INCULTURATION OF LITURGICAL MUSIC

By: Ben Agbo (Rev. Fr.)

For: Catholic Musicians Forum,Nigeria (CMF)

LECTURE OUTLINE
A. BACKGROUND DISCUSSIONS
1. Vatican II's spirit of 'aggionamento'
2. Need for ethnographic study
3. Explication of terms ; Inculturation, Enculturation, Acculturation
4. Concept of Solemnity
B. INCULTURATION IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
5. Developmental trends
6. Theoretical framework
7. Performance techniques
8. Other considerations

I thank those who have been giving us lectures here. Honestly I have learnt a lot here even from my
students either by direct impression or through what Socrates will call Recollection.
I thank those who handled the preliminary lectures to our discourse today on Inculturation.
I thank in a special way the Priest animators here reminding us of what Sacred Music should be especially
Fr Jerome who reminded us that the Music must be a servant of the Liturgy and not the opposite.
I will like to present today's lecture on Inculturation in 8 slides or sub topics, making the ideas come
gradually point by point for easier assimilation.

Inculturation of Liturgical Music By: Ben Agbo (Rev. Fr.) For Catholic Musicians Forum (CMF) Page1
A. BACKGROUND DISCUSSIONS
1. Vatican II
- The dawn of Vatican II with its language of aggionamento brought a new concept of enhancing the
solemnity of the Liturgy within the context of the people's worldview.
- According to the document of the Second Vatican on Sacred Liturgy, 'Sacrosanctum concilium', 'In certain
countries especially in mission lands, there are people who have their own musical tradition, and this plays
a great part in their religious and social life. For this reason their music should be held in proper esteem
and a suitable place is to be given it, not only in forming their religious sense, but also in adapting worship
to their native genius' (S. C, Art. 119).

It was this document that gave us here in Africa the power to begin translating liturgical hymns in our
languages and dialects. I bet we would have all remained tired down to the Latin mass till today with
Priests backing the audience.

However this comes with a number of challenges. Musicologists with a theological bent are supposed to
put all hands on deck just like during the renaissance period when the challenge of Counter Reformation
came. Protestant musians like Martin Luther and Wesley who were hymnodists were taking a lot of people.
The Church could not just remain with our Plain chants alone - solemn as that sounded. Palestina was
commissioned to do what looked like Inculturation - to try and do some polyphony without losing the
requisite liturgical mood of sobriety. Hope you are following?
So today, we all have a similar challenge to go into the music sensibilities of our people to find out how
best we can worship God through the Music of own people without disturbing the musical mood of
worship.

That is why I will now talk about ethnographic studies, first of all in order to find out what the music of our
people looks like.

Inculturation of Liturgical Music By: Ben Agbo (Rev. Fr.) For Catholic Musicians Forum (CMF) Page2
2. ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
- We pick our basic motivation for Inculturation from the above paragraph of the Vatican II. How do we
adapt worship to the native genius here in Nigeria?
- My colleagues, Michael, Innocent and Lucky have tried to help us pinpoint certain musical elements
peculiar to African Music. These elements may not necessarily be non existent in other cultures, for
example the predilection for compound time signatures, parallelism or call and response styles, but could
be identified as African in style by virtue of preponderance.
- This calls for a lot of ethnographic studies from Catholic musicologists. Popular traditional music genres
have to be studied especially the ones closest to what we need in the Catholic Liturgy ; the Cultic songs of
our people, the masquerade festival music and other religious and socio functional traditional music of our
people. African music is generally functional and hardly meant for contemplative or specifically
entertainment purposes.

I remember one of our Priests here asking whether we have tried to study the Sacred music of our people.
Yes we need to do that but do our people actually have liturgical music?

We may best find some Cultic music used in serious religious activities like divination, masquerade festivals,
coronation of Kings, funerals, etc.

Other ones may look more like entertainment but our people did not have pure entertainment music. All
music was functional, so to speak.

3. EXPLICATION OF TERMS
- Inculturation is a process of bringing the people's culture systematically into the Church. According to
Bate (2013), it is a two - way process comprising on the one hand 'the ultimate transfer of authentic
cultural values through their integration in Christianity' and on the other, 'the insertion of Christianity in
the various human cultures'.

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- The former is needed even more in today's society where the younger generation do not have a grasp of
their own culture and the latter case is also necessary where Christianity (as in the case of many Modern
Pentecostal Churches ) is busy assuming foreign cultures.
- It is my contention that Christian religion cannot be monopolized by any particular culture whether Asian,
European or African. Although Christ was a Jew, His religion is not essentially Jewish. Christianity is meant
to assume as many cultures as it incarnates ; Hellenism, Africanism, etc.
- Enculturation is another concept nearer to Inculturation but which does not express the ideal concept.
According to Nwabeke (1995), it denotes the process by which an individual becomes inserted into his
culture. The typical modern day Igbo Christian for example, born and bred in Lagos, who knows little or
nothing about his culture suffers from cultural alienation (identity crisis) and needs to be enculturated.
- Acculturation is the opposite concept which encourages the assimilation of a different culture at the
detriment of one's original culture.

One of the greatest mistakes so many of us are making is to think Christian is essentially Western. The fact
that it has a Judeo - Christian origin does not in any way limit anybody to Jewish Music. In fact, early
Christian Hellenism took care of that immediately after Pentecost.

I once watched a video of JESUS OF NAZARETH where as a musicologist I was mainly interested in the type
of Music going on at the Last Supper - the Jewish 'Hallel', the 'Hinematou' - Behold how good and pleasant
it is when brothers dwell in unity'. I enjoyed watching that in the film '90 minutes at Entebre'.

I was interested in the singing and dancing that took place at the Last Supper which is our present
permutation of the mass. When did we get to the idea that beating instruments and dancing is inimical to
worship? I will soon tell you how.

I hope you have all taken note of what the real business of Inculturation is? And the difference between
that and Enculturation and Acculturation? Because we have a very problem already in our hands when

Inculturation of Liturgical Music By: Ben Agbo (Rev. Fr.) For Catholic Musicians Forum (CMF) Page4
majority of the modern Church musicians and musicologists do not even know what the music of their
people sound.
4. CONCEPT OF SOLEMNITY
- What can we really call sacred music and which even among the bigger classification of 'sacred music' can
we really call liturgical? What is sheer noise in one Church could be adjudged "joyful noise unto the Lord"
by another church.
- Umezinwa (2010) opines that the term 'Liturgical Music' would be suitable to describe 'those musical
genres that reserve the sanctity of worship and made up with the Liturgy in mind '.
- A brief look into the history of sacred music will reveal the earliest conflicts of two schools of thought in
the early Church ; The Conservative school led by people like St Jerome and St John Chrysostom who never
wanted the introduction of the use of musical instruments in the Church and the Liberal school led by
people like St Basil and St Benedict who allowed the use of musical instruments as accompaniment to the
voice.
- The problem of dance in the Liturgy is as old as Micah's repudiation of King David's dance before the Ark,
2 Sam 6.
- The fact remains that David organized a full Orchestra in the temple of Jerusalem before the exile. But
after the exile, because of contamination with Pagan orgiastic dances, use of instruments became a
problem.
- How do we put in place in Liturgy the African rhythmic sensibilities in our concept of Solemnity? Or
should Catholics continue to be accused of what some scholars like Dr Adeogun have denigratingly
referred to as the 'sanctity of immobility'?
- Let me quickly observe that there are 3 concepts of worship /solemnity ; the Cultic sense of worship
emphasizes what we do in worship, eg rituals and rites. The evangelical sense of worship emphasizes what
we say in worship, eg the reading of the scriptures and the preaching of the Word of God while the
celebrative sense of worship emphasizes how we feel during worship, eg the type of music and dance that
will help believers during a thanksgiving Mass would be different from the type suitable at the penitential
or funeral ceremony.

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Worship is not all about rituals. There are joyful and celebrative moments when people are supposed to be
lively like Africans born and bred in a temperate hot region. We cannot afford to have a cold Liturgy like
the Europeans.

A lot of Inculturation have taken place in the Eastern Church, like Zaire.

There are very solemn moments of course like during consecration and Holy Communion. But what of
Entrance, Gloria, Offertory and Dismissal especially during Easter, thanksgiving or joyful seasons?

Just take a look at the solo recitative I composed for an entrance song imitating the Ikorodo style.

Africans just have a way of making their music and audience lively that we cannot gloss over as
musicologists in our compositions because we want to be solemn during mass. Is our solemnity 'a sanctity
of immobility' as Dr Adeogun will often poke us?

5. INCULTURATION IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

- Tihagale (2010) argues that faith should and can find a home in the African culture, and ipso facto,
transform the host culture.
- Pope John Paul II (1982) succinctly stated that 'A faith that does not become culture is a faith not fully
accepted, not entirely thought out, and not faithfully lived'.
- How has the Nigerian Church tried to rise to the occasion of these challenges of Inculturation?
- Umezinwa (2010) commenting on the developmental trends of Inculturation in the Roman Catholic
Liturgy of Igbo land, for example, recognizes 3 periods ; the Latin period, the Imitative and the Innovative
period. The Latin period is the period when people like Fr RaymoNd Arazu translated Latin psalms into Igbo.
The Imitative period is the period when people like Bede Onuoha and Fr Ezenduka tried some original
compositions in Igbo idiom. The Innovative period is the contemporary period when people like Jude
Nnam and the rest of us have taken the bull by the horns and tried to write liturgical songs in African style.

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- I actually wrote a Mass of Solemn Worship (Missa Ofufe di aso) for my first degree - the Gloria won the
golden award for UNN Choir at FILM Competition, 2001. I then wrote an Easter Cantata 'Obodo ederego ji
ji ji' for my Master's degree and sample works on Liturgical Music Inculturation for my PhD. Some of the
You tube links have been provided yesterday.

You can see we are already at the Innovative period of Inculturation. We need a lot of caution and courage.
The way we will compose for a Penitential, Advent, Funeral or Lenten season Mass will not be the same for
a joyful celebrative mood. But to box us all into a Western solemn contemplative concert mood is totally
unacceptable to an African scholar like me.

7. PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUES
- Africans have a completely different performance approach to the Europeans. There is no proper
spectator in the contemplative sense as in a Western concert situation. That is even the more reason why
the African style will suit the Liturgy more than the European.
- Audience /congregational participation is mandatory in the African context. Our songs are ontologically
congregation friendly. That has been one of the reasons why Jude Nnam's works have received wide
acceptance all over the country - his use of the call and response, ostinato choruses and melodic
overlapping.
- Hand clapping, ululations and body movements make African songs ad rem especially during the
entrance, offertory, gloria and joyful parts of the mass.

8. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
- Text - melody relationship is of essence in Liturgical Music Inculturation because what we say to God and
to ourselves during worship is more important than anything else.
- Our teaching /learning method should also depict the traditional style of orality.
- We can also go beyond the Western SATB tradition and work on Solo / Dual part tradition or multiple
solos and multiple part styles.
- Spiritual considerations ; the liturgical mood should determine the message and performance mien.

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- Choir masters and composers must avoid the Worshipper VS Entertainer conflict.

The evangelical sense of the Liturgy is very important. That's why we were allowed in the first place to
translate the Latin hymns so that our people can understand what is being said in the Liturgy and stop
watching the choir or watching the priests do it alone like they watch 'dibias' perform their rites. The
Liturgy is essentially participatory and I bet you Africans will beat the Europeans in this game of active
participation in the Liturgy. Have you wondered why many Churches are closing down in Europe and many
diocesan have their youngest indigenous priests clocking 60? For me, cold Liturgy is part of their 'Achilles
heels'. We cannot afford to import models that have failed in Europe here in Africa.

Finally, we must also be very sensitivity about not playing the entertainer's game in Liturgy. Remember,
Lucifer is one of our ancestors - the choir master of the heavenly cherub before he refused to worship and
was demoted. We must make music a prayer. St Augustine got it so right when he said that 'He who sings
well, prays twice' - whether you are singing in the African or Western style. I think I am done. Thanks for
reading!

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