The Life and Legacy of Little Ayo Bankole
Donald Macleod explores Ayo Bankole’s career, from Lagos to London and beyond, with Alexander Douglas.
Donald Macleod turns to Ayo Bankole, a central figure in the generation after Fela Sowande. With Alexander Douglas, he traces Bankole’s early years in Lagos, where his musical gifts were recognised and shaped within church and school life. Studies in London and Cambridge opened up new musical worlds while also placing him within a very different cultural environment. His music reflects these experiences, drawing together Yoruba traditions and European forms in piano pieces, songs and larger works. A return to Nigeria in the 1960s brought a new phase of teaching, research and composition.
Egun Variations in G major
Ayo Bankole
Rebeca Omordia, piano
Variations for Little Ayo
Ayo Bankole
Rebeca Omordia, piano
Nigerian Suite: I–V
Ayo Bankole
Rebeca Omordia, piano
Three Yoruba Songs
Ayo Bankole
Omo Bello, soprano
Rebeca Omordia, piano
Ya Orule
Ayo Bankole
Rebeca Omordia, piano
Piano Sonata No. 2 in C major “The Passion”: I–III
Ayo Bankole
Rebeca Omordia, piano
Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales & West.
On radio
Broadcast
- Wed 8 Jul 202616:00BBC Radio 3
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