Theme and Four Variations on a Gahu Melody

Composer's Note:

The theme is a popular Gahu song called "Elo," of the Ewe tribe of Ghana and Togo. Gahu is a relatively recent genre of Ewe music and dance (introduced in the 1950's), which is known for its festive and playful quality. The drum ensemble consists of an iron double-bell, a gourd rattle, and a variety of barrel-shaped drums. The repeating rhythms of the percussion instruments create a beautiful and complex polyrhythmic whole. Like most Ewe songs, "Elo" contains a call-and-response singing pattern. In the theme, the flute plays the "call" while the piano plays the "response" and the bass plays the bell pattern. Variation 1 is a reharmonization of the melody. In Variation 2, the piano plays the kidi's drum pattern, while the flute plays fragments of the melody. Variation 3 is a flute solo that plays a rhythmically free version of the theme. In Variation 4, the melody begins in the piano and ends in the flute, and the flute repeats the end of its solo in the final phrase.

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