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ABSTRACT
This essay investigates the development of European-style military music as practised in Nigeria with regard to the influence of its indegenization processes by its practitioners on the Nigerian soil. The areas in which the development is discussed include the new roles and functions of performance, the new thematic sources of military music arrangers, instrumentation, the stylistic and technical bases for orchestration as well as the overall institution of military music in Nigeria. It also raises an argument on the parameters for judging the African identity in a contemporary Nigerian military music composition and those of its allied genres. The essay concludes inter alia that, by virtue of its new contexts of performance as well as performance structure, Nigerian military music has shifted from being a substratum of the European music tradition in Nigeria to being a substratum of contemporary music on the Nigerian music scene.
Introduction
SINCE ITS INCEPTION ON NIGERIAN SOIL IN 1863, the military institution, with everything it represents, has carved out a classconsciousness status for itself. A class that was associated with the ruling colonial masters at pre-independence era and the civilian government officials during the post-independence era. The advent of the Military Government in 1966 and its long duration in office has further worsened the prejudice and animosity nursed against it by a larger proportion of Nigeria's citizens.1
However, this negative aspect of the civilian-military relationship seems not to have affected the musical aspect of the Nigerian military. It is a fact that Nigerian military bands and their music have always enjoyed a better patronage and relationship with the Nigerian civilian populace from all walks of life. For example, in the 1980s, the Navy Dance Band accompanied many Nigerian pop musicians during recording sessions or live performances. Prominent among these musicians are Christy Essien-Ugbokwe, the Lijadu Sisters, Uche Ubeto, and several others.2 This new level of patronage can be traced to the late 1970s, when bandmasters of several military bands in Nigeria began to make a collective effort to allot a greater share to indigenized Nigerian tune arrangements in their various performances such as parades, concerts, and command performances.
Today, many organizations in the business community such as banks and insurance houses, manufacturing companies, various categories of educational institution,...