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Uganda: Kalanzi's 1969 Music Journey
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New Vision (Kampala)
BOOK REVIEW
13 July 2008
Posted to the web 14 July 2008
Mathias Mazinga
Kampala
Prof. Benny Kalanzi, a prominent musicologist and concert-artiste of international calibre, has written a biography of his musical journey.
In the book, But God Preferred Music, Kalanzi narrates his musical experience, which began in 1969, when he was still a student at Bukalasa Seminary.
Kalanzi's book was launched during a concert he staged at the National Theatre on July 2.
The book shows how he started singing classical music (Gregorian chants), how he began to play the European musical instruments (harmonium, clarinet and trumpet), under the instruction of Fr. Robinson (a Canadian priest of the Catholic Missionary Society), and how he rose to prominence as a versatile musician and concert-artiste.
As he leads his reader along his musical journey, Kalanzi uses descriptive language to show that it had been God's will, right from his birth, that he be a musician.
He could have gone to any other secondary school, but he found himself at Bukalasa where they taught music.
The Secretary General of UNESCO, Augustine Omara Okurut, commended Kalanzi for passing on his music to the future generation through writing.
"Through the book, Prof. Kalanzi has spoken through music and shown its power. He has shown love and respect for the African culture and the unity between African and European cultures," Okurut observed.
During the concert, Kalanzi's versatility and creativity showed as he played the European musical instruments like the piano as comfortably as well as the African instruments like the Ntongooli, occasionally mixing the two.
Kalanzi played piano pieces by Clement, Bach and also performed folk and modern African-Afro-western songs like Tisa, Malayika, Akawologoma, Nankya and Katusanyuke.
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The book is available at Angelina and Mukono bookshops in Kampala at sh10,000.
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