Wéré by Dr Ayo Oluranti

“Wẹ́rẹ́” is based on two songs: “Wẹ́rẹ́ ló bá mi ṣé” and “Iṣé Olúwa.” The work is saturated with structural elements and processes that define African traditional music. While fragmentation plays a significant role in driving the piece linearly, the music is improvisatory, capturing the sensibility of African percussion ensembles.
The pitch collection is based on the anhemitonic pentatonic scale. The melodic content of the theme songs too also makes use of this collection. Pitch organization is mainly based on pitch centricity and fixed harmonies, focusing on the horizontal occurrence of pitches. Where vertical alignment of pitches plays a role, the restriction to pentatonic materials and the occurrence of bitonality and polytonality leading to parallelisms weaken the tendency towards functional harmony. However, (non-deliberate) allusions are made to tonal harmony where transpositions behave like modulations.
Two bell patterns, wọ́rọ̀/nkónkókóló and égwú àmàlà, feature as both motivic and regulative elements. These, combined with hockets, ostinato with/without variation, and super-imposition of rhythmic patterns, are deployed to create polyrhythmic blocks.