heritage (2022)
for concert band | Grade 5

Duration: 8.5 minutes

Shawn Okpebholo’s Heritage evokes moods, events, and sounds—including West African drumming and indigenous melodies—rooted in the musical traditions of Nigeria. One of the central themes is adapted from a song of the Esan people, a small ethnic group in southern Nigeria to whom the composer has deep historical and familial ties. The Esan language is rich and poetic, and at various points in the piece, performers chant a line from an Esan song:

Ekine leleyea do obhimen la doeki nalo.
(My investment in you is paid off. Because of your hard work, your future is bright.)

Heritage is a revised version of a work formerly titled This is Africa, originally commissioned by Professor Marcellus Brown and the Boise State University Symphonic Winds for the 2011 National CBDNA Convention. The piece is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Harry Begian.

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