RETHINKING THE CONCEPT OF SOLEMNITY IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC LITURGY OF IGBOLAND

Abstract

Modern research demands in African theology call for a rediscovery of identity in many African churches in the area of language, worship style, dress codes and every other apparatchiks of culture. As a result, this paper advocates for a reassessment of the notion of solemnity in the liturgical music practiced by Igbo Christian communities under the umbrella of the Roman Catholic Church. It does so through a problematization of the pristine notions of indigenization such as unicity of style, peculiarity of form and new understanding of inculturation especially as predicated by the second Vatican Council. Consequently, it explores the theoretical frameworks for achieving genuine indigenization of liturgical music compositions in Igboland through a compositional research approach. It relies on palpable ethnographic research data in addition to opinion survey for its contentions and makes recommendations for a new perspective of rhythmic expression of freedom in worship. Additionally, it furnishes a compositional example as a pastiche for examining the process of indigenization within the framework of solemnity.