RAISING THE BAR:
Traditional Choral Music from South Africa, Vol. 1
Created by Mollie Stone & Patty Cuyler, with Matlakala Bopape, 2013
Book + teaching DVD set (audio tracks available separately on Bandcamp)
Price: $35
Six South African songs for SATB or treble choir. Teaching DVD with voice parts, dance movements, pronunciation tracks and performances. Book includes tips for teaching and performing, pronunciation guide, background information for the songs and more. In addition to the book and teaching DVD is access to an online resource site with source recording downloads and video links.
Songs include:
– Mrs. Galo (Xhosa praise song)- Mmamoshimane (Sotho wedding song)
– Modimo rea go boka (Sotho church chorus)
– Njengebhadi libhadula (Xhosa folk song)
– Koloi ya Eliya (Sotho folk/church song)
– Ndandihleli (Xhosa folk song adapted for the struggle against HIV/AIDS)
This was the first in a series of South African choral music teaching DVDs with accompanying book of resources, intended for mixed, youth and children’s choirs. The four-part traditional South African choral songs in this collection were especially chosen for their adaptability for three-part treble choir.
Included on the disc are pronunciation tracks, teaching video for the voice parts and the dance movements, and both SATB and treble choir performances for each of the songs. The DVD features 50 singers aged 8-18 from Chicago Children’s Choir and Matlakala Bopape, director of the Polokwane Chorale in Limpopo Province, South Africa, under the direction of Mollie Stone and Patty Cuyler.
The accompanying resource book includes tips for learning, teaching and performing traditional South African choral music, a guide to pronunciation, texts with translations and IPA symbols, background information about the songs, and suggestions for adapting the songs for different ensembles, as well as a short history of South African choral music.
In addition to the book and teaching DVD is access to an online resource site with source recording downloads and video links.
Listen to songs in this volume on our Bandcamp page.