'Self-Serving': A Musical Fable

Abstract

Storytelling, particularly fables, plays a foremost role in shaping the moral fibre of society. It gives the society a sense of identity and cultural belonging. Fables have been used extensively to provide entertainment, develop the imagination, and teach essential lessons about ev~ryday life. In this technological era, fables are no longer given any required meaningful recognition. Consequently, the alt of stOlyteIling has drastically declined if not extinct fr0111 our modernist society. In an attempt to capture storytelling or stories through art music, this snldy seeks to set a fable to music as a contribution towards the documentation, sustenance and promotion of oral traditions as enshrined in the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO 2003) convention on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. The work presents an original music composition based on a known fable 'Viqe Adeke Mele Dokuit;ydidi Me 0 '. This fable, my data of interest, is situated in art-based research. The composition', created and scored, using music software finale version 2014, seeks to set a fable to sung music employing solos, duets, trios and choruses (SA TB). The creative method begins with the scripting of the fable, assigning voice parts to each character, setting the scripted fable to music, and finally writing a definitive analysis based on the outcome of the composition. The performative aspect follows with rehearsals and performance. It is recommended that Ghanaian scholar-composers should refocus their attention to explore more of African and Ghanaian oral traditions in their future compositions.