aburi, including a festival, a royal funeral and a non-royal funeral; while Chapter V examines the various symbolic roles that fontomfrom plays in these different settings, and considers the manner in which chiefs and commoners alike use fontomfrom to achieve specific social goals.
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