Iacobus Leodiensis [Iacobus de Montibus, Iacobus de Oudenaerde]

Ieuan Gwyllt.

See Roberts, John (ii).

Ifalik.

See Micronesia, §II, 1.

IFMC.

See International Council for Traditional Music.

Ifukube, Akira

(b Kushiro, Hokkaidō, 31 May 1914). Japanese composer. He studied forestry at Hokkaidō Imperial University and, after graduating in 1935, worked for ten years as a forest engineer. In 1935 his Nihon kyōshi-kyoku won the Alexander Tcherepnin Prize and in 1936 it was heard in Boston. Ifukube studied briefly with Tcherepnin, who was responsible for the première of his first ballet, Bon odori. This was performed at Vienna in 1938 and in the same year a piano suite he had written for George Copeland in 1933 was played at the ISCM Festival. Between 1948 and 1953 he composed five further ballets in quick succession before turning his attention primarily to orchestral works. His style has been described as ‘ethnic exoticism’. He has been strongly influenced by the music of the Ainu and other folk traditions of Hokkaidō, and his flowing melodies make frequent use of pentatonic and other oriental scales. His rhythm and use of the percussion are often quite violent, even barbaric, in the manner of early Stravinsky and Prokofiev. An influential teacher, he lectured at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (1946–53), and was president of the Tokyo College of Music (1975–88). His music for the film Godzilla (1954) has won great popularity.

WORKS

(selective list)

Ballets: Bon odori [Bon Dance], pf, perc, 1938; Tsukaretaru shiro [Enchanted Citadel], Tokyo, 1949; Nihon no taiko [Drums of Japan], Tokyo, 1951; Ningen Shaka [Buddha], Tokyo, 1953; Nihon nijūroku seijin [26 Martyrs of Japan], Tokyo, 1972

Orch: Nihon kyōshi-kyoku [Japanese Rhapsody], 1935; Dozoku-teki san-renga (Tryptique aborigène), chbr orch, 1938; Ballata sinfonica, 1943; Vn Conc. no.1, 1948; Sinfonia Tapkaara, 1954; Rhapsodia concertante, vn, orch, 1959; Ritmica ostinata, pf, orch, 1961; Būresku-fū rondo [Rondo in burlesque], sym. band, 1972; Vn Conc. no.2, 1975; Lauda concertata, mar, orch, 1976, red. mar, wind ens, 1986; Vn Conc. no.3, 1979; Symphonic Eclogue, nijūgen, orch, 1982; Salomé, ballet suite, 1987; Japanese Suite, 1991; Kushiro Shitsugen [Kushiro Marshland], sym. tableaux, 1993

Chbr and solo inst: Kodai nihon-senpō ni yoru tōka (Cantilena ballabile sul modo antico di Giappone), gui, 1967; Kugo-ka, gui, 1969; Bintatara, ens of Jap. insts, 1973; Monoiumai, nijūgen, 1979; Fantasia for Baroque lute, 1980; Sonata, vn, pf, 1985; Kogu-ka, hp, 1989; Suite japonaise, 2 nijūgogen, 1991

Vocal: Giriyāku-zoku no furuki ginshō-uta [Ancient Minstrelsies of the Gilyak Tribe], A, pf, 1946; Okhotsk (choral ode), chorus, orch, 1958; Shiretoko hantō no gyofu no uta [Fisherman’s Song on Shiretoko Peninsula], B, pf, 1960; Shaka [Gotama the Buddha], sym. ode, chorus, orch, 1989; Inaba man'yō no uta [5 Poems after Man'yō-Inaba], S, fl, nijūgogen, 1994

Many film scores incl. Godzilla (1954)

Principal publishers: Gendai Guitar Sha, Ongaku-no-Tomo Sha, Zen-on Gakufu

WRITINGS

Ongaku nyūmon [First step in music] (Tokyo, 1951)

Kangengaku-hō [Orchestration] (Tokyo, 1953, 2/1968)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Katayama and others: Ifukube Akira no uchū [Ifukube’s cosmos] (Tokyo, 1992)

Y. Kibe: Ifukube Akira: ongakuka no tanjō [Ifukube: a musician’s birth] (Tokyo, 1997)

A. Kobayashi and M. Inoue: Ifukube Akira no eiga-ongaku [Film music by Ifukube] (Tokyo, 1998)

K. Hori, ed.: Nihon no sakkyoku nijusseiki [Japanese compositions in the 20th century] (Tokyo, 1999), 139–41

MASAKATA KANAZAWA

Igbo music.

The music of the Igbo (or Ibo), who live in Nigeria, in an area bounded in the north by the Igala, the Idoma and the Tiv, in the west by the Edo or Bini, in the south and south-west by the Ijaw (Ijo), in the south-east by the Efik and Ibibio, and in the east by the borders with Cameroon (fig.1). Like the other two major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Yoruba and the Hausa, the Igbo have had a considerable cultural influence not only on their immediate neighbours but also in other parts of the country and especially in Lagos.

1. Musical instruments.

The Igbo homeland varies from open grassland in the north and north-east to tropical rain-forest in the south. To some extent, these regional variations influence the materials available for the construction of instruments, which, in turn, controls their forms and distribution and helps to explain the variety and often extremely local provenance of musical practices.

The variety of hardwoods available in the southern rain-forest is paralleled by an equal variety of slit-drums. The most common slit-drum is perhaps the ekwe (also ekwo, ekwu or okwo), a name often used as a generic term for any Igbo slit-drum (fig.2). The ekwe is 60 to 90 cm long and may have a single or a double slit. It is used in musical ensembles but is also beaten to call assemblies or to make announcements to the local community. Drums with a single slit include the alakirija, the ekere, the ekwa (up to 120 cm high), the ekwe-mbako (made from a length of bamboo with a node at each end), the small okpokolo (similarly made from bamboo), the okwo-agida (90 cm long) and the small okwo-mata (45 cm long). Drums with single or double slits include the large ikoro (also ikolo or ukolo; fig.2b), up to 180 cm long and 120 cm high, which is used to announce the death of a prominent member of the community, at funeral ceremonies of the eminent or in times of war. Drums with a double slit include the 210 cm long ikoro-uta used at Christmas, the 60 cm long ikwirikwe used for funeral ceremonies and certain festivals, the royal ufie (or uhie) and the ufie-amadi made from cam-wood.

There are two general groups of Igbo xylophones. The first consists of small instruments with a limited number of keys, often only two. The keys are attached to the top of an open clay pot by means of a peg at each end, but are at the same time separated from the pot by a woven grass collar. These xylophones include the ekere-iko, the ngedegwu, which also occurs in the second group of large instruments, and the okobolo. The second group consists of instruments with a greater number of keys, usually about 12. These instruments are considerably larger than those in the first group, and the keys are laid across two banana or plantain trunks to which they are attached by pegs at each end. They include the abigolo, the igo, the ikwemgbo, the ngedegwu and the ngelenge or odome.

Igbo lamellophones vary mainly in the shape and material of their resonators, which are made either of wood in the shape of a box or a boat, or from half a gourd and are thus hemispherical. The instruments include the ubo (a term also used generically for any lamellophone) with six to nine keys and a wooden or gourd-resonator; the ubo-agana, the ubo-agbugba and the ubo-oba, all with either a wooden box-resonator or a hemispherical gourd-resonator; and the opanda with a box-resonator.

Igbo bells occur both with and without clappers and may be made from wood or iron. Clapperless bells are either single or double; if double, the bells give different pitches, even when of equal size. Bells with clappers are used in sets attached to a belt or frame and worn by a dancer. Clapperless bells include the 90 to 120 cm high alo or ivom made from iron and used by women’s groups to accompany song; the smaller iron ogene (also ogele, ugele or ogenni), which occurs both as a single and double bell; the double iron njagba-ogene, about 60 cm long; the large single iron ibuma, or iboma; the double wooden oyara; and the double iron ugbom-eze. Bells with clappers include the ikpo, a set of about 12 iron bells mounted on a square palm frame and worn at various dances, including those at wrestling matches; and the osa, a set of wooden bells mounted round the rim of a wooden wheel and used at the onyima festival.

The greatest variety of Igbo instruments is found among the rattles, which may be plain vessel rattles, strung vessel rattles or plain strung rattles; they are held in the hand or worn on the bodies of dancers and may be made from seed pods, wickerwork, metal cylinders or gourds; played singly, in pairs or in sets, they may be used as solo instruments or more commonly in larger ensembles. Plain vessel rattles include the oyo, the isaka and the osha, all conical wickerwork rattles woven on a wooden or gourd base and usually played in pairs by a single performer holding one instrument in each hand. Other plain vessel rattles are the ebeje, a metal cylinder rattle, and the okoroko, the ekpiri, the osha, the ujara and the nja, all leg rattles worn by dancers and consisting of woven pouches filled with small rattling objects, or of seed pods strung together. Strung vessel rattles are made from gourds strung with beads or with beans and include the oyo, the ichaka or achaka and the nyo.

Other noteworthy Igbo idiophones are the udu, a percussion vessel in the form of a clay pot with an opening in the top and in the side, and various wooden clappers (fig.3) including the ikwankwa, the akpatakpa and the oja.

Igbo aerophones consist primarily of flutes and trumpets. Flutes are either vessel flutes with finger-holes, or end-blown flutes with or without finger-holes. The principal vessel flute, an ocarina, is the clay-bodied ugene, or oja ufele, with a single finger-hole opposite the mouth-hole. End-blown flutes include the oja, a wooden flute with two opposed finger-holes, the opi-nta, a bamboo flute, the opi-ukwu, a wooden flute with cupped embouchure, and the nwakpo, a bamboo flute with five finger-holes. Trumpets, which are side-blown, are made from animal horn or from gourd. Animal horn trumpets include the opi, the okike and the odo, all made of ivory, and the opi of cow horn. Gourd-trumpets include the akpele or akbele.

Drums are either single- or double-headed. Single-headed drums are usually vertical footed instruments, but also include small wooden kettledrums (fig.4). Double-headed drums, though less common, are usually horizontal portative instruments. Single-headed drums include the aguma, the akama, the akpatakpa, the edere, the ejiri, the ekpere, various igba drums, the nkwa, the oriri and the ozi funeral drum. Double-headed portative drums (fig.5) include the okanga and the abia, both cylindrical, and the hourglass idi or odi.

String instruments form the smallest class of Igbo instruments and include the une, a mouth-resonated musical bow, the ubo agala, an eight-string pluriarc, the oboro ekpa, a set of four or more idiochord stick zithers, and the ubo akwala, a six-string trough zither.

2. Musical occasions and ensembles.

There is a considerable number of communal occasions at which music is performed, some of them involving several ensembles. The major events are those associated with the obi (ruler), public proclamations, funeral ceremonies for the eminent, seasonal festivals, wrestling matches and the visits of high-ranking officials and other dignitaries.

Royal music, or music for an obi, is performed daily in the palace and on intermittent special occasions. The ufie slit-drum, the use of which is a royal prerogative, is beaten to wake the ruler at dawn, to announce when his meals are ready and to send him to bed at night. Its timbre differs from that of other slit-drums, and its sound patterns are immediately recognizable to his subjects. It is sometimes replaced by a vertical footed drum with a single skin. An ensemble, known as the egwu ota and consisting of drums, slit-drums and clapperless bells, performs for the obi at the ofala ceremony, as well as when he leaves his palace to visit his subjects and on his return from such a visit.

Public assemblies in a community are called by means of the ekwe slit-drum, and public proclamations can be relayed on it. Igbo is a tonal language, and lexical and syntactical meaning is dependent on five syllabic tones: extra high, high, stepdown (which occurs only after a high tone and is one step lower), falling (which occurs only in certain contexts) and low. All the tonal patterns of Igbo speech, except those that involve the less common falling tone, can thus be imitated on the double-slit ekwe. Some communities still own and use the very large ikoro slit-drum for this purpose. There used to be considerable competition between neighbouring towns and villages to own the largest slit-drum in their area. The largest surviving ikoro is at Umunze in Aguata division. In addition to their use for summoning assemblies and sounding proclamations, they were also beaten in times of emergency, for instance on the outbreak of war.

The funeral ceremonies for an eminent member of a community include dancing and recitation of the heroic qualities of the deceased. Both the dance and the recitation are performed by close associates of the dead man, and the performance is known as ekwe dike (music for the brave). It may be accompanied by an ensemble comprising a set of ekwe slit-drums, a pair of oyo rattles, an oja flute and sometimes an ogene clapperless bell. If available, ikoro slit-drums are used, and the music is characterized by its tempo and polyrhythmic character, shown in ex.1.

The instruments, ensembles and music associated with the various Igbo festivals vary considerably between communities; to some extent this is true of all types of Igbo music. However egwu mgba, music for wrestling, is frequently performed by an ensemble comprising a number of ngedegwu of the larger variety, a set of ekwe slit-drums, an ogeneclapperless bell and an oja flute. The performance itself is intended to marshal and encourage the contestants representing the group to which the musicians belong. Ensembles including a number of ngedegwu also perform for the visits of important people, such as ministers of state, to specific communities. In some areas, however, the ngedegwu is reserved as a secret and ritual instrument: at Nsukka, for example, it is housed in a special building that women are forbidden to enter; if they see the instrument, they incur heavy penalties, sometimes death. In other areas, the ngedegwu may be used as a solo instrument to accompany storytelling. A single performer accompanies the story teller by playing an ostinato-like reiteration of the phrase ife o nekwu melu eme, which affirms that what is said is true.

3. General musical features.

In spite of a well-established education system in Nigeria and a university in Lagos with a music department, there has as yet been little systematic study of Igbo music. The general features of Igbo music can be briefly summarized. Singing is often in unison, but combinations of voice parts in parallel 3rds and 6ths are also common. The use of these intervals may be a legacy of early European mission schools, as there appears to be a separate and older tradition of singing in parallel 4ths and 5ths, which sometimes may be heard in performances by women’s groups accompanied by the alo, a clapperless bell. The most common vocal scale is equivalent to the diatonic major with a frequent use of modes similar to the E- and C-modes. Polytonality sometimes arises from the combination of voices with instruments. Combinations of instruments often result in polyrhythms, and instrumental music in particular is characterized by its extremely vigorous tempos.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other resources

G.T. Basden: Among the Ibos of Nigeria (London, 1921/R)

E. Erokwu: ‘The Musical Instruments of my District’, Nigerian Field, i/5 (1931–2), 18–20

W.B. Yeatman: ‘Ibo Musical Instruments’, Nigerian Teacher, no.3 (1934), 17

A. Madumere: ‘Ibo Village Music’, African Affairs, lii (1953), 63–7

H. Whyte: ‘Types of Ibo Music’, Nigerian Field, xviii (1953), 182–6

M. Mackay and A. Ene: ‘The Atilogwu Dance’, AfM, i/4 (1957), 20–22

A.N.G. Oksa: ‘Ibo Musical Instruments’, Nigeria, no.75 (1962), 4–14

W.W.C. Echezona: Musical Instruments in Ibo Culture (diss., Michigan State U., 1963)

D.W. Ames: ‘Professionals and Amateurs: the Musicians of Zaria and Obimo’, African Arts, i/2 (1967–8), 40–45, 80–84

M. Nzewi: ‘The Rhythm of Dance in Igbo Music’, Conch, iii/2 (1971), 104–8

L.E.N. Ekwueme: Ibo Choral Music: its Theory and Practice (diss., Yale U., 1972)

D.W. Ames: ‘Igbo and Hausa Musicians: a Comparative Examination’, EthM, xvii (1973), 250–78

M. Nzewi: ‘Melo-Rhythmic Essence and Hot Rhythm in Nigerian Folk Music’, BPM, ii (1974), 23–8

M. Nzewi: Master Musicians and the Music of Ese, Ukom and Mgba Ensembles in Ngwa, Igbo Society (diss., Queen’s U. of Belfast, 1977)

J. Uzoigwe: The Compositional Techniques of Ukom Music of South-Eastern Nigeria (diss., Queen’s U. of Belfast, 1981)

J.N. Lo-Bamijoko: ‘Classification of Igbo Musical Instruments, Nigeria’, AfM, vi/4 (1987), 19–41

A.O. Ifionu: ‘Cultural Influences on the Igbo Traditional Music from Pre-Colonial Times to 1967’, Nsukka Journal of History, i (1989), 151–68

R.C. Okafor: ‘Women in Igbo Musical Culture’, Nigerian Field, liv (1989), 3–4

recordings

Nigeria, iii: Igbo Music, Bärenreiter-Musicaphon BM 30 SL 2311 (1980) [incl. notes by D.W. Ames]

Igbo-Music, Musicaphon BM 30 SL 2311 (1992) [incl. notes by D.W. Ames]

W.W.C. ECHEZONA