Republic Suite for Flute and Piano (Paperback)

Description

The “Republic Suite” is an iconic work for flute and piano by J.H. Kwabena Nketia.

Republic Suite for Flute and Piano (in seven movements) was written to commemorate Ghana’s first Republic Day which celebrated the country’s independence, and was premiered with Nketia at the keyboard and Charles Simmons on flute before a select audience including then President Kwami Nkrumah on July 1, 1960, in the Great Hall of the University of Ghana. Nketia draws upon techniques from both Western and traditional African music in a piano accompaniment alternating between being melodic and the rhythmic percussiveness of African drum patterns, a call and response texture between flute and piano voices, countermelodies, counter rhythms, and parallel harmonies common in Ghanaian traditional music combined with common practice harmony.