Creativity and Originality of Musical Works: J.V. Armaah’s “Biribi Papa Bi Wɔ Aseda Akyi” In Perspective

The paper takes a close scrutiny of a choral musical piece with the title “Biribi papa bi wɔ aseda akyi” (something better beyond thanks) composed by one of Ghana’s prolific composers, James Varrick Armaah. It exposes the problem or difficulty composers face in their bid to come out with new and original works. Using formal musical analysis as the design, both accidental and purposive sampling techniques were used to select four pieces for the study. The pieces were analyzed for their musical phrases, textual phrases, lyrics, melodic movements as well as form to reach an evaluative point. Other supporting studies, together with the main, reveal that art music composers seldom unconsciously, subconsciously, or consciously make use of elements of existing works, fuse with their ideas and identify the works as their own. The conclusion drawn from the study is that Armaah’s composition “Biribi papa bi wɔ aseda akyi” is an amalgamation of three of his earlier compositions portraying more of creativity than originality. The study displays an analytical impulse that has implications for compositional impulse.

Key words:- creativity, originality, amalgamation, Biribi papa bi wɔ aseda akyi