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EVOLUTION OF THE FfiWfE SACRED LYRIC

by

ATO TURKSON*

"If1. Introduction

The Fante Sacred Lyric or Ebibindwom, as thesesongs are called, are traditional songs and have evolvedout of certain musical types as a result of social changeThese musical types which are rather old, are still per-formed by some Fante traditional musical groups.

The rise and growth of the lyric reveals evidenceof social change in a new development of a musical typewithout evidence of change of musical culture. Indetermining the causes of social change, it is necessaryto consider society as a system in which there are in-ternal and external interacting components which areconstantly working. The internal components are madeup of certain psychological factors which motivate mem-bers of the society to act while the external componentsconsist of certain environmental factors. On the otherhand, however favourable the external components maybe, no change will be effective unless the psychologicaldrives and dispositions of the individual are involved.Change is an idea which is given very concrete externalexpressions. As a matter of fact, the external compo-nent, with its ideational, cognitive emotional contentand the internal component with all that it offers,interact to effect change.

In Africa we have evidence of early contact withthe external world, and also contacts of African peopleswith one another. These contacts have produced newmusical values as well as social values and customs.Very often these contacts have resulted in both new musi-cal hybrids and re-creation of entirely new musical typesas for example, the Fante Sacred Lyric.

• Lecturer in Music, I,A,S,, University of Ghana Legon.

2. Music Syncretism

There are theories which musicologists have putforward relating to the external influence on culturein culture contact. Anthropologists have referred tothis as a process of internal change in the accultura-tive situation. The process of internal change inmusic syncretism1 which in itself is an aspect of re-interpretation. Re-interpretation is a process bywhich new values change the cultural significance ofold forms.2 TO permit music syncretism in any twogiven societies, there should be enough similarity be-tween the given societies.3 The relative homogeneityof music based on the concept of harmony and basicscale patterns in the two areas should be similar.Several anthropologists and musicologists have madecertain generalizations on music syncretism. Alan P.Merriam4 asserts that when two human societies whichare in sustained contact have a number of characteri-stics in common in a particular aspect of culture, ex-change of ideas therein will be much more frequent than

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1. . I have borrowed this term from theology. It Isa tendency to reconcile various systems of philo-sophy or religious opinion, especially against acommon opponent.

2. M.J. Herskovltzi DaHomean Narrative* (Evanston:Northwestern University Press, 1967) p. 553.

3. Richard Waterman: African Influence on the Americas,In Sol Tax (ed.) Acculturation in the Amerioae,(Chicago: Proceedings of the 29th International Con-gress of Americanists) 1952.

4. Alan P. Merriam: The Anthropology of Music,{Bvanston: North-western University Press) 1967.

if the characteristics of those aspects differmarkedly from one another. 5.

Several factors have contributed to thedevelopment of new musical types including thelyric. Reinterpretation of old forms in a newsituation. But the lyric owes its growth princi-pally to European evangelism in Ghana. Since itsinception the lyric has reached other areas inGhana especially Ashanti through culture contactand similarity of common musical characteristics.Some of the characteristics common to the musictraditions existing between Fantis and Ashantisare the concept of harmony and melody based onthe heptatonic diatonic scales. But Fante andAshanti are dialects of the Akan language. Thetendency to borrow, substitute and blend musicalelements from the two cultures is therefore easyand only requires a slight push. This was provi-ded by the spread of the Christian church andcommunication. These features may be seen asfavourable syncretic conditions.

3. The'Growth

The lyric and other hybrid musical types liealongside the old representing additions rather thansubstitutions. The old musical types are still prac-tised and enjoyed in many areas as living tradition.The speculation, which is rather widespread, is that .the creative impulse in traditional music is somewhatlevelling off and that some of the older forms maydie out. These traditions are constantly being revived

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5, Note that Merriam worked his hypothesis In con-nection with the differential acculturation asexists in Africa and Flathead India. His con-tention was that the syncretism of both Africaand Europe in their stylistic characteristicsidentical to both areas which facilitate exchangeand blending while in the case of European andFlathead Indian styles there was a lack of syncre-tism due to absence of common stylistic characteri-stics.

in the light of the present cultural awakening inGhana.

The rise and growth of the Pante Sacred lyricwhich developed among the older female members ofthe Methodist Church is an instance of positiveeffect of social change. The lyric as a musicaltype was developed during the office of the Rev.Thomas Birch Freeman by the non-literate in CapeCoast in 1838.6 I t s background tradition is asimple one. Rev, Freeman realized at somepoint that the non-literate members of the Metho-dist Church did not participate in the singing ofthe English hymns.7

He therefore encouraged members to sing bibli-cal texts to traditional tunes. And it worked likethis, whenever a member drew inspiration from thesermon of the day she composed suitable texts derivedfrom the sermon which she sang to a traditional tune.This process is very true even today. it is intere-sting to note that even today, the lyric which drewentirely on the resources of indigenous traditionalmusic has not absorbed anything from western musicregularly heard during worship. This developmentalaspect of the lyric reveals evidence of social changein the growth of a new musical type which does notshow evidence of change of musical culture.

*• Traditional Background of the Lyric

The story of the evolution of the lyric may besought in many ways. Rev. Dr. S.0. Williamson hassuggested two possible directions in which the tra-ditional background of the Fante Sacred lyric •imay besought r

6. This is the year in which Rev. Thomas BirchFreeman arrived in Ghana. Since there is no writtenaccount of the lyric I have used this year for conve-nience . •

7. The early Methodist missionaries did not con-cern themselves with reducing the local languages intowriting. This was a great set back in their evangelicalwork. The English hymns were not translated into locallanguages for use by members of the church.

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Thus in the folk-tale Anansesera it is tradi-tional for the narration to suffer interruption(as the sermon Is interrupted by the introductionof a lyric). Such interruptions may be either byway of diversion, similar to the entracte inWestern dramatic productions, or may serve thepurpose of commentary on the story or some aspectof it. Th'.ese 'musical interludes may take the formof a regular, metrical song, or of recitative (call)and response.8

The lyric may be likened to the mboguo or song-interludein an ananse story situation in that it provides a com-mentary on the sermon and brings out some interestingpoints in the sermon. But there are some differencesbetween the mboguo and the lyric in their musical aspects.Musically the mboguo is shorter than the lyric. Thesimilarity between them may be found in their interruptivefunction as well as commentary. .

The second direction in which Williamson sought thetraditional background of the lyric was the asafo mmoboneand asvayeve songs:

The tmbbom'e and aerayere songs were used in time ofwar, disaster and emergency, and also at times ofrejoicing and exultation, such as the enstoolmentof a chief. They can be characterized as songs ofinvocation, excitement and exultation* and since thewelfare and success of the state, at home and in theface of its enemies, was not possible without divinehelp, these songs might have a religious reference.9

Asafo has been the foundation of several Fantimusical types. The musical types which have probably

S.G. Williamson, The lyric in the Fante MethodistChurch in Africa, Journal of the InternationalAfrican Institute, Vol. xxviii, No.2, April, 1958.

9, ibid.

evolved out of asafo include adzewa, adenkum, ompeand many others. All except ompe are performed byfemale bands but have male drummers especially inthe case of adzewa. In certain places these bandshave become wings of respective asafo associations.The repertoire of these bands contain songs of sad-ness and exhilaration.

I have mentioned above the possible sources ofthe lyric.10 Of the musical types given, adenkumseems to be the most probable source of the lyric.Some lyrics are adaptations of adenkum songs othersare inspired by biblical thought. It is also possibleto find adaptations of other musical types especiallyof asafo.

Expert lyricists differentiate between two typesof lyrics, the old type and the new. The old type issaid to indicate that the lyric is ancient and is basedon adenkum or some such song-type. The new type is thelyric based on biblical text.11

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10. Rev. Dr. S.G. Williamson has suggested that thelyric may have derived from asrayere And mmobome.Here I will differ substantially in opinion withhim in the choice of the musical types to supporthis argument. In form and content asrayere andmmobome or abobombe as the Fanti's call it differconsiderably from the lyric form. I agree thatabobombe has some religious reference but I doubtvery much that the Methodist Church at the timeof Rev. Thomas Freeman would have permitted itsadaption in the church because it was used inconnection with the local pantheon. The women inoffering prayers to the pantheon in time of war,for the safe return of their men, and in disasterand emergency sang abobombe songs.

11. I held a long discussion with Mr. Peter Brown, anexpert lyricist during a visit to his village. Onthe topic of lyric texts he pointed out the distin-guishing features of the lyric types. The Rev. S.B,JEsaamiiah, a lyric collector seems to agree withMr. Brown's suggestions.

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In examining lyric texts we find that some havelittle or no reference to the scriptures except fornames identified with Gods Nyatne or Ewuradsse or suchhonor&fics as Gyefo, Baatan, Twferamp'on or Odoyefo whichare in themselves expressions native to the ar«a.12

5• T"e Location of the Lyric

Of all the traditional songs of the Akan the lyricIs the most suitable for* use in the church. The reper-toire of the lyrio contains song-s that are particularlysuitable for use in the Christian church and: includessongs about God, birth, life and death of Christ, songsabout the prophets and events of the Christian year,Ther.e are general songs reflecting on the pain iof death,songs in Which explicit references to bereaved , familiescould be expressed.

The home of the Fante sacred lyric is Pantilandwhere it is regularly heard during worship in th-e Chris-tian church. It grew up in Cape Coast about 1838 in theWesleyan Methodist Church and gradually spread to othertowns and villages with the church. In time the lyricreached other Akan speaking areas through contact withPantis.

The lyric is heard in Pante, speaking areas stretchingalong the coast from Nyanyano to as far west as the IvoryCoast border with Ghana. This may include Effutu, Ahantajand Nzima areas where FantJ. is spoken as an alternatelanguage, or where Pante has almost s/uperceded the locallanguage in the home. The first group consists of thepeople living beyond the estuary of River Ankobra.13 TheAhantas and Nzimas who live in this area have acquiredPante speech through contact with Fante speakers. Thereis evidence that in this group the singing of the lyric

12. The horiorifics will be discussed in a later paper.

13. The Nzimas in the Ivory Coast also speak the Pantelanguage and therefore included in this group.

is influenced by the local language. There is thereforea carry over of the phonological patterns of Nzima andAhanta in the singing of the lyric.

The second is made up of the Effutu speakers.14

Here Pante is also spoken as an alternate language butwith the same skill as the Effutu language. in severalhomes Pante has superceded Effutu. It is interestingto note that there<is no evidence of carry over of thephonological patterns of Effutu in the singing of thelyric. It is heard with the same clarity as in CapeCoast or Anomabo.

The lyric ia also heard among the inland Fantis.These people as well as the coastal Fantis are the prin#i-pal users of this musical type. It features prominentlyin Christian worship as well as in other social functionssuch as funeral celebrations and so on.

The lyric has been transplanted in other areas withconsiderable success. In Ashanti as well as the otherremaining Akan areas the lyric is regularly heard duringworship. But in funeral celebrations there is the tendency,to use other appropriate musical types such as adow.However where the decease is a Fantl, those Fantis who havecome to the funeral will always sing an appropriate lyricto mourn the dead.

In these places the feature of the lyric in worshipis less prominent. As far as it is known the lyric hasreached these places through contact with Fanti people.These are Fantis who either lived in these areas temporarilyor engaged in some kind of occupation such as farming ortrading. Early traders may also be responsible for this.

6• Users'of the Lyric

Denominations other than Methodist use the lyric tosome considerable extent. They have adapted the lyric intotheir churches through contact with the Methodist Church.

14. These are the Effutu speakers living in and aroundHinneba including Senya Beraku and district.

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is one ofthese churches. The church owes its origin to a wide-spread resentment of the white control of the MethodistChurch towards the end of the 19th century. Most of itsearly members were Methodists and were concerned withcreating an African-controlled Methodist Church in theGold Coast. In doctrine and ethos as well as music,the A.M.E. Zion Church has remained patently Methodist.*5

Members had lef,t the Methodist Church to join the AfricanMethodist Episcopal Church because the latter attractedthem as a 'black man's church'.

It is true that the lyric was first introduced intothe Wesleyan Methodist Church but this church was latein writing down the lyric in the vernacular let alonetranslating the English hymnsi*6 However the BaselMission incorporated IS lyrics in their vernacular churchhymn book. Unfortunately these seem to be the only Fantelyrics which were transcribed at the time.*7 These lyricswere collected at Anomabo.18

The lyric is not heard only in the church but alsoduring meetings of certain societies. These societiesmay be affiliated to a particular church. Such societiesmay be termed as closed societies. Examples are theWomen's Fellowship and the Christ Little Ban/3 of theMethodist Church; the Anglican Women's Fellowship and theCatholic Mboa Kuw of the Anglican and the Roman CatholicChurch respectively.

There are societies in which membership is open toall denominations of the Christian church. The important

15. R.W. Wyllie, Pastors and Prophets in Winneba, Ghana:Their Social Background and Career Development inAfrica. Vol. XLXV, No,2, April, 1974. p.190.

16. Methodist Archives: Gold Coast Methodist SynodMinutes. 6th February, 1871. , *

17. Twi Kristofo Asore ne Dwom-homg- (236 Hymns in Akuapem,15 Songs of Native Christians in Fante), Basel, 1865.

18. Hans W. Debrunner, A History of Christianity in Ghana(Accra: Waterville Publishing House) 1967, p.142.

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ones are the Hope Society and the Honest Society. inthese societies membership is made up not only of theorthodox churches but also from the syncretic churchestoo. They meet on specified days to share a commonreligious experience through the singing of lyricsand other traditional songs. In fact the singing ofthe lyric is a common feature of the societies men-tioned above.

The lyric 'is also heard in some syncretic churches.These include the Musama Disco Christo Church, theAfrican Faith 'Tabernacle,19 the Prophet Harris Churchand a host of others. The history of these churchesshow that their members once belonged to some orthodoxchurches, notably the Methodist and Presbyterian churches?0

This explains the use of the lyric in these churches:members had brought it with them from the Methodist church.

The lyric has become the foundation of their music.It is regularly heard during worship. But the singingstyle slightly differs from that of the Methodist Churchin that it is more vigorous in tempo and accompanied on

%the drums and some concussion musical instruments.

The lyric is not used by the Christian churches alone.It is also used-by the Moslems during worship especially bythe "Fanti Moslems" in the Gomua district and the districtsaround Cape Coast.

The story of the lyric in the Moslem church also showsa widespread resentment of the Methodist: !church~t In the1880's the Gold Coast Government brought in Mohamedan priests

19. This is popularly known as Nkansa after the name ofits leader.

20. The founder of the M.D.C.C. and profchet Harris move-ments were former Methodistsi that of the AfricanFaith Tabernacle was Presbyterian. They were ex-pelled from the orthodox churches because they hadthe spirit of the holy ghost and spoke in tongues

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to take charge of the mosques which it had helped tobuild for moslem troops stationed at Elmina, Accra andKeta.21 One of these priests seems to have been AbuBakr Ibn Sadiq.22 Abu Bakr settled in Cape Coast inabout 1885 where he ministered to the moslem soldiersstationed there. He made a big impression on many ofthe inhabitants in and around Cape Coast. One suchpersons was Ben Sam, a Methodist catechist of Ekroful,Gomua. He was\alsd a trader. The impact of Abu Bakr'steachings on Ben sam was so great that the cateohisttogether with his congregation went over to Islam andspread the gospel in the Gomua district. Ben Samintroduced Christian and traditional elements into thisworship. The lyric was one of the elements. But thesinging of the lyric acquired strong Islamic features.In time these features greatly influenced the singingstyle of people living in the Gomua §rea.

Debrunner2^ writing about the Ben Sam movementand its break ground mentioned:

In 1875, there had been a Methodist revival• in Ekroful and later many of the new membersgrumbled because of the financial obligationsrequired of Christians. We hear in 1878 that251 members were excluded from the MethodistChurch at Ekroful.

The Methodist Church in a report had declared.24

We allow no member in the enjoyment of hishealth who refused to pay class money andticket money to continue in society.

21 .

22.

23,

24,

Ghana National Archives: Dispatch of Gov. Griffithsto Secretary of State, 6th November, 1886.

Hans Brunner, A History of Christianity, p..241.

Hans Brunner and H. and H. Fisher t Early Fan.tiIslam in Ghana Bulletin of Theology, vol. 1 7thDecember, 1959, pp. 23-35 vol. 1 8th June, 1960p. 13ff .

wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Report*1878, p. 152.

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This latent resentment of the Methodist Church in Ekrofulfound an outlet in the adoption of the Islam religion in1880's among the people of Gomua.

The churches are not the only users of the lyric.Other organisations have come to be associated with thelyric. I have mentioned that certain societies whichare wings of the orthodox churches sing the lyric duringsociety deliber.atidns. The fast springing benevolentsocieties are contributing to the growth and stabilityof the lyric. Here it should be understood that majorityof the members of the benevolent societies belong to oneorthodox church or the other. Like the Hope and Honestysocieties these benevolent societies are interdenomina-tional.

Many groups are emerging whose principal aim is topromote the singing of the lyric. They also learn andsing other traditional songs too. One such group examinedis the Boka Nworaba Kuw (stars of the East Fellowship)resident in Accra and whose membership is mainly Fanti.This group is also interdenominational and like the othersocieties it helps its members in times of bereavement byattending funerals and contributing fixed sums of moneyfor donations to help defray funeral expenses. Not onlydoes the group attend funerals of its members, it also at-tends other funerals too upon invitation to provide tra-ditional music including lyrics. Fees may be charged forthis service to non members. The group also provideslyric singing in all churches during special celebrations.It also performs for Radio Ghana.

The lyric as a traditional musical form is signifi-cant as an indigenous mode of expression which has beenadapted by the early Methodist Missionaries for use duringChristian worship. The lyric may have roots in indigenoustraditional worship. As a traditional form the lyric isa vehicle of faith, projecting the true indigenous beliefsin the Christian faith. Some of its texts show the tra-ditional pre-christian devotional expressions of the Fanti.The lyric testifies to God's power of delivery. Suchexpressions as "He has changed our hell into heaven, or"He will deliver us from evil", all show a basic traditionalreligious belief that Nyame or Nyankopon (the greatest offriends) is the utmost judge to whom the defenceless canappeal for redress.

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