Willie Anku

Anku rejected the relevance of simple concepts of polymeter in understanding West African music.^[2]

He is noted for attempting to create a more natural, but non-indigenous system of music notation to the study of African music.^[3] Anku's circular notation shows the various "combinatoric aspects of [a] pattern relative to different metrical positions, based on how the rhythmic pattern is aligned with [a] regulative metric pattern."^[4]

Bode Omojola lists Anku among five contemporary scholars most influencing ideas of African Rhythm.^[5] His work was cited as influential on Godfried Toussaint's general geometric theory of musical timelines.^[6]

V. Kofi Agawu described his approach to West-African music theory as "structural set analysis," the title of two of his short books.^[7] He defended the analytical approach to African music in a 2007 interview on Ghanaian MetroTV.^[8]

In addition to its impact on understanding African music, Anku's theories have been cited in the study of György Ligeti.^[9]

Willie Anku came from Gbadzeme in the Avatime Traditional Area of the Volta Region of Ghana.^[10]

He received his Master of Music Education from the University of Montana, Missoula in 1976; MA and PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986 and 1988 respectively.^[11] He was head of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, Legon until just prior to his death.^[1]

Professor Anku was involved in a motor accident on 20 January 2010 and died 2 weeks later at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. He is survived by his wife, Madam Eva Ebeli, and three children.^[12]