Agawu - Music in The Funeral Traditions of The Akpafu

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu
Author(s): V. Kofi Agawu

Source: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Winter, 1988), pp. 75-105
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Society for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/852226
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VOL.32, No. 1
ETHNOMUSICOLOGY
WINTER1988
Music in the Funeral Traditions

of the Akpafu
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
V. KOFI AGAWU
KING'S COLLEGE
In memoriam, Miss Margaret Akpene Adjei
"NTna lo seniu kuwe, fie oresire somoloo?" ("Who laid a mat for him,
so that he slept so deeply?")Withthis rhetorical question, the Akpafu

of Southeastern Ghana initiate a period of public mourning occasioned by
the death of one of their number.1 The philosophic significance of death
in Akpafu culture is twofold. First, it marks the completion of the earthly
cycle of existence, birth-circumcision-puberty-marriage-death.Second, it
opens the door to a higher, spiritual realm in which the deceased, as an
ancestor, takes his place alongside the lesser gods and the Supreme Being
in the higher reaches of the hierarchy of existence. Just as the rites accompanying birth, puberty, and marriage are performed in and through music,
so death occasions some of the most distinctive forms of musical expression
among the Akpafu. This essay describes the music of the Akpafu funeral
with particular reference to the funeral dirge. After giving a brief ethnographic background, I elaborate two models for the funeral, those of a Christian and a non-Christian.Then, using the latter as main framework, I discuss
in 1986 enabled me to collect most of the material
1Afield research grant from EARTHWATCH
on which this essay is based. I wish to thank Alice and Willard Roth, Stephanie Panos Link,
Alice Stein, Florence Vinger, Peter Clark,and Evelyn Deitchman for assisting me in the field.
I am especially grateful to Mr. Solomon Danquah of Akpafu-Todzifor placing freely at my
disposal his extensive knowledge of Akpafu culture. Thanks are also due to Mr. Theodore
Nyavorof Labadiand Mr.G. K. Owusu of Akpafu-Mempeasemfor information about the Akpafu
funeral practices and Akpafu history respectively. In this essay, I have adopted the standard
Ewe orthography for transcribingthe Akpafulanguage, since the latter is not a written language
(see Kropp 1967 and Iddah 1980). Letters not found in the Roman alphabet are designated as
= = ; = d; r = n. Speech tones are, however, not indicated,
follows: v = o; E = e; 5 = 6 6e e;
since that would have made the orthography even more cumbersome. All translationsare my
own.
75
76
Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988
the instrumentaland vocal musics thatshape this event. A concluding section

considers the nature of contemporary changes in Akpafu musical expression.2
THE AKPAFU
The Akpafulive in the Volta Region of Ghana,bordered on the west by

the Volta Lake and on the east by the national border with the Republique
du Togo. They are one of at least ten ethnic groups who live in the central
and northern parts of a region that is dominated by the Ewe-speakinggroup
of Kwalanguages but also includes Guan and Akanspeakers (Hall 1983:1-4).
Political and administrativefactors have encouraged frequent reference to
an inland or Northern Ewe group as distinct from the coastal AnlO or
Southern Ewe. The latter are, of course, well known as keepers of a rich
and complex tradition of drumming and dancing (see, among others, Jones
1959, Fiagbedzi 1977, Locke 1978, and Chernoff 1979), but not their northern
counterparts,whose extraordinarylinguistic diversityremains a majorstumbling block for researchers. There is little published research on the Akpafu.
Apart from linguistic studies (Westermann and Bryan 1952, Kropp 1967,
Heine 1968, Iddah 1980, and Dakubu 1988) there are only passing references
to Akpafuculture (Obianim 1957:5),industry(Dickson 1969:90-91,and Kesse
1985:285-86), and agriculture (Darkoh 1964). Little is known about preeighteenth-century Akpafu history, and virtually nothing has been written
about the music. The present essay therefore constitutes a first attempt to
document one aspect of Akpafuculture.
The Akpafunumber about four thousand3 and live in four villages-Akpafu-Mempeasem, Akpafu-Todzi,Akpafu-Odomi,and Akpafu-Adoko-on a
ridge between the central Togo and Nkonya hills (Westermann and Bryan
1952:97). They have lived there since the latter part of the eighteenth cetury.
In an ingenious but largely speculative reconstruction of Akpafu history,
Owusu 1986 tracestheir ancient lineage to the iron culture in the Kush-Meroe
Empire in Ethiopia.Afterthe collapse of this empire, the iron culture spread
mainly west and to some extent south, reaching present-day Guinea before
turning back through present-day Liberiato present-day Ghana.The Akpafu
2In writing about a little known subject such as Akpafu funeral music, I have resorted to
description rather than interpretive analysis. But no description can be truly neutral, hence
the difficulty of sustaining this ideal stance throughout the essay. Nketia [1955] 1969 is also
essentially descriptive, whereas Hampton 1982 combines description and analysis.
3We cannot be certain about the exact population of Akpafu since no official census figures
exist for Akpafu alone. As recently as 1980, Iddah referred to "an unspecified number of
speakers" (1980: Siw 1) while Dakubu (1987:212) gives the figure 9,000 for all Siwu speakers,
including Lolobi. The figure 4,000 is an informed guess based on Dakubu's figure and several
oral estimates given by the Akpafuthemselves.
77
would therefore have been among the first settlers in Ghana, arrivingat the
same time as the Guans (Kyerepong; Larteh;Efutu;Anum; Gonja; Salaga;
Buems; Likpe; Nkonya; Santrokofi; and Bowiri). They are known to have
served time under the Akwamu, and later, after the fall of the Denkyira
empire, under the Ashanti. It was about the beginning of the eighteenth
century that the Akpafu embarked on a series of migrations that brought
them eventually to their present abode. LeavingAshanti,they first settled in
Akantin before crossing the Volta at Labolabo. Then, after a brief stay in
Tsito, they moved eastwards to Agu (now in present-day Togo) and thence
back to Fodome and Avatime (in present-day Ghana). Their next home was
Kete-Krachi,an important trading center (see Weaver 1975). It is thought
that they learned rice cultivation here. From Kete-Krachithey moved to the
Togo Plateau, locally known as Kube where, organized in roughly sixteen
clans, they lived for nearly a century before moving to their present locations,
a few miles east of Kube.
The Akpafucall themselves Mawu (sing. owu) and their language Siwu
or Siwui.4 Siwu is a subgroup of the Kwalanguage family (Westermann and
Bryan 1952:90-94)and is best known as one of the so-called "Togo Remnant"
(Togorestspracben)or "CentralTogo" languages (Dakubu 1988:119-20).The
precise nature of the interrelationships between these languages is still
unknown, but their broad linguistic features have been isolated. For our
purposes, it is worth bearing in mind that Siwu is not a written language,
that a significant degree of bilingualism characterizes the Akpafuarea, and
that tone (in its lexical, grammatical,and expressive functions) is an important structuralfeature of the language (Dakubu 1988:137-38).
Akpafuis traditionallyan agrariansociety, the iron industry having collapsed since the middle of the nineteenth century. In addition to rice and
cocoa, they cultivate vegetables and a wide variety of foodstuffs. A number
also keep domestic animals like goats, sheep, rabbits,and poultry. Although
there are slight differences between them, the four Akpafuvillages may be
regarded as culturallyidentical. Each village is organized hierarchicallyinto
a chief and elders, various clan heads and clan members. Although this basis
4Iddah 1980 and Dakubu 1987:121 distinguish between Siwu and Siwui as dialects of Siwu
spoken in Lolobi and Akpafu respectively. Siwui itself has dialects, as a comparison between
Odomi and Todzi speakers will reveal. In this essay, Siwu is used only in reference to the
language spoken in the four Akpafu villages. On the origin of the word "Akpafu:"the Ewe
apparently refer, not the language, but to the people by this name. It is thought to be an
onomatopoeic equivalent for the sound of the bellows used in the Akpafu iron industry (i.e.,
"kpafu,""kpafu").As for the word "Mawu,"by which the Akpafu refer to themselves, it is
thought to mean (from the Twi language) "they have died" and to date back to the period in
the eighteenth century when the Akpafuescaped from Akantinand, by means of large gourds,
crossed the Volta. Their Akan masters (in Akantin) assumed that the Akpafu had died when
they discovered this trick!
78
for association remains functional in matters pertaining to chieftaincy, to

the celebration of death, to marriage,and to security, both formal education
and organized religion continue to offer competing bases for association
and self-identity.
Two
AKPAFU MODELS FOR DEATH AND BURIAL
Two overlapping sequences of events mark the rites any Akpafuundergoes when he dies. The Akpafu describe this process as makonu makola
(taking him and hiding him). The differences turn on whether the deceased
was a Christian(henceforth X) or non-Christian(henceforth Y), the former
differences being an essentially twentieth-century development, whereas
the latter constitute traditionalpractice. Figure 1 shows the order of events
for X and Y (cf. the Akanmodel, Nketia [1955] 1969:7]and the Krobo model,
Huber 1963:195-217,both of which follow a similar plan). For the sake of
simplicity, I have assumed that Y is an elderly male who was living in the
village at the time of his death. I have also given specific times for these
events in order to show roughly the time scale with which we are dealing.
Needless to say, the use of clock time is of very recent Akpafuhistory. This
Figure 1. Two Models for the Akpafu Funeral
Model X (Christian)
Item Time
Event
Music
10:00A.M.
Death of X;informkale
Dirges;talkingdrums
3:00 P.M.
Dirges
8:00 P.M.
Preparationfor burial;bathe
corpse
Wakekeeping
10:00AM.
Churchservice
1:00 P.M.
Burial
Hymns;neo-traditionalchoral
music;brassband music
Hymns
Model Y (Non-Christian)
1
10:00AM.
Death of Y;informkale
Dirges;talkingdrums
3:00P.M.
Dirges
8:00 P.M.
Preparationfor burial;bathe
corpse
Wakekeeping
5:00AM.
Dirges
10:00A.M.
"Otruiikpa"ritual
Procession to itri;celebration
of death
"MapeOla"ritual
Burial
Dirges
5:00P.M.
6:00 P.M.
Dirges
Dirges;dance drumming;talking
drums
Dirges;talkingdrums
79
does not mean, however, that the Akpafu either lacked a sense of time or
were lax about it. As with other agrariansocieties, the reckoning of time is
partly oriented towards specific events-planting season, harvestingseason,
etc.-and to specific solar movements. The terms used to identify times of
day are a case in point: kaya (morning); kakome (afternoon); kutswe (evening); kase (night); kase nd6 (the middle of the night); and 6desrd (dawn).
Thus, verbal discourse about the events of the funeral, for example, will
normally refer to a ritual that took place at odesrd or to a dirge sung at kas6
nde.
Item 1 is identical in both models. With X or Y's death at 10.00 AM.,his
family, clan, and other clans (in order of priority) are first informed. The
responsibility for spreading this word falls on mase (fathers-in-law). In
addition to sending messengers, drums are beaten to announce the event
to various clans. There are six clans in Akpafu:Kalesea; Gyakwa;Kpadzia;
Maritei;Matedua;and Masakyiri.All six occur in Akpafu-Todzi,four in AkpafuMempeasem, and three each in Odomi and Adoko. Each clan has a distinct
drum signal that is often used to assemble its members in an emergency.
On hearing this musical phrase, members of the clan assemble on the itri
(village arena). Meanwhile, the first of the funeral dirges, "Nna lo seiu
kuwe," may be heard sung by the women in X or Y's house.
Item 2 is also identical in both models. In preparation for burial, the
children provide a coffin and burial cloth. The digging of the grave, the
preparation of the coffin, and the erection of temporary sheds for the wakekeeping: all these are the responsibility of mafa (X or Y's sister's children).
Meanwhile, the body of the deceased, all the while kept at home, is being
"prepared"for the wake and the burial. Ground cassava juice, a local preservative, is rubbed all over the body, and a bottle of Akpeteshie, a potent
local gin, is poured into the mouth. The bathing and dressing of the corpse
are the responsibility of manyituri ("mothers"),who sing dirges appropriate
to this particularactivity.
Item 3, the wake-keeping, differs in matters of detail for X and Y. For
wake is kept in his home (or familyhome, whichever can accommodate
the
X,
the most people) from about 8 P.M.to midnight. The corpse, now dressed
in traditionalcloth or in his characteristicgarb, is laid in state, and mourners
pay their last respects to him. A service involving Christian hymns, Bible
readings, and testimonies by various friends and relatives takes place, interspersed with neo-traditional choral and brass band music. Punctuating
these formal proceedings are sobs, wails, cries, and shouts, all of which
represent a sanctioned communal expression of sorrow, sometimes genuine,
sometimes feigned, and having as goal the attainment of real or simulated
catharsis.For Y, on the other hand, the wake is built around a set of dirges.
One might hear anything from twenty to forty of these dirges over the span
80
of the wake-keeping. Some of the dirges are specific to certain times of day
or to specific events. "Bekekenyi,"for example, is sung in kase nde (the
middle of the night), while "Boo pepe wenke" is sung at dawn or "when
the morning star is in sight," as its text says. "Itupiee" is sung during the
bathing of the corpse, and "Brebregoro" is sung only at the end of the
funeral. Other dirges, however, are not specific to times or events and may
be sung freely.
Beginning with item 4-the morning after the wake-the two models
diverge significantly. For X, a church service is held, during which a brief
biographical statement is read, mostly outlining his achievements, never his
failures. At the conclusion of the service, the congregation processes to the
Christian cemetery where, after a brief prayer, X is laid to rest (item 5).
These actions more or less complete the cycle for X, although the period
of mourning continues. Item 4 for Y involves a special ritual known as
"Otrui ikpa."This ritual, which takes place at dawn, is designed to find out
whether the deceased died a "good" or "bad"death. The corpse is placed
on a bed of palm branches and carried by two people, one at the head, the
other at the foot. A pestle is then placed against the bed by the person
conducting the ritual. A number of invocations (see Appendix A for the
complete text of this ritual) culminate in the question, "okpi akpii?"("Did
you die?"), to which the corpse, it is believed, responds by either moving
forwards to signify a "yes"answer or sideways to signify a "no" answer. If
Y answers "yes," items 5 and 6 follow. A "no" answer, on the other hand,
would suggest that this was a "bad" death, that the deceased probably
committed kabue (witchcraftor sorcery). In such a case the corpse is taken
outside the village and buried. In the old days, such a corpse was burnt
completely.
Item 5 involves bringing the corpse to itri. Talking drums instruct the
various chiefs, subchiefs and elders to assemble at the village center. Each
clan is then called by its distinctive drum music, so that in due course the
entire village assembles. The mood here is usually one of elation because
Y died naturally (being old) and did not commit kabuO.The deceased is
then brought to itri and seated (masra kpise) on a specially arranged set of
earthenware pots. Note that the corpse is seated during this ceremony; he
does not lie down as he does elsewhere. Intense drumming and dancing,
firing of musketry,and singing of dirges follow for hours in grand celebratory
style. Among the highlights are the dancing of "Opetresu"by a grandchild
of the deceased (who, in Akpafu belief, perpetuates the soul of his/her
grandfather), dancing by various warrior groups (asafo), and dancing by
the chiefs.
Item 6 signifies the end of the celebration. The last prayer for the
deceased is offered in the form of a ritual called map 61la(see Appendix
81
B for the complete text). This prayer, a farewell to the deceased, is interspersed with the singing of a particulardirge, "Kokoadze."Y is then taken
to his home where he is to be buried. When the coffin has been placed
farthest from the opening of a vertical, L-shapedgrave, the vertical column
is then filled with stones. Before the actual burial (item 7), the last of the
event-specific dirges is sung: "Brebregoro" extols Y to go in peace but not
to carryanyof the messages given to him (I shall returnto this point later).
A period of thanksgivingand mourning follows the burial. The day after
Y's burial is a day of thanksgiving;people are sometimes prohibited from
going to farm. For Y's wife, the period of mourning lasts three months,
during which period a prescribed code of behavior is followed. At the
conclusion of mourning, Y'sproperty, including guns, stools, cloth, and land
is distributed to relatives. His debts and the responsibility for caring for his
children are also distributed.
THE MUSIC OF THE AKPAFU FUNERAL
Of all the sounds emitted during the thirty-twohour period from death
to burial, the Akpafuperceive two broad categories as music: abi or drumming (lit. drums, sing. ibi) and sin6 (dirges). (There is a third category, aka,
which does not play a prominent role here-it may be heard during item
3 in X's model-but characterizesother forms of Akpafumusical expression.)
Abi can be heard at three main stages of model Y: item 1, informing various
clans; item 5, "outdooring" the corpse and subsequently celebrating his
death; and item 7, buryingY.Abi assume two generic forms. The first consists
of three event-specific musics, "Otutuo,""Opetresu,"and "Itepere,"which
may be heard at various stages during the funeral (see below); the other
exemplifies the widely-known practice of using drums as speech surrogates
(see Carrington 1949 and Nketia 1963a and 1971).
The first of the event-specific abi to be heard is "Otutuo,"which accompanies the conveying of Y to itri (Example 1 is a transcriptionof a segment
of this music.)5 The instrumentalensemble consists of a bell (Ewe gakogui),
two middle-pitched drums, and a pair of atumpani (talking drums). Its
functions display the familiar hierarchic organization found in other West
Africandrum ensembles (see Jones 1959:51-71).The bell maintains a pulse
or density referent, while the middle-pitched drums expose rhythmic and
tonal patterns that reinforce and at the same time amplify the bell pattern.
Taking a metronomic cue from the bell and incorporating some of the
5In transcriptions of instrumental music (Examples 1 and 2), the notes given do not represent
specific pitches; they reflect only a normal high versus low. Bar lines indicate normal grouping
but not accentual patterns (see also Agawu 1987:70-72).Bracketsmark rhythmicpatterns,which
may also be regarded as the higher level units of rhythmic organization.
Example 1
Excerpt from "Otutuo," Akpafu Funeral Music
J= 156
Bell
A I
Middle
j4
*4t.6hAi-I.,i
4
Drum
Talking 4
Drms
-4-
j1
J
I
II
I I
I I
II
J-J
II
II
I,I
.
I
,
,
,I
Talking drum variants:

Variant 1
I
Ij
vI
Variant2
Ai^
1,
IP1
Variant3
1I
e;
_ 27
-
!
.
i ,7
_...
Variant 4
,4
'4I1
y,Cn
-
ms
83
rhythmic ideas exposed by the middle-pitched drums, the atumpani deliver

a set of stock phrases which also form the basis of occasional improvisation.
Example 1 gives four such phrases (labelled "variants")which may substitute
for, or combine with, the phrase given in the third line of the transcription.
How do the Akpafuperceive meaning in "Otutuo?"Despite the presence
of atumpani and therefore the potential for an iconic mode of signification,
the mode of drumming utilized in "Otutuo" involves a conventional or
"arbitrary" relationship between its signifier and signified (Saussure
1959:67). The patterns of the individual drums are recognized, not because
they reproduce the tonal and rhythmic patterns of speech, but purely by
conventional association. Some Akpafu, however, allude to an element of
iconicity in the fast and relentless pulse, and the (contextually) high and
piercing timbre of the bell. This is the same instrument used by the town
crier when he does his rounds, but whereas his signal, sharp as it is, is
heard for ten or fifteen seconds only, that of the "Otutuo"ensemble continues for a period upwards of half an hour. While the former simply arrests
the attention of the Akpafu, the latter, by its temporal extent, suggests an
extraordinary event. On hearing this, the Akpafu'simmediate response is,
"Be lo broe?" (lit. "Whathas come out?"or fig. "Whathas happened?"),and
they are at once aware that it is a tragic event.
"Opetresu" and "Itepere" share many of the structural features of
"Otutuo.""Opetresu"is beaten (sa in Siwu) during item 5, when the corpse
is seated at itri. At this time, a grandchild of the deceased, carried shoulder
high, takes center stage and dances, carving slow, restrained and dignified
movements. Example 2, an excerpt from "Opetresu,"shows the similarities
between it and "Otutuo." Not only are the ensembles identical, but the
individual patterns, although different from each other, display the same
hierarchic relationships within each ensemble. "Itepere,"a warrior dance,
may also be danced during item 5. It, too, uses the same ensemble as
"Otutuo"and "Opetresu,"but its rhythmicpatternsare differentlymotivated:
Example 2
Excerpt from "Opetresu,"Akpafu Funeral Music
J= 140
Be ll
r7 I:
r2
Middle
Pitched
Drums
Talking
Drum
6'
L7
fr-T
5: J~l -r^r3 Ii
t
ItIIt r
rlz~J~
ftt-r ,-f'
I
L
..
84
they are based on Akpafu war strategies. Although this dance has now
assumed a stylized form, it is believed that in times past it accompanied
Akpafuwarriors to the battlefield. Its rhythmicpatternsthus comprise coded
military secrets (cf. the AnlI Atsiagbeko,which also exploits stylized movements associated ith war, Locke 1978). For example, the phrase, 'Mibodzo
brebre"[ J[J) J J ], instructs the fighters to assume a low position so as
not to be seen by the enemy. The mode of signification here is part iconic
and part conventional, iconic because the drums reproduce the patterns of
speech, and conventional because the significance of the signifiers has been
agreed upon prior to their actual use.
The second generic form of abi consists of the various messages sent
to the chiefs, subchiefs, elders, and clanspeople. These may be heard during
item 1, where the atumpani call out to various elders to assemble on itri.
In Akpafu-Adoko,for example, the message given in Example 3a tells the
Mankrado or the chief administrator(lit. "the man who owns the town")
that he is wanted. The sense of the text, which is in the Twi language, may
be paraphrased as a rhetorical question: "stoop somewhere, spoil (i.e.,
defecate) some place; is there a land which does not have an owner?"The
Mankrado recognizes this as his code-this is a purely conventional mode
of signification-and responds accordingly. Similarly,certain elders in the
same village are summoned by "OdomankomaKyerewa"(Example 3b). It
will be obvious to the reader that not all these codes are accessible to the
public, since that would defeat the purpose of having such a language in
the first place.
One of the most striking aspects of this practice of talking drums is that
the language used throughout the Akpafu areas is not Siwu, their own
language, but rather Twi, the language of the Akan peoples. In addition to
names, customs, and vocabulary, the Akpafu have retained this aspect of
Akan culture presumably since the eighteenth century when they first came
into contact with them. Although a few Akpafuspeak Twi, the majoritydo
Example 3
Talking Drum Signal to Mankrado of Akpafu-Adoko
Speech rhythm
2i
Ku-tu
be
bi,
'
r
Sai -
J
be
r
-
'
bi,
' SrH
DNr~r
0
- mafiwo
ho a,
o - wo wu-ra
Speech rhythm
do-man-ko-ma
Kyere-wa
0 - do-man-ko-ma
Kyere-wa
85
not; nor do the drummers who "speak"in Twi, even though they are able
to recite the Twi phrases almost as mnemonic devices.6
By far the most important music heard during the Akpafufuneral is the
dirge. Sung exclusively by adult women, the dirge forms the heart of the
event. In it, speech (including oral poetry), music, and dance, the three
most distinct forms of Akpafurhythmicexpression, are combined. Its speech
and poetry make evident the central place of metaphor in Akpafu literary
expression, while charting their particularworld view; its melodies exploit
both speech-based and nonspeech-based rhythms,unusual pitch collections,
and a preference for polyphonic fourths not normally encountered in this
part of Ghana;and its performance strategyincludes a remarkable exploitation of silence, not merely as a boundary limit to music, but as an integral
part thereof. In addition to wails and cries, the total Akpafu dirge thus
assumes the form of what might be called a total art work.
What do the Akpafu say in their dirges and how do they say it? The
essential verbal expression of the dirge carves a cosmology similar in outline
to that of other Ghanaian ethnic groups (see, for example, Nketia [1955]
1969 on the Akan,Gaba 1969 on the Anlo-Ewe, and Kilson 1969 on the Ga):
a belief that death marks the divide between two forms of life (hence a
belief in life after death) and that both forms of life are regulated by a
conceptual hierarchy of Beings who remain active within each community
in their various material or spiritual forms. Differences occur in the kind
of metaphors used to articulatethis larger world view. Inevitably,the Akpafu
draw on features, both physical and cognitive, peculiar to their own environment.
The main philosophic thrust of the dirge is making sense of death
through reflection, through extrapolation from the materialworld in which
we live, and through speculation about the spiritual world towards which
we move daily. Actual references embrace the entire gamut of existence
including humans (children [usuallychildren of the deceased]), nonhumans
(plants, rivers, domestic and nondomestic animals), and spirits (ancestors,
lesser gods, and the Supreme God). Questions are often used to frame
those profound experiences that mortal man is unable to explain. Thus the
inevitabilityand seriousness of death are captured in the rhetorical question,
"Who will not be bathed by the death sponge?" ("Nna lei ya pie kukpi
sapo?").The chilling, descriptive, "deathsponge," conflates the dual images
of a daily practice and the unique activityof physically washing the corpse.
6The influence of Akan talking drumming on the Northern Ewes is a subject that needs further
investigation. Among the towns or villages in which this practice is current are Ho, Matse,
Ziavi, Klefe, Peki, and Avenui. There are doubtless several others which I have not been able
to verify.
86
Another rhetorical question, "Whathave we come to this (long) world to

come and eat?"("Be bo ba kayi ga dzololo bo boa di bo de iye?")confronts
the balance in our activityon earth, using "eat"to denote consumption, not
only of food, but of life. A third rhetorical question puts the mourner in
center stage; asking "Who will I tell it to?" ("Nnade l'ayere?"),the singer
seeks a sympathetic ear. In its most direct and immediate form, questioning
turns to the deceased: "Whyhave you called me to talk to me at the center
of the village?" ("Lo bra 0 be aro me kaye i itri nde?"). Here the implied
opposition is between the customary discussion of serious things in private
and the forced confrontation of perhaps the most serious thing of alldeath-in public.
Among the metaphors most frequently used in the Akpafu dirges are
those associated with travel, the transfergrowing out of a literal reading of
death as passage from this world to the next. The deceased is asked to
extend our greetings to the people in the other world: "Whenyou get there
we greet them" ("Si awo bo yama").This is also the phrase used in everyday
language to take leave of someone embarking on a journey. Or, "The river
is very full; let them place the raft on it and come" ("Owere ooyi lelele,
masia kuae si maba"). Here the belief is that the other world is "beyond
the river;"therefore going there entails crossing the river. Metaphors for
death include disease (for which man has as yet not found a cure)-"There
is a certain illness (whose) medicine does not yet exist" ("Onye 0 pia, kua
e kuna")-sleep ("He slept deeply") ("Oresire somoloo"), and a fall
("Fatherslipped but did not stand") ("Tete 'turane wuiya"), this last mirroring aspects of Akpafu physical geography, complete with streams, rivers,
and rocks.
Finally, a number of expressions in the Akpafudirge capture the attributes of the deceased. "Fatherwho killed crocodiles" ("Tete odue malege")
describes a successful hunter, the word for crocodile being a generic term
for other wild animals, and "My mother knows very well how to cook"
("Mmaye tututu,mma ye iwa") testifies to the culinaryabilities of a departed
mother.
Example 4 offers a transcription of "Nna lo sfiu kuwe?" ("Who laid a
mat for him?), the dirge that initiates the period of mourning. Discussion
of the features of this event-specific dirge will serve to introduce the main
analyticalissues raised by the genre.7
7Aword about the decisions taken in transcribing the songs is in order here. There are two
broad categories of dirge, those that use an unmeasured speech rhythm, and those that fall
into clear measured organization (see Nketia 1963b). In the case of the latter, the referential
meter or basic "feel" is a "dissonance,"a three-against-twoeffect. I have not encountered triple
meter anywhere in Akpafu although triple effects within a basically duple meter are the rule.
This is why my transcriptions are given in duple meters, a decision which I believe reflects
the qualities of the songs. As indicated in footnote 5 above, the use of bar lines denotes
87
The dirge is cast in the familiarA-Bor call-response form. The A section

is longer, is sung solo, and its contents are variable, while the B section is
shorter and repetitive, is sung by the chorus of women, and has a relatively
stable content. A typical performance consists of an alternation of A's and
the performance always begins
B's to yield the succession A-B-A-B-A-B-A-B;
with A and concludes with B. The function of A is to introduce and elaborate
(through verbal and musical improvisation) the theme of the dirge. For
example, after posing the question "Wholaid a mat for him?"("Nna lo seniu
kuwe?"), the lead singer continues with one or more stock phrases, such
as "Be bo ba kayi ga dzololo bo boa di bo de iye?"("Whathave we come
to this [long] world to come and take and eat?").Then the chorus responds
in the B section, restating the main musical idea of the A section (which
also embodies the main sentiment of the dirge) and amplifying it by means
of nonverbal punctuation (wails, cries, and shouts) as well as verbal expressions motivated by this particular dirge. In practice this is achieved by
concentrating the particularized verbal expression in music-temporal gaps
between the individual phrases of the response (hence the fermatas over
rests in Example 4). The effect is quite extraordinary:a phrase of music,
followed by what seems to be an interminable musical silence, followed by
another phrase of music, and so on.
It would be simplistic, therefore, to describe the Akpafu dirge as a
"song." As mentioned earlier, the Akpafu do recognize song (kuka), but
they use the term sino for dirges. This is because the dirge is more all-encompassing than song. Although not formulated as such by the Akpafu,the
dirge may be described as a combination of singing (sino idi), normal
speaking, and a kind of sprechtstimme(midway between speech and song);
it is as if the three forms of vocalization existed in a continuum whose span
the singer explores freely. In addition, the actual performance involves an
apparently patterned body movement. The women walk back and forth at
an agitatedpace, their palms placed over their heads (the traditionalsymbol
for expressing personal loss) as they wail and shout. The dirge, then, is the
totality of these various utterances and movements.8
grouping but does not carry any inherent accentual patterns. In the transcriptions,the sign x'
indicates a spoken word, while' denotes a breath mark.Accidentalsin the ametric transcriptions
apply only to the note they precede.
8The multiplicity of subgenres implicit in the Akpafu dirge describes a performance strategy
characteristic of other Northern Ewe genres and one which may well provide a valuable
framework for understanding other forms of rhythmic expression in Northern Eweland. In
Glitoto (storytelling), for example, narration (speech) is combined with song and dance in a
way that emphasizes both the multi-dimensionality and at the same time singularityof purpose
in the performance. In other words, the full generic texture is always a single voice which,
however, assumes different forms. Another manifestationof this practice is in the art of pouring
libation, where, in places like Ho and Akpafu,an arhythmic clap (or sometimes bell pattern)
and several verbal appellations are combined with the main narrative-the prayer.
88
Example 4
"Nna lo senfukuwe?,"Akpafu Funeral Dirge
SOLO(A)
Speech rhythm
seiu ku - we
Nna lo
1$. 2
hA
Kpe se
kpe se
ne
me
Nnalo seiiu ku we soo
Nna lo
sefu ku
0 - re-
soo
so,
D ,,.
2)
h
Av
=. v
ku - ye - re
ku - de
te,
Goi-
soo
te-
to
soo
0-wo bo kpa m'o_ du-duu a nya ee
O-re-si-re?
we,
re
si-
0 - re- si - r
Te-te!
so-mo-l1o?
CHORUS(B)
e^^-.
a,_.a
,
-v-
Nnae lo seiu ku we ee_
?^Jt_^~*7
^73
Nnae lo senu ku
we
O-re si-re oo
w1
0-
re-si - r
re-si-re ne?
^1
so mo 166?
In his study of the Akan funeral dirge, Nketia argues that "performing
the dirge is essentially a linguistic activity"([1955]1969:113). To the extent
that an identifiable body of texts (dirges) is realized in performance during
the funeral, the Akpafu dirge may also be characterized as an essentially
linguistic activity.Quite apartfrom the performance stance mentioned above,
however, the structuralprocedures of the Akpafudirge do not always show
a precedence of linguistic factors over musical ones. There are dirges whose
structure is influenced mainly by the phonological aspects of speech; others
show an affinity with the semantic aspects. And there are still others in
which a melodic phrase remains invariantwhile elements of the text change.
These factorsmake it necessary to consider each dirge as a separatestructure,
highlighting significantfeatures,and leaving the full development of a theory
of Akpafumusical expression for a later date.
The fact that the predominant expository mode in "Nnalo sefiu kuwe"
is syllabic suggests that the music follows closely both the rhythmicpatterns
89
and tonal inflections of speech. The successive durations in Example 4

correspond to those of normal speech (see Agawu 1987:405-08for further
discussion of speech rhythm). Similarly, melodic contour follows the intonational contour of speech quite closely. Notice, however, the word soo,
which occurs four times during the A section. This word has no meaning;
it is an intensifier or interjectoryparticle. It has no precompositional musical
attributes.This makes it ideally suited to function as a resting point for the
singer. The fact that each of its four appearances is on the same pitch points
up its musical as well as articulativefunctions. The analyticalmethod already
involves a juggling of linguistic and musical possibilities.
It is not at all clear whether the Akpafuperceive specific pitches (like
the ones given in Example 4) or whether they perceive contour as a primary
parameter,with pitch as a secondary or dependent parameter.Although not
all of them display this structure, a number of the dirges analysed in this
essay utilize the archetypaldescent noted by other writers on Africanmelody
(Nketia 1962:41;Jones 1976:127; and Ekwueme 1980:92). They begin on a
high pitch and descend gradually, reaching the lowest pitch at or near the
end. Such a contour, while not pitch-specific, implies a relational pitch
structure.Akpafuaesthetic discourse, however, recognizes effects generated
by pitch activity. They are apt to say of a given performance that "Kuka
okpase" (lit. "the song fell down," or fig. "they sang out of tune"). The
Akpafualso recognize good and bad vocal technique, saying of a particular
singer, "6 silo iile" ("his/her voice is not good"). Registral placement is
conceptualized in terms of height: "KukaOfei kpage" ("the song is too
high"), used where the song taxes the upper extremes of a singer's vocal
apparatus.And the instruction "Mikloe silo" ("raise the voice") is used to
elicit both higher (in terms of pitch) and louder (in terms of dynamic)
singing. There are also expressions which only indirectly refer to pitch.
"Tregu kuka"which means "to run away with the song," is used when one
section of the chorus accelerates the tempo. Akpafu also have words for
various parts of a song, one of the most revealing being "kawrik6"which
refers (literally) to the place to throw things away, i.e., the end of a composition. The question of endings in dirges is an interesting one because, given
the social function and performance practice of the dirge, one might say
that a dirge never really ends. The idea that one throws away its end may
also explain the frequent use of diminutive rhythms at the end of a dirge
(see below) and the gradual fall in pitch on every prolonged last pitch.
One consequence of the acceptance of pitch as a viable, if not primary,
parameter is that the nature of the pitch collections used in the Akpafudirge
can be seen to exploit tendencies not commonly found in the music of
other Ghanaian groups. The Akpafu have no word for scale, nor do they
distinguish between tendency notes. The fact, therefore, that the collections
of notes represented in the dirges resemble the pretonal modes of Western
90
music may be entirely fortuitous. But the absence of vocabularyis not proof
that a particulareffect does not exist, for if it is articulated(nonverbally) in
performance then it should be possible to talk about it. In particular,a lot
of the dirges discussed here finish on C, showing a clear tendency towards
that note, and often including the raised fourth above it. We shall later see
that each C and the G below it are either sounded simultaneously or are
conceived polyphonically as equivalent. More than that, the resulting fourth
is found in several of the other dirges as the characteristic harmony, but
one that is used only occasionally. Its single occurrence in the B section of
Example 4 is noteworthy in this respect.
Examples 5a and 5b contain transcriptions of a pair of dirges which,
although functionally interchangeable, display contrasting musical features.
"Itupiee"and "Okwaisa"are sung during the bathing of the corpse. "Itupiee"
asks the wives (or womenfolk) to bathe the corpse. Like"Nnalo sefiu kuwe,"
it is cast in an A-B form, exploits the rhythm of speech and no set meter,
and is marked by a raised fourth above the closing pitch, D. "Okwaisa,"on
the other hand, poses the rhetorical question, "Whowill never be bathed
by the death sponge?" ("Nna lei ya piee kukpi Okwaisa?")(fig., "who will
never die?"). It consists of several repetitions of this phrase, clothed in the
same rhythm, but in different pitch contexts, the whole centered on C. In
addition to a set meter, "Okwaisa"also exploits harmony in several places
in the song. These features give it a dancelike quality-indeed Akpafuperforming practice correlates the feet movement with the two stresses in each
2/4 bar-that contrasts sharply with the speechlike character of "Itupiee."
Where "Itupiee" exploits strategic silences, "Okwaisa"fills in all of its silences.
In spite of what would appear to be unmistakable musical differences
between these two dirges, they are perceived as the same by the Akpafu.
Asked about the relationship between the two dirges, the Akpafu often
respond, "Ne ame ide ne" ("It is the same thing"). This observation gives
rise once again to questions about how the Akpafuperceive musical structure. There seems to be little doubt that in the case of this pair of dirges,
the response is primarily to the text and its meaning, the elements that
define their social function. Singing about bathing the corpse is what matters,
not whether such singing is in free or strict rhythm, or is with or without
harmony. At the same time it would be a mistake to underplay the clearly
articulatedmusical differences, for what they point to is a wider conception
of musical equivalence or rather a different conceptual hierarchy in the
definition of the elements of "music."There are after all enough points of
similarity in the way the dirges are performed to establish one level of
equivalence. This enables the Akpafuto take for granted a presumed equivalence between the apparently opposed musical procedures, most notably
that between free and strict rhythm.
91
Example 5a
"Itupiee," Akpafu Funeral Dirge
SOLO(A)
Speechrhythm
i, . Jr ';
tu - piee o
I -
boa di
bo
Ka - de
ma-re
I:
v
ka - yi
ba
I - tu -piee
ka-de
Ka-de
ku
tu -
dzo-6l-
lo
ma - re
mma 6 bi
ee,
ma-re mi pienu du mi- ta - me
mi
mi - ta -me
pienfudu
^^
Ee
ga
i - tu - piee
Te -te
mi - ta - me
i - tu piee
i tu piee
Ee_
bo
T" I N
mi pienu du
CHORUS(B)
Ee
Te-te!
so be
i - yei?
" WJ4' , ;
lO;"
;h ;h
i - tu - piee
de
bo
DJ
Ee
pie
tu -
II
piee!
Example 5b
"Okwaisa,"Akpafu Funeral Dirge
J= 120
SOLO(A)
1IJ
ri^J1I-JPJxJ
Nna lei ya
o-kwa-i
pie_
sa?
Nna lei ya
^CHORUS
-Qn--,
sa
Nna lei
--pie
I 1;
XJX
O-kwa-i
sa
J ypi
-k
Nna lei
pie
pie?
kw O-kwa-iai
sa
Ni
ya
po?
ya
pie
O-kwa-i
sa?
nna
lei
ya
_,_
_ -W.}-1
Nna lei
0-kwa-i
pie?
(B)
ya
MA
Nna
ku - kpi
74 Nna
lei ya
pie?
lei
pie?
ya
sa
92
My final example of an event-specific dirge is "Brebregoro" (Example

6) which, as a rule, is the last dirge to be sung before the deceased is buried.
Only in its use of third sonorities in the B section does it differ from
Examples 4 and 5a, dirges whose formal patternit replicates.The significance
of this dirge lies in its socio-religious function. Its message may be paraphrased as follows: "Althoughwe said it and said it, we did not really say
it."In other words, the mourners dissociate themselves from any pronouncements made during the period of mourning that are likely to disrupt their
lives. For example, messages to the ancestors to the effect that they have
been missed and therefore that they should come back could, if delivered,
result in the return of some ancestors in the form of spirits to haunt the
living. "Brebregoro"nullifies the effect of such messages. Statements made
by mourners that they want to go with their departed dear ones also come
under this category. In singing "Brebregoro,"the mourners perform a double act of ritual: they are not only sending the deceased off but are also
asking consequently for protection. The significance of "Brebregoro,"therefore, is to ensure that while no restrictions are placed on the content of
verbal utterances motivated by death, only those statements unlikely to harm
the continuity of life are legitimatized in the end.
Since the main analyticalissues raised by the Akpafudirge do not differ
significantly from those raised by dirges not tied to specific occasions, I
shall confine my discussion of the latter to brief commentaries on four of
Example 6
"Brebregoro,"Akpafu Funeral Dirge
SOLO(A)
Speech rhythm
Ma-ye
MioD-
ma-ye,
mai ye
L D D isoa- 1
ne,
moe a kpi bo
Te - te
Si a wo
Bo i - ye
ma - ye,
mai
mai ye
ya
Ma-ye
ta
baa kpi, Fie
D t'66
D ndzo JI
ne
CHORUS(B)
s6
bo
tt
bue
Ma-ye
^t
Bre - bre
gro_
ma- ye
mai
Ma - ye
ye
ma - ye
Bre bre gro
93
them. The aim here is to show the breadth of musical expression in Akpafu
and to provide a framework for comparative analysis.
Examples 7 and 8 offer transcriptionsof a pair of dirges that exemplify
the same sort of equivalence noted in connection with Examples 5a and
5b-although perceived as different dirges on the basis of their subject
matter, these two dirges are structurallyalmost identical; they are in fact
variants of each other. The text of "Nnade l'ayere?"("Who will I tell it to?")
(Example 7) repeats this basic question throughout. The gravity of the
situation is great, yet the singer cannot find a confidante. The paratactic
structure enables a listing of the relatives she does not have: there is no
6nyire (maternal relative), no osere (paternal relative), and so on. The
spoken interjections intensify this message with phrases like "Kuwe sii na
Example 7
"Nnade l'ayere?,"Akpafu Funeral Dirge
J= 126
SOLO(A)
J . . l'a - .I
._Jye - re?J
L
Ku-we
Nna-ae
i e j
ye- re?
jJ
i Jj'T.
na me ne
i
0
ni
se-re
na
nnade
l'a
ye-re
loo?.
j l.T-
'
1
ye - re?
O-nyi re
Nnade
ni
l'a - ye - re?
Oe-se-re
Nna -
l'a -
nna-de
I
l'a -
.j -^
i 1 j
me, ne
Nna-de
Nna-de
l'a-
B)
A-
Nna-de
ye - re'"
1CJ
Ji
CHORUS
ye- re?
;;
$
ij
na me, ne
na
me, ne
ye - re?
'a -
na - me ne Nnna-de
O-nyi-re
nna-de
l'a
de
ye
re
Nna - de
l'a
ye
r.
A-
ye - re
loo?
I'a-
A-
94
Example 8
"Gake so to kle," Akpafu Funeral Dirge
J= 120
SOLO(A)
J
ke - Ie
epL-k
Ga - ke so
4 jr
Ga - ke so
@ T
;
to
jA
ke - le
ne,
ke
so
to
lo_
lo
A
A
-e
J J
so
ke -
O-nyi-re
so to
0-se-re
le
ne,
Ih
j
Ga-
ke
I
s6
, t I1; 1j
G-kest
Ga - ke
A-
e
na
so
to
to
1. $^
J;
IJ
to
ni,
so
Ga-ke
ni_
j-l
ke - Ie
o,
ne, Ga - ke
s6 to
ke - Ie
CHORUS(B)
A-o
Ga - ke
t4 I 1. A i jJ
kke- id
le
Ga-ke
ni,
na
[1i
kCe-eI
A-o
Ga-
ka
I J
a nj -k s t
na
na-ne,
O-se-re
o,
;; j j
ke - Ie
to
to
11
II
ke - le
m'aayere nfulo, Tete!" ("There is no one left to be told, father!").In "Gake

so to kle" (Example 8), the singer explains how, in spite of protests from
close relatives, the deceased insisted on leaving this world. As in "Nnade
l'ayere?,"some improvisation is evident in the listing of kinsmen, each of
whom protested the departure of the deceased.
Pitch collection, metric-rhythmic structure, and performance strategy
are roughly identical in the two songs. The occasional use of fourths is also
entirely characteristic. In addition, both songs demonstrate a process of
melodic variation which may be illustrated with reference to "Gake so to
kle" (Example 8a). The melodic substance of the dirge is arranged in two
paradigms, A and B. Paradigm A is marked by identical text and nearly
identical rhythm.The elements of paradigmB principallycontrastwith those
of A
95
The main implication of the process of melodic variation shown in

Example 8a is that musical factors sometimes exert greater priority on
structural organization than linguistic ones. Without going into the details
of, for example, the relationship between speech tone and melody, it can
be surmised that since the phrase "Gakeso to kle" has a fixed speech-tone
contour (shown in the example), that contour cannot be the principal determinant of melodic structure. In fact not once is there agreement between
precompositional and compositional contours. Yet there is no loss in intelligibility as some writers have claimed (see, for example, Schneider
1961:204). This example shows once again that linguistic factors do not
necessarily predominate over musical ones; in the case of this dirge, the
phonological aspects of tone in the text are hardlyrepresented in the musical
setting.
In addition to providing further illustration of this principle of melodic
variation, the next dirge, "Miledza so" ("Get yourselves ready") (Example
9), illustratesvariationsin dirge performing strategyand formal organization.
In discussing performance strategy earlier, I mentioned that the singers
pace back and forth while singing the dirge. The pacing in that instance
(Example 4) is not in itself metric, nor is it correlated with the meter of
Example 8a
ParadigmaticArrangement of "Gake so to kle" (Example 8)
Paradigm A
ja
LJ
so
to
ke-
Ga-ke
so
to
ke - e
Ga-ke
Ga-ke
s to to
so
so
a-Id
;9
0- se-re
(oo
ke-- le
ke
J;
1J"7
Ga-ke
ka
Ie
(oo)
(loo)
Ii
DJ
Ga-ke
Gak
Paradigm B
A A
na
ne
na
ne
to
ke-
to
ke - Ie
le
Speech Song
\I
KX
Ga-ke
so
96
Example 9
"Mi ledza so," Akpafu Funeral Dirge
J= 108
SOLO (A)
-"
Mi-le-dza
2
so ne ku-kpi
ka re
'trui ku
'ka-re
ku-kpi
I~
3
p<
so,
ka re
koe
'trui ku
koe
Mi-le-dza
Mi-le-dza
so,
CHORUS(B)
k6, Boa-de!
Mi le dza
so ne ku-kpi
so,
ku-kpi
ka re
ku-kpi
'trui ku
'_
j3
so,
ku-kpi
iJ I D J J
h
Mi-le -dza
I
J
ii
)>
koe
Mi-le- dza
!~3a3
3^^
Ij
'trui ku
ka re
'trui ku
ko
'trui ku
'ka re
--
Mi-le - dza
k6
CHORUS(b)
SOLO(a)
<'so ne
ku-kpi
1^8,,LJ^lj
'ka re trui ku
,J 1
k6,
ku-kpi
^-^
ka re
SOLO(a)
ka re
4i j
rv
trui ku
k6,
ku-kpi
}h
<
'trui ku
ko,
ku-kpi
'ka re
trui cu
CHORUS(b)
'ka re
'trui ku
11
*\
k6,
ku-kpi
1_ ; ^
11
the dirge. Indeed the latter is not an option in view of the free rhythmic
flow of the dirge. In Example 9, however, the singers regulate their footsteps
according to the metric structure of the song (see illustration in example
9a). Musical structure therefore includes a rhythmized mourning walk. In
addition, the normative A-B formal pattern is modified so that an initial A-B
97

Example 9a
Correlation between feet and singing in Example 9
~
~~~
i ~~~~~~~~3
~ .3
.
-3A
I|J
I ,nJ
I JJ
Dirge
I
I
I I I .. I I
I wI
*rootsteps 1 A+Qt^Q~~
__
'
~ ~~~~~~ i
I J Il
-I
rl
- -
*-
sequence is followed by a different, but not unrelated, sequence (marked

a-b in the example). The singer uses the terminal elements of B to initiate
the new a, which is considerably shorter than A Later,there is a return to
the original A-Bpattern.The overall formal pattern,therefore, is A-B-A-B-a-ba-b-A-B.
In "KareAmanie"("Ask[their] mission") (Example 10), the singer wonders who will play the role of receiving guests since the iyo sate (father of
the house) is no longer around. The Akpafu custom for receiving visitors
prescribes that after they have been offered a drink of water, they are asked
formally to state their mission-whether the guest was expected or not. It
Example 10
"KareAmanie," Akpafu Funeral Dirge
SOLO(A)
ht
Speech rhythm
fi
h )
fi
a - ma-nie,
Ka-re
I - yo-sa
w;;;L'S
I
- te
yo - sa - te
na i -yo,
Jh
na.i-yo,
j;h
-
>
a - ma-nie
ka-re
ka - re
-J
A h -h
ma - nie.
CHORUS(B)
yo-sa-
iJ
aa
na i-yo
te
yo-sa-
I._-),
te
aa
-Iin
1i
181i
CID I.
I
nai - yo
na i - yo
nai -
yo-sa-te
yo-sa-te
ii
yo
--h'l
^
aa
ka reama-nie!
98
is this role that the deceased played but which now remains vacant. The
structure of this dirge provides further illustration of the balance between
musical and linguistic factors.First,the use of the word "aa"in the B section,
enables purely musical elaboration at phrase ends. Second, the transpositional scheme employed here suggests that although the Akpafu may not
have a sense of specific pitch, there is at least evidence of a response to a
purely relational pitch structure. There are altogether four segments in the
B section, b-1, b-2, b-3, and b-4. The second of these, b-2, is a transposition
of b-1 down a minor third; b-3 begins like b-2 but continues differently,
ending on the note G, with which b-4 begins. This final segment is another
transposition of b-1, with the appropriate modification to achieve closure.
The effect of real transposition is first, a considerable expansion of the
dirge's tonal universe to nine unique pitch classes, a significant increase
over the normal five or six. Second, the sequence b-1 b-2 b-3 b-4 is tonally
closed; that means that it returns to the center C from which it departed.
But the fact that b-4 is not a mere transposition of b-1 suggests that a sense
of pitch center maywell be a guiding force here as elsewhere in the dirges.
Example 10 also illustrates the attitudes to closure mentioned earlier.
This dirge closes with a contextually diminutive rhythm, leading to a structural rest which must be counted as part of the dirge. In other words, two
kinds of silence are exploited in the dirge, one which is exploited during
and at the termination of the dirge (the musical silence) and the other
which provides a transition from musical time to real time. The effect of
closure is of a sudden abandonment, almost as if the singer, overcome by
grief, is unable to continue the song. Although the Akpafudo not provide
such a rationale for this practice, the evidence of performing strategylends
some weight to this interpretation of closure.
CONCLUSION
The dirges discussed in this essay were collected in 1980, 1983, and
most intensively in 1986. While learning about funeral traditions, I was also
able to observe changes in Akpafuculture. The most potent influences on
traditionalAkpafuculture are those of Christianityand of the neighboring
Ewe. In the early 1900s Bremen missionaries began their mission in Akpafu,
settling in Akpafu-Todziwhich, because of its elevation, offered a most
congenial climate (see Grau 1964 for this missionary history). The nature
of the impact made by Christianityon traditionalAfricanculture is multi-faceted and complex, but we might note that church musical culture, which
mainly takes the form of hymn singing, has often exerted a strong influence
on indigenous singing (see Agawu 1984:51-53 for some discussion of this
influence). In Akpafu-Odomi, I heard, alongside traditional renditions of
99
dirges, some that were harmonized using Western functional harmony,

especially at cadence points. In addition, the fluid singing style that is based
on the speech melody would sometimes be made less fluid and more
diatonic, the free rhythmic flow of the traditional style being replaced by a
measured one.
Allied to the culture of the ChristianChurch,Westerneducational culture
has also had a noticeable influence on traditionalforms of musical expression. The rich, ametric verbal prosody of indigenous Akpafuis now being
expanded to include rhyming couplets and the like. It is particularlyin the
realm of speech rhythm that the most far-reachingchanges are taking place.
The increasing lure of Western culture for the Akpafuhas lessened interest
in traditional verbal arts so that, for example, only older women now sing
dirges whereas in the past both young and old did so.
The second major influence on Akpafuculture is that of the neighboring
Ewe, who form the dominant ethnic group in the Volta Region. The extent
of Ewe influence may be gleaned from the number of Northern Ewe words
that have crept into the Akpafu language, the number of Northern and
Southern Ewe dances that are now danced regularly throughout Akpafu
(Atsiagbeko, Gomli, Bobobo, and others), and the use of Ewe alongside
English as a medium of instruction in the local Primary,Middle, and Junior
Secondary Schools. The Akpafu have further expanded their repertoire of
traditional music to include, among others, Ewe funeral dirges, Ewe work
songs, and Ewe folktale interludes. Questions of origins are not at issue here.
I cannot conclude this essay, therefore, without offering a final musical
example that testifies to these forces of acculturation.Example 11 is a dirge
that I recorded in Akpafu-Todzi.It struck me then that this was an unusual
Example 11
"Nunyi yeme so 6de 'so," Akpafu Funeral Dirge
J=132
t^ ^ ir
Ir
Nu-nyi
gJ
I'r
o - de
'ye-me so
LJ
Ku - di
me
>r
me
1J
Ku-kpi ne
id
ku - due, ma
wana, 6
"A-o
wa - na,
ye
so
"A - o,
'so
pie me ndu ma
- bi
o - bi
-r i
ka-wo ra i - ka-yi a-
I
u__i
se
ndzo!
ndzo!"
Nu-nyi
100
dirge, markedly different from the over fifty others that I had collected. It
also happened to be one of the most popular dirges; it is easy to sing, its
tune is even memorable, and its rhythmic-metric structure is quite
straightforward.But the apparent accessibility of this dirge conceals something more fundamental: the transformation,at a fairly fundamental level,
of Akpafu musico-poetic language. The text, first of all, displays a tension
between a regularized poetic form virtually nonexistent in the culture and
a rich semantic content. The poetic form is a quatrain, complete with a
rhyme scheme, 9a/9b/1la/llb (the difficultyof achieving convincing rhyme
in a tone language notwithstanding):
Nunyi yeme so 6de Oso [9a]
Kukpi ne kawora i kayia me [9b]
Kudi me kudue, ma pie me ndu mase [llb]
Nunyi wana oye so, "Ao,6bi ndzo" [lla]
The outer form of the text contrasts sharply with the freely evolving
traditionalmodels we have seen in previous examples (collected in Appendix C). On the other hand, the text retains semantic features of Akpafu
poetry within this distinctly non-Akpafupoetic form. The resonance of individual words and phrases gathers associative meaning in a way comparable
to indigenous poems. In line 4, for example, the word wana, a pregnant
expression of anguish or pain, in this context means a mother's anguish;
the word ndzo in the same line is the familiar expression of sympathy.
Kawora in line 2 is an old Akpafuword that carries the sense of extinction:
death is responsible for extinction in this world. The musical features, on
the other hand, show a simplified musical expression. Meter is regularized,
and the A-Bformal model is no longer operative. This means that the verbal
and music improvisational ability called for by the traditionalA-B model is
no longer required of the singer.
Only a few months after recording this song, I heard the same tune in
the town of Peki, an Ewe-speaking area, southwest of Akpafu.There it was
offered as a full-blown dance song in a genre called "Bobobo." Although
it could be argued that this melody was imported into Akpafu-thereby
confirming my initial intuitions-little is gained by attempting to settle the
question of origins. The lesson, rather, is thatAkpafumusico-poetic expression is in a genuine state of flux today, and there is not much to be gained
by attempting to predict the course that the musical culture described in
this essay will follow in the years to come. It may not be entirely inappropriate
to speculate, however, that since the older women who know the dirges
and have sung them since they were young are not passing their skills on
to younger ones, the dirge may well be on its last legs.
101
Appendix A. Text of "Otrui Ikpa" Ritual

Okpi akpii?
Fo ose mre so ade, ai ta ma,
ane, ai ta ma,
Noso atano kukpi,atano kua ne.
Did you die?

Yourfatherssay you ate, you did not give them,
You drank, you did not give them,
That is why you heard death, have heard
medicine.
Biele igo kade,

Oyu b6 siao iso,
Bo pia iyataiti bo no,
Abaarui bo iso,
Dze okpi akpi,
dze ate karek6dze bo nyo.
True, the other day

you developed a fever,
We gave you a leaf soaked in water,
You left us.
If you (actually) died,
then show us where you want to rest.
(PAUSE,as corpse moves)
Ille, boonya ngbego asa 'te kareko

so kpise sei ade.
NOso kabo sroe o bo su boa se
fie boa ba boa brakurabraabo tO.
Good, we have seen from your resting

place that you are a good corpse.
So we will put you down for now
before we perform the rituals for you.
Ngo la kloe o kayiriayo

tututu,dzi ate si bo no.
The person who will carry you so that

your stomach will be cool, point to thatperson.
(PAUSE,as corpse communicates)
Ille, ale ka'ateade,

bo si omage ame ngbe.
Bo oduduu plepleple,
botobo siaAmoa i kama,
As you say, it is Amoa who will take you and

hide you.
Good, there are three clans
that live in this village
All of us without exception
Will be behind Amoa,
Bokoko o bo kola.
And take you and hide you.
Ngboe, Amoato koko okola,
Appendix B. Text of "Mape Ola" Ritual

Spoken: Eo ne! Eo ne! Eo ne!
Sung: Dirge, "Kokoadze"
Spoken: Biele ig kade
Oyu bo siaO iso,
Bo pia odzridu bo t'6,
aiwone.
Abaarui bo r6 iso.
Bo tepi o,
Bo inyaanyo,
Bo inyaate.
Fo 'se mre so ade,
ai ta ma,
ane, ai ta ma
Ne mabama korao kamane.
Eo ne! Eo ne! Eo ne!

True, the other day
You developed a fever,
We gave you the sap of a tree,
you were not able to drink it.
You left us.
We looked at you closely,
We did not see two,
We did not see three.
Your fathers say you ate,
you did not give them,
you drank, you did not give them
so they came and took you away.
102
Sung: Dirge, "Kokoadze."

Spoken: Biele bo ba boa tepi o,
F6 so foni,ai bra ikpi,
No so f6, iyo abaate kareko.
Dze kpise ota ne, iyo kame oso bo.
Dze atane dze asa 're.
Asei mase, dze asei manyi.
Kr6ido, 'trui,
kukpaido 'trui,
Si asaa're,ku f6 kayiriyoa
GOAmoade kat6,Tailorsia,
Malokokoo ta ma kola ne,
Ngba iso, awale iso.
Mmeleiye nne lo pe omola lo.
True we looked at you closely,

You too said you did not do a bad thing,
So you pointed to your resting at home.
When a corpse gets up, it goes inside the house.
When you get up, go and sleep.
Be there for the fathers, be for the mothers.
The hand does not bite a person,
the leg does not bite a person,
Whenyou go to sleep with your cool stomach
Amoa is leading, Tailor follows,
They are the ones taking you and hiding you.
In life, in good fortune
I did not say that which pe ola.
Appendix C. Texts and Translations of dirges.

Example 4, "Nna lo senu kuwe?"
Nnna lo seniukuwe,
Oresire soo?
Go ito kpesekpese ne meso
Tete, kuyere kude soo,
Nna lo senu kuwe,
oresire?
Owo ne bo kpa m'oduduu anyaee.
Nna lo sefiu kuwe?
Oresire somOloo,Tete!
Who laid a mat for him?

(so that) he slept like that?
When I heard "kpesekpese" I thought
Father, it was a joke.
Who laid a mat for him,
(so that) he slept?
When he gets there, we greet them all.
Who laid a mat for him,
(so that) he slept so deeply? Father!
Example 5a, "Itupiee."

Itupiee, oo, itupiee!
SObe bo ba kayiga dz6olol
bo boa di bo de iye?
Itupiee, oo, itupiee!
Kademare mi pie fu ndu
mi ta me. Boade!
Bathing, oo, bathing!

What have we come to this long world to
come and take and eat?
Bathing, oo, bathing!
Wives of the village, bathe him
for me. Our people!
Ee, itupiee!
Kademare mi pie fu ndu
mitame.
Ee, bathing!
Wives of the village, bathe him
for me.
Example 5b, "Okwaisa"

Nna lei ya pie Okwaisa?
Nna lei ya pie kukpisapo?
Who will not be bathed by the sponge?

Who will not be bathed by the death sponge?
Example 6, "Brebregoro"
Mayemaye maiye soo,
Tete, bo iye so atabaa kpi
fie Omoeakpibo iso ne
They said it and said it, but did not (really) say it,
Father,we did not know that you were about
to die,
but now that you have died (from us)

Si awo ne bo too ndzo buebue,
Mayemaye, maiye soo.
103
When you get there we give you our

condolences,
They said it and said it, but did not (really)
say it.
Example 7, "Nnade l'ayere?"

Nnade l'ayere?
Kuwe na me
Osere na me
Onyire na me
Ao, nnade l'ayere?
To whom will I tell it?

I have no one
I have no paternal relative
I have no maternal relative
Ao, to whom will I tell it?
Example 8, "Gake s6 to kle?"

Gake so to kle,
Kama ne gake so to kle
Osere na ne,
Gake so to kle
Onyire na ne
Gake so to kle ni,
Ao,gake so to kle.
But he insists on going

There is no paternal relative
But he insists on going
There is no maternal relative
But he insists on going.
Ao, but he insists on going.
Example 9, "Mi ledza so"

Miledzaso, kukpi ikare
otrui ku ko!
Get yourselves ready, death does not

ask a person before he takes him!
Example 10, "KareAmanie"

Kareamanie,
iyosate na iyo,
Kareamanie.
Ask their mission,

The owner of the house is not here,
Ask their mission.
Example 11, "Nunyi 'yeme s 6ode'so"

Nunyi 'yeme s 6ode'so,
kukpi ne kaworai kayiame
Kudimekudue,
Mapieme ndu mase
Nunyi 'wana,oye so,
"Ao,Obindzo!"
My mother gave birth to me because she

wanted to eat,
Death is responsible for extinction in this
world.
It (death) killed me,
They bathed me and set me down,
My mother was in anguish, and said,
"Ao,child, sorry!"
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30(1):64-83.
1987 "TheRhythmicStructureof WestAfricanMusic."Journalof Musicology 5(3):400-18.
104
Carrington,John
1949 Talking Drums of Africa. London: The Carey Kingsgate Press.
Chernoff,John Miller
1979 African Rhythmand African Sensibility.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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1988 The Languages of Ghana. London: InternationalAfricanInstitute.
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Dickson, KwaminaB.
1969 A Historical Geography of Ghana. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Ekwueme, Lazarus
1980 "Analysisand Analytic Techniques in African Music: A Theory of Melodic Scales."
African Music 6(1):89-106.
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1977 "The Music of the Anlo," Ph.D. diss., University of California,Los Angeles.
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1969 "The Idea of Supreme Being among the Anlo People of Ghana."Journal of Religion
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Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

Author(s): V. Kofi Agawu

Music in the Funeral Traditions

In memoriam, Miss Margaret Akpene Adjei

so that he slept so deeply?")Withthis rhetorical question, the Akpafu

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

the instrumentaland vocal musics thatshape this event. A concluding section

The Akpafulive in the Volta Region of Ghana,bordered on the west by

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

for association remains functional in matters pertaining to chieftaincy, to

AKPAFU MODELS FOR DEATH AND BURIAL

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

Talking drum variants:

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

rhythmic ideas exposed by the middle-pitched drums, the atumpani deliver

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Another rhetorical question, "Whathave we come to this (long) world to

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

The dirge is cast in the familiarA-Bor call-response form. The A section

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Nnalo seiiu ku we soo

0-wo bo kpa m'o_ du-duu a nya ee

Nnae lo seiu ku we ee_

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

and tonal inflections of speech. The successive durations in Example 4

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

ma-re mi pienu du mi- ta - me

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

My final example of an event-specific dirge is "Brebregoro" (Example

baa kpi, Fie

Bre bre gro

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

m'aayere nfulo, Tete!" ("There is no one left to be told, father!").In "Gake

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

The main implication of the process of melodic variation shown in

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

sequence is followed by a different, but not unrelated, sequence (marked

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

dirges, some that were harmonized using Western functional harmony,

Ethnomusicology, Winter 1988

Music in the Funeral Traditions of the Akpafu

Appendix A. Text of "Otrui Ikpa" Ritual

Did you die?

Biele igo kade,

True, the other day

Ille, boonya ngbego asa 'te kareko

Good, we have seen from your resting

Ngo la kloe o kayiriayo

The person who will carry you so that

Ille, ale ka'ateade,

As you say, it is Amoa who will take you and

And take you and hide you.

Ngboe, Amoato koko okola,

Appendix B. Text of "Mape Ola" Ritual