ALTHOUGH NANA DANSO ABIAM HAS IN THE PAST COMPOSED MUSIC FOR WESTERN INSTRUMENTS, HIS MAIN APPROACH IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF MOST OF THE COMPOSERS CITED IN THIS PUBLICATION. LIKE DURO LADIPO OF NIGERIA, ABIAM SEEKS TO FASHION HIS NEO ‑ AFRICAN IDIOM SIMPLY BY RE ‑ ARRANGING ELEMENTS OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC, A DEVICE WHICH I CATEGORIZE AS NEO ‑ TRADITIONAL. (AKIN EUBA 1993: 11) Nana Danso Abiam

Contemplative functions in an African context Unlike Duro Ladipo, Abiam has not specialized in operatic music but has created a pan ‑ African orchestra, consisting entirely of African traditional instruments, which fulfils in the African context contemplative functions similar to those of the symphony orchestra in the Western context.

An orchestra rooted in African traditional culture In designing this orchestra, Abiam may have borrowed some of the structural principles of the symphony orchestra, but apart from this, the style of music that he writes for the orchestra is firmly rooted in African traditional culture.