90 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN MUSIC

E SE MUSIC: HONOURS FOR THE DEAD:

STATUS FOR THE SPONSOR
by

MEKI NZEWI
1. The Igbo society1is a distinct culture area in the political entity called Nigeria.
Nigeria, population estimated at over 88 millions, is a country populated by over 248
distinct linguistic-cultural groups. A fast modernising nation naturally endowed with
mineral (predominantly oil) wealth, and now practising a presidential system of
modern government (since October 1979) after 13 years of military rule, Nigeria is a
nation where modern technology and value systems operate in apposition with
traditional belief systems. Thus, for instance, the average modern educated Nigerian
belongs to one of the many modern religious organisations and enjoys scientific
appurtenances of modern living and habits at the same time as he observes, with deep
spiritual attachment, the traditional precepts and obligations regarding his customary
relationships with his kins, living and dead. On the other hand the average
traditionally educated Nigerian is attracted as well as awed by the sophistications of
the modern state system with its religio-economic trappings. At the same time he
disapproves of their disorganising influences on his more cherished tradi-cultural
values and belief systems.
It is possible to identify Igbo music as a distinctive musico-traditional sound within
the diverse milieu of Nigerian musical cultures. At the present stage of Igbo music
research in the context of Nigerian musics, it is not yet possible to itemize those specific
elements of musical sound that give Igbo music its distinctive sound quality. There is
no doubt that at the deep structural level there are common features of style and
practice which characterise Igbo music. At the very superficial and general levels, there
are distinguishing features. Thus, apart from the presence of text in vocal music types/
there is such an identifying feature as multi-dimensional approach to rhythmic
organisation even in a homophonic composition. There is also a tradition of
institutional designation of musical conceptions and usages. In this context, although
a common cultural institution with common ideational formulations will prescribe
specific music that identifies it and accompanies its activities in private or public, the
details of a musical construct (form, compositional features, instrumentation,
organisation and presentation) which has been created and adopted for such an
institution will vary from one Igbo area to another. Thus there are ritual/ institutional
celebrations like funerary rites, which are common to all Igbo. But funerary music has
different names, instrumentation, characteristics of form and structure, organisation
and contextual roles in different Igbo areas. Equally, there are age-sex considerations
as well as factors of status of death which prescribe the presence or absence of music,
and specify the type of music institutionalized or featured for funerary events in a
given Igbo community. Thus, in Uratta, central Igbo, ogbom music is established for
the funerary rites in honour of deceased adult men generally; while ogidi music is
specially designated for meritocratic men in the same community. In Nkwere, north of
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Uratta, abia is the music for the funerary rites of fully mature and accomplished men.
But to announce the death of adults there are two ritual wooden slit-drums called
nkwishi. One is used to announce the death of a woman, the other the death of a man.
The sound of a drum signifies the sex of the deceased. The name of the deceased is also
encoded during the obituary announcement. In Ihiala, north central Igbo, uhie music
performance symbolizes the proper burial of a fully titled adult man. In Ngwa,
southern Igbo, ukom music is institutionalized for the funerary rites of a woman of
achievement; while the sound of ese music signifies the death and funerary events of a
male ‘person’ of achievement.
A funerary situation of any significant ritual or celebratory dimension in Igbo
society will ordinarily attract a variety of musical presentations. But only the
designated funerary music will accompany the funerary rites. (There could be more
than one institutionalized music type/item specified for the various aspects of the
rites). The other non-funerary musical presentations featured will include those
sponsored by various categories of people/societies, like affines and clubs, associated
with the deceased or the sponsors of the funerary occasion. These supporting musical
presentations have no ritual or structural significance in the funerary context, but they
signify the interest groups officially involved or represented, as well as generally help
to boost the scenic-festive atmosphere of the occasion — especially if it is the okwukwu
‘canonization’ — the final funerary celebration.

2. There is sufficient ethnomusicological and musicological literature to suggest that

all over the world certain musical sounds, instruments or other musical rationalizations
signify or symbolize other cultural meanings, events, situations and ideas. These are
culturally ascribed symbolisms, basic to cultural phonic preferences, which inform
creativity and presentation. In his fundamental book, The Anthropology o f Music,
Merriam has dwelt with analytical insight, on the symbolic and significant perspectives
of music (instrument and sound) in various world cultures. We know from his account
about the Western ascriptions to certain Western instruments and music sounds; the
ascription of moods to the Indian raga; the philosophical rationalizations of the
degrees of the Chinese pentatonic scale and the Huang chung (fundamental tone); the
political (kingship) meanings associated with certain drums (structure and
distinguishing sound) in parts of Africa (see also Nketia 1963, 1973; Carrington 1949,
1956; Blades 1975).
The mass communication intentions of traditional music have been studied and
analysed to show that they are implicated in the concepts and principles informing the
construction and usage of musical instruments as well as in the creative-utilitarian
formulations informing musical composition and presentation in the Igbo society
(Nzewi 1980). It is partly from this perspective of musical thinking that we have to
understand the centrality of the ese2 as a musical instrument as well as a musical form
in the funerary context for which it was conceived and institutionalized: ese music
informs about a funeral, conducts its ritual-dramatic activities, symbolizes the
community’s endorsement of the honours and credits accruing from an okwukwu
funerary event, whilst still fulfilling the traditional valuation of music as an
entertainment implicated art form.
To appreciate the centrality and role of ese music in a funerary celebration for adult
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men, an understanding of the form and structure of funerary events in the Ngwa
community of the Igbo is prerequisite. The Ngwa concept of a ‘person’, madu, is an
individual who has i)established his own nuclear family (wife/wives and children), ii)
buried his father (with ese music) and mother (with ukom music), iii) become head of
an agnatic lineage or a patrilineage, iv) achieved membership of the okonko socio­
political title association, v) captured the chimeric spirit-agent, agwu, and thereby
become a spiritualized dibia (sacred person), and vi) achieved the highest socio­
economic title, eze ji (yam chieftain). The first two are the most fundamental to make
an individual acceptable in the community as a ‘person’ and an amala (member of a
community’s socio-political caucus). The others accrue higher social, political and
religious stature.
There are three types of ese (three distinct instrumentations, musical constructs and
utilitarian conceptions) hierarchically classified as follows: ese elu ulo (roof-top ese)
the highest, is played at the physical burial of a man of extraordinary social, economic
and political distinctions; the next, ese ike (powerful ese) is played for a man of above
average merits; and ese akpukpo (skin [melodic] ese) is played for a ‘person’ of
fundamental achievements. These classes of ese correspond to hierarchies of death.
Thus for the highest category of death all three will be expected to be featured at the
appropriate phases of the funerary events, and for different, specified aspects of a
funerary scenario; for the next category, ese ike and ese akpukpo will be featured;
while ese akpukpo generally referred to simply as ese, (and hereafter to be referred to
as ese) is fundamental to symbolise, as a social fact, the funerary events of an average
deceased male ‘person’. When only ese is featured it conducts all the funerary
proceedings including those that would have been reserved for the higher classes of ese
were they also featured. For the purpose of this paper we shall be concerned with the
role, the musical features, the instrumentation and the social-musical meaning of the
fundamental ese.
When a man with the basic achievement (worthy children) dies, there are a number
of esoteric rituals performed by select functionaries to ensure effective transition of the
deceased’s spirit and mien, also his effective and worthy reincarnation. After these
private rituals have been successfully accomplished the children of the deceased or any
other relation acting on their behalf will immediately negotiate the services of an ese
music |ro u p . The arrival of the ese group, ndi ese, and the sound of ese music mark the
public announcement of death to the general public.
3. There are three phases of funerary ceremonies for a meritorious deceased Ngwa
male ‘person’:
First phase — The physical burial, Ituba ozu ala (putting the corpse into the
ground). If the deceased’s offspring cannot afford ese music-presence the deceased gets
buried uneventfully, but will still be entitled to other phases of funerary ceremonies
when his children or children’s children can afford to give him merited final honours,
i.e. ‘canonize’ him into ancestry. If the deceased merits it, ese elu ulo will be the first
music to be performed at the roof top of his house where his corpse is lying in state. The
music group will perform seven rounds of this highly mystical music as prescribed by
tradition, climb down from the roof, collect their fee, and depart. Thereafter the
fundamental ese will take over, to conduct the rest of the business of ‘putting the
corpse into the ground’. When this is done the musicians and everybody can depart.
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This is a sad phase.

Second phase — Ikpe Okwukwu Tribunal to approve the canonization Funerary
Event’. Whenever the offspring of the deceased can afford to honour him with the
‘canonization’ funerary rites that will confer ancestral status on him, they will first
perform the tribunal phase which involves only representative amala. The amala, the
‘community consensus’, will constitute themselves into a tribunal to investigate and
adjudicate on the manner of the deceased’s death, his worthiness to be honoured with
an ancestral status, and to satisfy themselves that the would-be celebrants, the children
of the deceased, are worthy and capable, financially and in character, to host such a
momentous event. Ese music is in attendance for this second phase which, in tradition,
was spaced over seven consecutive orie3 market days, hence it is also called ikpe orie
(orie inquest). In the modern setting all the proceedings can be telescoped into one or
two orie days.
Third phase — Okwukwu (Canonization into Ancestry). This celebration which is
both ritualistic and festive in conception, scope and content marks the final funerary
ceremonies on behalf of a deceased ‘person’. The rest of our discussion will be focussed
on this most vital and elaborate phase hereafter referred to as okwukwu.
Okwukwu or Igbasu Ozu (shooting up [into supramundane existence] of a corpse) is
the assignation of an ancestral role to a distinguished deceased adult male; while the
social, political and religious roles he held on earth devolve on a new incumbent, his
first son, who bears the onus of hosting the ceremony. The mood is celebratory but
some of the events have profound implications. It calls for categories of functionaries
and principals. By traditional stipulation it should last for three days starting from an
eke ukwu (big eke market) day, through orie day, to be concluded in the evening of the
afo ukwu market day. The scenario of events is as follows:
First, afo ukwu day:- in the morning, there will be booms of the earth cannon which
first announce to the community and visitors, especially those arriving for the big
market, that an important event is scheduled to start. When the big market is in full
session, the daughters of the deceased, supported by women well-wishers, will parade
through the full market in ceremonial attire and style to advertise the event and also
show off the prestige of the deceased. The cows to be killed during the ritual acts of the
event will also be paraded around the market at the same time for the same purpose of
advertising the importance and social eminence of the deceased and/or his children. In
the evening the ese musicians arrive and perform the ritual respects to Ala deity (Ihu
Ala ivu). They will, thereafter, play a concert session performance of ese music to
announce to the general public, particularly the amala, that the ceremony is starting
and that the ese musicians have arrived to mourn and repose the deceased on behalf of
the bereaved. When the amala, who constitute the principal guests in the okwukwu
ceremony (it is their deceased colleague that is being permanently sent off while
concomitantly they are admitting his successor, the opara, ‘first son’, into their caucus)
hear the ese music in their various homes it is a signal that okwukwu events are about
to commence. They leave their homes and converge at the venue. Later, the same
evening, when the ese musicians finish their concert performance, the amala will hold
court. The business of the court is to satisfy themselves that all the customary
stipulations and presentations prescribed for the ceremony have been procured. These
are brought out and presented for them to assess and approve or accept. The amala
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may raise objections about any shortcomings. When they are satisfied that the
traditional stipulations have been fulfilled they will authorise the chief host, their
aspiring colleague, to ask the ese musicians to start the performance that launches
okwukwu activities. While the amala court is in session, the married daughters are
equally holding a women’s court in another location to ensure that the daughters of the
deceased fulfil the customary stipulations expected of them for the privilege of
conferring on their father an ancestral status. The ese musicians will continue playing
with other supporting music groups present to keep vigil until the early hours of the
morning.
Second, orie ukwu, day:- About four o’clock in the morning, ese music performance
is resumed to wake up the community, summon the public back to the venue from
their homes while, through their choice of themes, the master musician continues to
mourn the deceased and query his sons. Amala court will hold again this morning in
preparation for the most momentous event of an okwukwu ceremony: Igbu aku:
‘killing of wealth’. At the conclusion of their court they move outside and converge in
front of ese music post to officiate, supervise and bear witness to the climactic episodes
of the ceremony: the ritual ‘killing of wealth’. This event takes place in front of ese and
is immediately followed by the most significant profession on ese oath symbol by the
first son. The killing of wealth requires the first son to sever the head of a consecrated
he-goat in front of ese with one stroke of a sharp long knife at a moment of heightened
physical tension. By the act of severing the head of the goat the first son symbolically
severs the deceased from all his earthly roles and obligations. The deceased, thus
metaphysically liberated, is venerated thereby as being of ancestral (supernatural)
reckoning, while the liberator, the first son, attains his (the deceased’s) earthly roles,
privileges and obligations as an amala. When the first and second sons finish their acts
(the second son severs the head of a cow), the first daughter’s act in honour of her
deceased father takes place: she dances ceremonially in front of ese with her father’s
personal possessions — costume or other material objects. In the evening of the same
day tiie mourning wives will perform their ritual act of absolution. This psychological
drama which is structured to specific ese music items is designed for the wives to swear
off any ill wills and further earthly obligations towards the deceased and thereby free
themselves from further earthly obligations to him. This significant performance, if
successfully executed, wins f ■or the actOT freedom to conduct her normal life, re-marry
or live her independent life.
Third, afo ukwu, day:- In the morning the married daughters of the deceased
perform their final acts of honouring their father. In this act they are sponsored by
their respective husbands. They put on special adornments and are escorted by their
co-virilocal wives and husband’s relations. By custom every daughter of the deceased,
married or unmarried (unmarried daughters are sponsored by their mothers and
brothers) must come out to honour her deceased father in front of ese symbol. In the
evening of this third day the ese musicians give their final performance with which they
conclude the entire okwukwu celebrations. It is at this stage that they play a specific
compartment, Ifo, of ese music which signifies the conclusion of okwukwu funerary
celebrations.
4. Ese music has five compartments or movements (fig.l) each of which is
distinguishable in terms of its musical characteristics: specific melorhythmic structure
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which is the orchestral framework on which the master musician superimposes his solo
compositions. Each compartment is further distinguished in its mood recommendation,
its specific repertory of pieces and themes from which a master musician can select
stock materials to order a composition during a performance session, and also the
specific ritual, dramatic or other contextual activities which are conceived and/or
structured into its musical features. The five compartments, in order of presentation,
are:-
1. Ilulu, ‘Proverbs’
2. Osu Nkwa, ‘Racing (martial) music
3. Ihu Nkwa, ‘Face (main body of) music’
4. Aghirigha Nkwa, ‘Light hearted music’, and
5. Ifo, ‘Folk tale songs’ (Light entertainment music)
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ILU LU N K W A is the first compartment of the Ese performance cycle (fig. 1). It is a
prelude, in free time and tempo, played unaccompanied on the ese master instrument
by the master musician. He earns this distinction because he is not just a master
drummer, he is equally a composer-arranger, and a conductor, not only of the
orchestra but also of ritual/dram atic actors who perform to his music. Moreover, he
needs to be very knowledgeable about the programme (theatrical, social, ritual) of the
event for which his music has been conceived and formulated. Ilulu is a compartment
in loose form and the master musician selects and develops each theme as an
independent item, and with an interpretative skill that will communicate its musical
and contextual intentions most effectively. The various musical and contextual
intentions implicated in the categories of ese music themes employed for composing in
this compartment include: tuning the melody drum row, alerting the general public to
the event or its scenario which is about to commence, mourning the deceased with
textually derived dirges, welcoming the principal and other distinguished guests,
querying the host, etc. For each of these intentions there are specific categories of
themes from which the master musician can select his materials. Each thematic
category has its distinguishable set of pieces or themes. A creative master musician can
originate a new theme/piece which exhibits the musical-contextual distinctions and
characteristics of the thematic category or compartment. This will eventually become
part of the repertory. The thematic categories found in this compartment include
scalic themes for checking the fine tuning of the drum row, proverbs, dirges, etudes of
sheer musical-virtuosic interest, alert calls, expletives and conversational sentences
encoded on the drum row.
OSO NKW A is the second compartment of the performance cycle. The orchestral
group joins the master musician in this compartment and plays with him for the rest of
the performance session. The accompaniment framework is specific to the
compartment and has a definite time-span referent for the phrase-pattern assigned to
each instrument. Given this fixed and reiterative accompaniment framework a
performance-form for this compartment derives from the ingenuity as well as the
event-inspired composition of the master musician. The form is through-composed.
He uses his musical judgement, basic to the features of the scenarios which this
compartment is conceived and designed to structure and conduct, to select, develop
and arrange appropriate themes from categories of ese repertory. The resulting
formal-musical details of a performance-session are variable. But there is a formal-
structural model for every Oso Nkwa compartment composed by any master musician
or by the same master-musician in various sessions. This musical model derives from
the fixed accompaniment framework and the common repertoire of themes and pieces
specific to this compartment, and also from the standard features of the theatrical
activities structured into the compartment. This principle of a formal-structural model
as a basis for situational composition is equally applicable to the other ese
compartments. Tine Oso nkwa compartment, within its through-composed form, has
two distinct sections differentiated by musical-theatrical features: Igba Ota (action
music for martial demonstrations and ritual activities); and Itu A ka N ’ese (mood
music background for ‘professing on Ese oath’). This compartment which is organised
in common time is in a fast tempo. The mood it generates in actors and audience alike
is tense. The ritual-theatrical activities scheduled to be accompanied by, or structured
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to, this compartment include:

Consecrating a he-goat for the psycho-cosmic act of ‘killing wealth’. This is
performed by the eight jurors (four representing the ancestors and four the living
amala) who officiated as principal jurors during the okwukwu tribunal. The ‘killing of
wealth’ which follows is performed by the first son of the deceased. For him, this is a
psycho-physical test implicating portentous results. He is expected to sever the head of
the consecrated he-goat with one stroke of a sharp long knife. Igbu aku, ‘Killing
wealth’, symbolizes a ritual severance of all the earthly roles and obligations of the
deceased and the transference of same to the actor. Failure to cut through or sever
completely the head of the goat has penalties as well as other deeper social-
psychological interpretations.4 Profession on ese oath immediately follows a
successful accomplishment of ‘killing wealth’. Martial demonstrations initiate and
link sequences of profession on oath by an actor. The second son of the deceased
performs the test of severing the head of a cow with a specified number of strokes of his
knife (usually two) to be followed by his own profession episode. When no scheduled
performances are taking place, depending on the funerary phase and scenario, other
amala, who are entitled, can take turns professing on ese oath. Otherwise the
compartment then serves as background mood music for the reception and hosting of
guests. The master musician uses his musical-dramatic judgement in selecting,
developing and arranging pieces/themes from appropriate ese thematic categories.
His compositional skill is applied towards promoting and structuring the ritual-
theatrical activities scheduled in the Oso nkwa compartment. His selections of Oso
n^wo-specific materials, come from the following thematic categories of ese music:
racing (martial) themes, tunes, dirges, proverbs, etudes, mood themes, conversational
patterns and expletives etc. Selections from each thematic category implicate some
specific theatrical enaction or messages relevant to the funerary context.
I HU NKW A is the name of the third compartment of ese performance-cycle. The
character of the accompaniment framework played by the orchestra is specific to the
compartment and quite distinct from that for Oso Nkwa. By its typical sound it is
generally identified as ihu nkwa accompaniment. The formal model on which the
master musician elaborates with his solo situational compositions is through-
composed and he superimposes his compositions on the fixed accompaniment
framework. The compositional process is similar to that of Oso nkwa. The choice,
sequence and development of pieces/ themes are at the discretionary judgement of the
master musician informed by contingent factors as well as his musical-dramatic
sensibility. The character of the accompaniment here is more relaxed than in the
previous compartment. It is organised in compound time, in strict tempo and in
regular danceable pulsation. This is a celebratory compartment danced to by men (and
‘women who can dance’). When a qualified actor finishes professing on ese oath this
compartment immediately follows. He and his supporters will dance to celebrate his
performance during the preceding Oso nkwa compartment. When no scheduled
ritual/theatrical activity is taking place, anybody who wishes to can dance when ihu
nkwa is played. Otherwise it generates a background mood for whatever funerary
businesses or hosting may be taking place. Musical themes/pieces used for developing
this section are by their musical characteristics categorised as Ihu nkwa. For
composing, the master musician can select materials specific to this compartment
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from the following thematic categories of ese music: songs, tunes, etudes, proverbs,
conversational patterns, expletives and sign themes etc.
AG H IRIG H A N K W A is the fourth compartment of ese performance-cycle. The
structure of the accompaniment framework is playful and relaxed, although one of the
acts it conducts and structures is a psychological cosmic drama, this time involving the
wives of the deceased. There are two variants of the fundamental accompaniment
framework depending on the structural characteristics of a piece introduced by the
master musician. This compartment shares the same accompaniment framework with
the fifth and last compartment. The overall form of the compartment is through-
composed. The choice, sequence, and development are at the discretion of the master
musician-soloist. This compartment is structured on a compound rhythmic
organisation. It is again played in strict tempo with each accompanist maintaining, or
improvising within, his given accompaniment theme. Because of the rather sober
mood of this compartment, compared to the previous two, the accompanists do not
indulge in tensional variations. The Aghirigha nkwa compartment is conceived as the
women’s compartment in the same way as the Oso nkwa is exclusively for men’s
acting, and the Ihu nkwa for men’s celebratory dancing. In a concert session of the ese
performance form the Aghirigha nkwa follows immediately after the Ihu nkwa.
During event-performance the position of Aghirigha nkwa in the eventual performance
form is variable. It will depend on the activities, scheduled or incidental, taking place
on the ground. Thus, when a woman or women are scheduled to act in front of ese, like
the dance act of the first daughter, the Aghirigha nkwa compartment is played. When
the married daughters of the deceased perform their scheduled dances to celebrate
their father’s new honorary status as an ancestor, they perform to the Aghirigha nkwa
compartment. Also, when the deceased’s surviving wives perform their psychological-
cosmic drama of absolution, they do so to this compartment. When this compartment
is played during the ordinary course of an ese performance cycle without any
scheduled acts, it is used for dancing by everybody. The master musician selects
themes / pieces with which to structure, arrange, develop and organise this compartment
from specific songs, tunes, proverbs, conversational patterns and expletives specific to
this compartment. This is ordinarily used to conclude a session’s performance of ese
music. It is also used to end phases 1 & 2 of the funerary rites.
IFO is the fifth and last compartment of ese music. Unlike the other compartments it
is played only once during an ese event cycle, and that is during the final phase of
funerary ceremonies — the canonization okwukwu ceremony. It is played on the final
day of the celebration as the finale marking the conclusion of all celebrations for a
deceased male person. Thus, in the last event-session of ese music performance in a
funerary context the Ifo is played after the Aghirigha nkwa to sign off the activities.
After its performance the musicians pack their instruments and go home. All the guests
are then officially expected to depart. The hosts are thereafter acknowledged by their
community as having achieved new social-political status in the society by virtue of
having successfully reposed the spirit of their father in the ancestral realm. The Ifo
compartment shares the same accompaniment framework with Aghirigha nkwa.
Unlike the other compartments, Ifo is not through-composed. Rather, each piece
introduced by the master musician is developed/extended and concluded with a
cadential figure as a separate item before a new number is announced. The Ifo
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compartment does not have any specific scheduled activities. But by its contextual
conception (as a musical entertainment), and by the significance of its location in the
performance cycle, people dance happily to its merry tunes and character. Others pay
their final respects to the hosts or guests, as the case may be, before their final
departure. The tempo is slow, cool and relaxed and the mood playful. The selection of
numbers played in this compartment is made, not from any ese-specific repertory,
rather popular folk songs or folktale songs of the society are adapted and extended.

From the foregoing we then find that in discussing ese music form there are two
perspectives: the event form, and the concert form. The ese concert form, played for
listening and/or dancing at periods when no scheduled funerary activities are
conducted and structured by the music, is the model ese musical form with the
following sequences of compartments: Ilulu, Oso nkwa, Ihu nkwa, Aghirigha nkwa
(and Ifo). Ese event form implies contextually modified concert form: the overall
sequence of compartments as well as the internal elaboration of each compartment
derive from the activities, scheduled or incidental, which transpire during any given
event-session. Thus we find musical form being determined in context by non-musical
factors. These factors are, however, basic to the conception, formulation, organisation,
structure, development and performance-composition of the music. In an event form
the first three compartments are fixed and come in the following sequence: Ilulu, Oso
nkwa, and Ihu nkwa. Thereafter the sequence of compartments could continue
straight to Aghirigha nkwa (as in concert form) if no untoward occurrence reverses the
order. If, however, there are justifiable contextual reasons for it, the master musician is
constrained to move from Ihu nkwa back to Oso nkwa, noting of course that every
performance of Oso nkwa must be followed immediately by Ihu nkwa. Thus we find
Ihu nkwa as a pivotal compartment from which the musical form can move forward to
Aghirigha nkwa (during a concert/uneventful session, and to conduct women’s acts)
or back to Oso nkwa (for m en’s acting). When an incident, like the arrival o f a
distinguished amala who is qualified to profess on ese, warrants an interruption of the
model form, the master musician cadences an on-going Ihu nkwa or Aghirigha nkwa,
as the case may be, and cues in the Oso nkwa with its specific cue-sign. This grants the
distinguished amala the honour and respect of professing on ese oath. There are,
therefore, fixed and mobile compartments in the event-conception and situational
organisation of an ese event form. (Every performance occasion or sitting will yield its
own variant form as per contextual factors which are not necessarily musical). Ilulu,
Oso nkwa, Ihu nkwa and Ifo (as the finale) are the fixed compartments in the
performance order. Oso nkwa, Ihu nkwa and Aghirigha nkwa are mobile. (It will be
noted that Aghirigha nkwa is not to be played after Oso nkwa.) Every performance
sitting must start with the Ilulu compartment. For the duration of that sitting it is not
played again unless there is an unusual incident that will, perforce, warrant the
temporary stoppage of a performance, like the bursting of a drum skin which will
necessitate a break to repair or replace the bad drum. A resumption thereafter will call
for a re-tuning of the entire drum row, and therefore must start with the Ilulu nkwa
thus marking a fresh session. As already explained, the Ifo compartment, as marking
the finale of ese music and, conjointly, of all funerary programmes, is played only once
in the funerary ceremonies for a deceased male ‘person’.
100 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN MUSIC

Because each compartment of ese music has its own typical structural characteristics
distinguishable from that of other compartments, we find that it is not possible to
transfer themes/pieces in any thematic category from a compartment for which it has
been conceived and composed to another. Any such creative exercise will necessitate
major re-structuring of the rhythmic, and consequently melodic, quality of the
theme/piece. Thus, for example, although songs have been identified as a thematic
category found in more than one compartment, song pieces which belong to the Oso
nkw a compartment are distinguishable in terms of their musical characteristics from
song pieces belonging to the Ihu nkw a or the Aghirigha nkwa compartment. What
distinguishes songs belonging to the Aghirigha nkw a and the Ifo compartments is that
Ifo songs are popular folk tale songs whereas Aghirigha nkw a songs are specific ese
compositions categorizable in the society, and by folk terminology, as ese music.
Generally, however, every ese piece/ theme in the cultural repertory is identified by the
compartment to which it belongs. The following are brief definitions of some of the
thematic categories of ese music:
Proverbs: proverbs from the society’s oral literature resources which are relevant
and appropriate to the themes of a funerary context, or to contingent occurrences in a
funerary situation. Master musicians have also made up proverbs which have become
common knowledge and are de-codable by knowledgeable listeners.
Dirges: melodic patterns which simulate vocal expressions of lament in a death or
tragic situation; also encoded texts which query the cause of death and the role played
by the son in losing the father to death. Other dirgeful texts encoded on the drum row
extol the virtues and status of the deceased.
Etudes: these are technical musical constructs which serve as warming up exercises
and which help to improve skill. The more melodious examples are used in composing
appropriate compartments.
Tunes: melodious pieces which have verbalizable textual/ semantic implications but
which are not text-derived. Tunes are thus melodies without words. Some are
accom panied with non-textual vocables chorused by the accom panim ent
instrumentalists. The chorus answers the master musician’s statements (on the drum
row) in conformity with the Ngwa chordal principle.
Songs: Ese songs are text-based but are not sung.
Conversational patterns: Encoded versus spoken dialogue between the master
musician (through drum-talking) and a verbalising respondent or protagonist (in
profession episodes).
Expletives: situational comments and commendations about the occasion made by
the master musician on the drum row. It should be explained here that apart from
sign-themes which specifically introduce the various compartments there is no strict
order for introducing or sequencing selections from the thematic categories during the
progress of a performance-composition. The master musician has absolute freedom of
choice and elaboration although his decision-making processes could, in some
instances, be informed by non-musical factors like the nature or features of social-
theatrical sequences in a dramatised scenario, especially those that call for specific
musical cues/responses/accompaniment/questions. Even then the location of such
incidents in the structural form of a compartment is not fixed. The common
compositional approach to the development/elaboration of a compartment is to
ESE MUSIC: HONOURS FOR THE DEAD: STATUS FOR THE SPONSOR 101

announce a piece or pattern from any thematic category, state it in full, use repetition
to establish it where desired, and then elaborate it using a choice of developmental/
extension devices available in the Igbo compositional idioms. At the conclusion of this
statement cum development of a theme/ piece, another selection from the same or any
other situationally appropriate thematic category can be introduced or laced onto the
preceding piece. Otherwise, the master musician can link selections with passages of
sheer percussive-rhythmic interest. Such passages are not definable in any category but
are suitable and effective in a musical or dance context.
Fundamentally and conceptually the ese instrument is a language communication
instrument. The texts, meanings or messages implicated or encoded in ese musical
patterns or statements, and which are intended for mass/ controlled / direct information
or lingual communication are understood by the knowledgeable addressee. Again, as
is the case in the Igbo creative tradition, the master musician has liberty within
conformity to elaborate or extend the known format/model. In spontaneous
conversational situations, the context, topic, as well as knowledge of the encoding style
assist the speaking protagonist in understanding a communication which the master
musician is encoding on the spur of the moment.
Apart from the ritual and dramatic performances which are scheduled to the ese
musical construct, dancing is a common feature of the Ihu nkwa, Aghirigha nkwa and
Ifo compartments when no funerary scenario is being sorted out. The general dance
style is earth-bound, on the spot or with short, light, alternate or double stepping. The
characteristic feature of women’s dancing is alternate, gentle quaking of the buttocks
with the knees slightly bent and the trunk thrown slightly forward. The men are more
energetic and erect. They favour the quaking of the entire waist region of the body.
These dance features are not, however, peculiar to ese music. Rather, they are common
to Ngwa dance culture.

5. E SE ORCHESTRA
The ese is an orchestral music played by five instrumentalists: the master musician-
soloist with four accompanists. The accompaniment instruments include a tenor (nne
uhie), and an alto (oke uhie) wooden slit-drum played by different artists who work in
complimentarity to furnish the basic accompaniment framework for a compartment.
Their integrated patterns give each compartment its identifying structural character. It
is on this accompaniment framework that the master musician superimposes his
compositional development of a compartment. These two artists have freedom within
the structural and conceptual limitations of their assigned fundamental patterns to
compose variations. This freedom is more in the Oso nkwa where their skill can help to
heighten the psycho-active intensity of this compartment, particularly during drama-
accompanied compartments. Another instrument in the accompaniment group is the
pulse-marking instrument called ebe elu. This is a deep-toned, open-ended membrane
drum played with one stick and one hand. (All the other instruments are played with
two drum sticks.) Its ensemble role is to maintain, consistently, the pulsation pattern
specified for a compartment and on which the dancers base their fundamental steps.
The drummer may play occasional variations during very hot or tense passages,
especially during the Oso nkw a dram atic acts. The last instrum ent of the
accompaniment group is the metronomic instrument which keeps a consistent
102 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN MUSIC

reiterated phrasing referent for the rest of the instrumentalists. It is a tiny mortar-
shelled single membrane drum called mkpatamkpa. It is of the same make as the
component drums of the ese drum row.

skin m em brane

The core instrument in the ese ensemble is the instrument set which takes the same
name as the music. It is called the ese and is a five-component instrument set. Four of
the components are mortar-shelled single membrane drums of graded sizes and
corresponding pitches. These four drums constitute the ese tone row. The relative
tuning of the ese tone row is illustrated in fig.2. These component drums, starting from
the lowest piched which is located to the right of the player, are called:
1. Isi nkwa (Head drum i.e. the beginning of the tone row) or Nne olu (Mother voice i.e.
the lowest voice of a three-part chordal concept).
2. Agbalabo (The voice in between i.e. a harmonic term which indicates that this drum
is conceptualized as a harmonic median between the two principal [high and low]
’voice’ parts) or Nwughilide nkwa (the focal drum for scale runs, chordal and melodic
movements).
3. Ikwukwe nkwa (the answering drum i.e. its note complements that of the drums
either side of it, harmonically and melodically).
4. Oke olu (Male/high voice, being the highest pitched as well as the top note in the
three-part chordal concept).
5. Ike/M kpe ese (Mystical focus/M ainstay drum which is of mystic essence while
musically it acts as a pitchless deep tone used to punctuate or reinforce compositions
on ese tone row. Its position behind the two largest drums of the tone row, and inclined
towards the player, is for technical convenience). The m kpe/ike ese has other extra­
musical associations. It is ritually sanctified with an attached mystical object, mmo ese,
‘ese spirit’. This ese spirit is imbued with cryptic potencies through a ritual-magical
process. It is on the effective potency of ese spirit that oaths are sworn during
professions. The swearing act is comparable to swearing on a bible, to the truth of
ESE MUSIC: HONOURS FOR THE DEAD: STATUS FOR THE SPONSOR 103

evidence in the modern law court. Except that ese oath implicates a potent spririt force.
It is expected that anybody who gives a false deposition or abjuration, as the case may
be, on the ese oath symbol will die or attract other very serious mishap thereby. The
men swear by placing their foot or a personal object, like a knife or walking stick, on
the ike ese while uttering the oath statement: ‘I swear by the potency of this ike ese'. The
mourning wives of the deceased swear by other physical signs in front of ese without
touching the drum. (It is taboo for women to touch the mystic drum, profess or declaim
verbally on its oath-potency).

Fig. 3 Master musician

Egbe Ikpeazy on ese drum
row. To his left is the per­
former on the phrasing-
referent instrument. Note
the mystic drum mounted
on a tripod stuck into the
ground.

6. Although any other amala who is qualified by virtue of having ‘buried’ his father
can profess on ese, the privilege for the first scheduled performance during the
canonisation ceremony goes to the first son. He takes his profession act immediately
after ‘killing wealth’in front of ese. To do this a professant initiates a martial, running
display from the ese location towards the entrance to the compound. When he gets
there, he checks, turns round and races back to the ese post. Relations and supporters
troop behind him during this demonstration called igba ota, ‘martial display’. There
are a number of specific thematic patterns any of which the master musician can play
and develop for this demonstration. The professant brandishes a long knife or gun.
This martial display serves to work up the professant psychologically for the boasts
that will follow. On getting back to the drums the master musician cadences the martial
theme and immediately queries the professant on the drum row: “What did your father
(the deceased) achieve?” The ensuing profession act, itu aka ‘boasting heroic
accomplishments’, is in two parts. The first part is always in honour of the deceased for
whom ese music is being played. In answer to the master musician’s query, the first son
J 04 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN MUSIC

Fig. 4 A professant, the

first son of the deceased,
surrounded by supporters
acts in front of ese drum
row. The m aster musician
has his back to the camera.

boasts about the virtues and heroic accomplishments of his deceased father. The entire
audience present acts as witness. They, as well as the master musician (on the drum
row), will acclaim or endorse a true and worthy achievement so declared. During the
profession act ese music plays mood themes, sotto voce. There are, however,
occasional musical bursts with which the master musician intersperses the profession,
or prompts, encourages, queries and answers the professant. At any appropriate stage
in the course of the act which is performed as an impassioned dramatic display
involving two protagonists — the professant and the master musician — the
professant will round off a declaration with the oath statement “If it is not as I have
said, may this ike ese kill me”.
The master musician regulates the dramatic intensity of this profession episode by
initiating martial display compartments that will link and balance the artistic-
emotional levels of the profession drama. This happens when he cadences an on-going
mood music and strikes on a martial theme. When a professant concludes the
panegyrics of a deceased, the master musician sends him running for yet another
martial display. Thereafter he then queries the professant: “You yourself, what are
your own achievements (that qualify you to profess on ese oath)”. Thereupon the
professant can proclaim his personal achievements in the same musico-dramatic style
as he used for the deceased’s. He still continues to swear on ese oath to the truth of his
declarations. At the conclusion of his self-panegyrics, he can then request formally for
the Ihu nkwa compartment with which to celebrate (through dancing) the conclusion
of his act. He is joined in the dancing by jubilant well wishers. The profession-on-oath
episode can then be seen as a dramatic duet starring a speaking human actor and the
ese (representing the supernatural protagonists but manipulated by the master
musician).
ESE MUSIC: HONOURS FOR THE DEAD: STATUS FOR THE SPONSOR 105

The master musician is very central to all the rites publicly performed in a funerary
situation in the community. In the first instance no Ngwa citizen is adjudged to have
‘buried’ his father unless, and until, ese music has been played in honour of the
deceased. On being called into the show the master musician demands some prescribed
engagement fee and when that is paid he undertakes to gather his artists and report
with them at the funerary scene at the agreed time. On arrival he declares his
willingness to undertake the contract of mourning and ‘burying’ the deceased by
playing a concert session of ese music. This concert session also serves to announce to
the entire public that a ‘person’ of status has died (for a physical burial phase), or is
being assessed for canonization into ancestry (for the pre-okwukwu tribunal phase), or
is being conferred with an ancestral rating (for a canonization funerary celebration
phase). Fee-bargaining follows before the master musican performs his ritual act of ihu
ala ivu (paying respect to Ala deity). During the canonization funerary celebrations the
master musician is responsible for orchestrating all the ritual/cosmic-drama episodes
that take place. Through his artistry he generates the atmosphere that makes this phase
of funerary ceremonies a celebration as well as a tense ritual theatre. The master
musician engineers the psychical state of mind that enables the first and second sons as
well as the wives of the deceased to carry through their tenuous psycho-cosmic
performances. Successful performances will exonerate them from any charges of ill
will or negligence against the deceased whose earthly rights, privileges, goodwill and
possessions they are thereby inheriting. At the same time the successful performances
credit them with new status in the community. (A deceased for whom his progeny have
successfully hosted a canonization funerary celebration conducted through the agency
of ese music qualifies, thereafter, for inclusion in the host of family/compound/
communal ancestors. These ancestors are commemorated, not worshipped, during the
annual ceremony of inye nna nni ‘feeding the ancestors’. This symbolic feeding, it is
believed, sustains them in their supernatural guardianship role in the community). It is
believed that the deceased has a hand in the success or otherwise of these significant
acts. For instance, where he has reason to be very displeased with any of the actors for
unpardonable offences, he becomes a psychic force than can fault the actor. And the
prescribed repercussions or penalties for failure could be severe. In these two most vital
tests the master musician acts as a protagonist — the physical representative of the
supernatural forces — through the psychological potency of his music. His role enjoins
him to confront and query the human actors at the same time as, by his contractual
obligations to them, he has responsibility to inspirit them at the psycho-physical level
for the tests. Even then, a faulted ‘killing of wealth’ may accrue the musicians some
material benefit as in the case of the first son’s act: (The musicians, by precept, claim
the faultily killed goat while the first son produces a replacement to the amala to whom
a successfully killed goat belongs. (The goat can, however, be redeemed by the first son
on payment of satisfactory cash compensation to the musicians). As sonic sign-
communication ese music informs everybody, present or not, about the various stages
or activities reached in a funerary scenario. When pieces in the Ifo compartment of ese
music performance cycle are heard everybody knows that the final phase of the
funerary rites for a deceased is being concluded. In all the performances, the
performance-composition (as opposed to form -fixe compositions of literary music),
the contextual structuring, organisation and conducting of the music are the artistic
106 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN MUSIC

responsibility of the master musician. As a neutral agent his creativity and expertise
(musical) as well as his knowledgeability (about the events and the conceptual role of
ese music in context) determine to a large extent the level of success achievable in a
funerary ceremony as a social-theatrical event, as a psychological ritual-drama, and as
a musical entertainment presentation.
7. To a large extent the form and musicological features of ese music presentation
derive from cultural conceptions and rationalisations which are not specific to musical
celebration, but which nevertheless give origin, form, character and meaning to a
traditional musical construct. However, the actual musical configuration for, and in, a
given context is a musical process based on a recognisable model format adopted for
the context. It is the creative genius of the master musician in a performance-
composition tradition which determines the compositional content and the contextual
effectiveness of a musico-dramatic presentation. No one such presentation is likely to
be replicated exactly (in details of choice, arrangement and elaboration of the thematic
materials) in another presentation even by the same group on the same occasion. The
compositional and extra-musical configurations of the musical sound deriving from
cultural-musical rationalizations and equally basic to cultural phonic preferences
recommend the affect and effect of ese music on the audience and actors alike. These
are monitorable in a psycho-physical dimension as generating or promoting heightened
emotive participation, and intense behavioural responses during dramatised funerary
scenarios.
In its social dimension ese music ‘buries and mourns’ the dead on behalf of the
bereaved, thereby placing the burden of grief on a vicarious mourner — the master
musician. In its musical dimension ese music demands profound creative acuity of its
exponents, particularly the master musician. The social-dramatic aptness and quality
of his artistic discussions, given the various factors informing his decision-making
process, give ese music its multiple contextual roles: as a mourner, a mass
communicator, a social-psychological inquisitor, a potent oath symbol, a conductor of
ritual/cosmic-dramatic enactments, and an entertainment. What is most significant
about ese is, therefore, not so much its presentational features and artistic
accomplishments as a musical construct, as the understated traditional credentials
inform ing its conception, its form al-com positional configurations, and its
presentational features in context: the ancestral honours it confers on the deceased; the
social-spiritual status it congruently accrues to the sponsor.
NOTES
1. The Igbo, pop. about 12,000,000 are located to the South Eastern part of Nigeria in the tropical rain
forest zone. They are a dominantly patrilineal society, and believe in a Supreme deity, Chineke, worshipped
through a pantheon of minor deities. The Igbo language identifies them as a people although there are
dialectal variations which approach mutual unintelligibility between groups living at the extremities of the
Igbo geographical area. The Igbo culture and custom have ideational homogeneity but exhibit some area
differentiations in the materials and details of practice.
2. Ese is a term which categorizes the instrument, the music as well as their socio-cultural rationalizations.
3. The Igbo traditional ‘week’, izu, is based on a cycle of four market days: eke, one, afo, nkwo. Two cycles
(the second is reckoned as eke ukwu, orie ukwu, afo ukwu, nkwo ukwu — ukwu means big) give a full week
of 8 days.
4. Recently there was a report about a professant, the first son of a deceased, who failed to sever the head of
a consecrated he-goat with one stroke of his knife as prescribed by the ritual custom. This is usually
interpreted as an indication that either he has grossly offended his deceased father who has thus
ESE MUSIC: HONOURS FOR THE DEAD: STATUS FOR THE SPONSOR 107

demonstrated his disapproval of the actor-son, or otherwise a manifestation of other undisclosed

transgressions which disqualify him from achieving the amala status by that symbolic act. Before the end of
the day this particular actor committed suicide. Ordinarily, if the actor tried but failed to sever, completely,
the head of a goat, the amala to whom all ‘killed wealth’ belong will not take it. Rather it goes to the ese
musicians who can be said to represent the supernatural dimension in the transaction by virtue of providing
the spiritual and psychical focus for this and other funerary tests.
Bibliography
MERRIAM, A.P.
1964 The anthropology o f music. Northwestern U Press.
NKETIA, J.H.K.
1963 Drumming in Akan communities o f Ghana. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson.
1973 “The musician in Akan society”. In The traditional artist in African
societies. Bloomington: Indiana U Press.
CARRINGTON, J.F.
1949 Talking drums o f Africa. London: Carey Kingsgate.
1956 “Individual names given to talking gongs in the Yalemba area of Belgian
Congo”. African Music Vol.I No.3, 10-17.
BLADES, J.
1975 Percussion instruments and their history. London: Faber & Faber.
NZEWI, M.
1980 “Psycho-dramatic intentions of music in dance and role-acting”. Workshop
on Masquerades, University of Port Harcourt.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Daniel Avorgbedor: Editor of the African Studies Newsletter, African Studies
Program, Woodburn Hall 221, Bloomington, Indiana 47405.
Roger Blench: Director, University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,
Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, England.
Valerie Briginshaw: (formerly lecturer at the University of Nigeria and at Kenyatta
University College, now a freelance dance lecturer) 17 Little Lane, Ilkley, W. Yorks
LS29 8ES, England.
Thomas Johnston Dr.: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701.
Gerhard Kubik: [Link]. Dr.: Cultural scientist, Burghardtgasse 6/9, A-1200
Vienna, Austria.
Joy N. Lo-Bamijoko Dr.: Department of Music, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos,
Nigeria.
Meki Nzewi Dr.: Department of Music, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Anambra
State, Nigeria.
Kishilo WTtunga: 2/101, Rue des Sportes, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.