Description
POEME ELECRONIQE FUSION CONCEPT OF NATIONALISM IN “FEEL THE
SOUNDS OF KENYA”
Jessee Wanderi Wairiuko
School of Music
Kabarak University P.O. Box Private Bag, Kabarak, 20157, Kenya
Tel: +254 718 957 477, Email: jesseejeff@gmail.com/jesse@kabarak.ac.ke
“…the liberation of sound…. the right to make music with any and all sounds”-Edgar Varesee
Abstract:
Twentieth Century is a period of music exploration like no other in western art music. With the
development of electronic music, the vocabulary in western art music practice underwent
significant growth to include that which was considered unconventional. Edgar Varese, a French
composer, has been hailed as the pioneer of electronic music with his signature Poeme
Eletronique composition which was performed in 1958 in Brussels. Attributes of similitude with
Edgar Varese’s Poeme Electronique style have come to identify certain African contemporary
music idioms. Using the content analysis method, the researcher analyzes Poeme Electronique
concepts in the ‘Feel the Sounds of Kenya’ piece with the aim of establishing how these concepts
have been used to represent Kenyanhood. This is achieved by using Sofia’s (2001) model
approach to examine CeeRoo’s ‘Feel the Sounds of Kenya’ on both descriptive and conceptual
analysis levels. Information and data from this study is aimed at augmenting existing musical
parlance and vocabulary for music composers, listeners and performers, by accommodating
diversified musical expressions beyond conventional music grammar. Recommendations and the
way forward are given at the end of the study.
Keywords: Poeme Electronique, Kenyanhood, Descriptive Analysis, Conceptual Analysis
