An Analytical View of Selected Commercialized Recordings of Ghanaian Art Music Compositions

The paper takes a scrutiny of how selected Ghanaian art compositions, specifically choral works, have been wrongly performed and recorded for commercial purposes by renowned choral groups and gospel artistes in Ghana. The selected recorded works evince errors heard in some passages of the compositions (as scored); in terms of wrong pitches, rhythm interpretation and alteration of some of the texts. Using exploratory, 10 audio-recorded Akan choral compositions were purposively selected from compact discs of renowned choral groups and gospel artistes and analyzed. It was revealed that some commercially recorded choral pieces were done with errors pertaining to particular passages in the original scores. It was concluded that in spite of the seriousness attached to the learning and recording of such pieces, it is not every recorded art musical composition that gives a vivid representation of what exists on the score. It is therefore recommended that art music composers record their works first hand or see to the correct representation by other performers, especially if the intent is a commercialization of the recording.

Keywords: Art Music, Choral Music, Commercialization, Akan, Ghana