Text-melody relationships: Translation of European Hymns into Dho-Luo

Abstract

This study addressed the problem of translation of European hymns into Dho-luo, with specific reference to text-melody relationships It outlines the process of translating music and compositional methods and techniques employed in tonal languages. Thirty hymns sampled from Seventh Day Adventist hymnbook, Wende Nyasaye were analysed in terms of musical and textual relationship. The analysis revealed existence of distortions and irregularities in terms of syllabic accents, speech rhythm and intonation in the translated hymns. These were corrected using the rule of "parallelism" governing Luo songs. Four possible ways of correcting irregularities were used depending on the problems noted. The study established that use of hymns with translated text and borrowed European tunes are stylistically and culturally inappropriate to the Luo context. There is therefore need for developing culturally appropriate songs that will achieve the three components of high communication in African songs namely language, music and performance.