After the Beginning

Hey there! In my last post, I tried to take you through the story of my introduction to music (my earliest memories, at least). Let's continue from there.

So, I had become the stand-in assistant organist of Christ Anglican Church, Iporo-Ake, and that, by anything but formal appointment. When the organist (Mr. Funso Oso)  arrived from sick leave, he merely took the back seat and took on the role of my church-music tutor. Thus began my walk through the classical musical circles of Abeokuta.

Interestingly, a new Principal (Mr. Funso Ogun) had been appointed for my school - the great Abeokuta Grammar School (Abeograms) - and he indicated his interest in reviving strength of the musical theme "Abeograms" was known for. To make this happen, he re-introduced the use of a musical instrument for the accompaniment of music at the daily assembly. The easiest instrument to convey from the music room to the assembly ground happened to be the harmonium* (as the only alternative to the upright pianos which would also have served the purpose *wink*). Did I forget to mention that I was privileged to be called upon to function in the role of school pianist alongside the great talent of Temiloluwa Sobowale? Between us, we had the task of transporting the harmonium to and from the assembly grounds, and work at the pedals while also working at the keyboard. It was a task alright, but one that we enjoyed. It was not long, however, before the school purchased a Yamaha PSR-77 keyboard (helping us to effectively dump the harmonium for good!) along with an Ahuja amplifier and speakers. By this time, we had a three-man team of pianists which now included Adewunmi Dawodu, an old friend of mine who had crossed over from a different school. Our assembly music thus became digital, and definitely funkier!

The school's music teachers had also began the work of rebuilding the school choir. As the school's official pianists, we had the privilege of working with them on this. We also went to a couple of school choir competitions (and we did not perform badly at all). That choir also performed along with the prestigious choir of Cathedral Church of St. Peter, Ake at the school's Founders' day anniversary thanksgiving service on about two occasions.

At about the same time the choir at Abeokuta Grammar School was put together, the Diocesan Organist of the Anglican church of Egba (Dr. M. A. O. Kuti) along with other big weights of classical music in Abeokuta at the time were putting a team together to form Egba Musical Society. I had the privilege of performing at a minimum of four (4) concerts put together by this group. And the older organists gave a lot of encouragement to us the young chaps, comprising Bolaji Omotayo, Temilolu Sobowale (again!) and me. Those beautiful years and opportunities helped ground me (to large extents) in classical music.

And then, I had to go to the university!

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* A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion. The air is usually supplied by bellows operated by foot, hand, or knees (Source: Wikipedia). Ours was "leg-operated.

In the Beginning . . .

Let's quickly catch-up on what has happened so far:

My late father introduced me to classical music at a tender age, out of a desire to create a culture of (good) music in the environment his children grew in. I took the introductory part (I am not sure I had a choice; I don't even remember being asked if I was interested) and 'bailed' when the unanticipated disciplinary measures came for failing to practice. I snuck back to the piano out of genuine interest a few years later. This time, my father decided to let me be and learn at my own pace. Soon after, I joined the church choir and sang treble with 'head voice'. I thoroughly enjoyed choir practices, and considered myself a young leader in my part. Hmmnn!!!!

A few months after I got the opportunity to dress up in choir robes and be a regular part of the service processions, the Organist and Choir-master took ill and was admitted to hospital for a period of time. A void was then created as he had no assistants. Interestingly, no one other than my father was 'worthy' to take up the challenge [the result of a dearth of music knowledge in the community]. I, on the other hand, came to evening services which my father had stopped attending at the time. It took a while, but I finally mustered courage [amidst lots of encouragement] to get on the organ and accompany the singing. When word got to my father, he was furious [I later learnt that his anger was out of fear that I would damage the instrument and he would have to cough money out for its repairs], but only for a while; he turned out to be my greatest fan and critic, just as I 'graduated' to major services.

(to be continued)