SIMUNYE
'This
remarkable record' - The Times 'Audience
smiling from ear to ear with sheer pleasure' - Business Day, South
Africa 'Left
seduced, enchanted and spiritually moved' - Daily News, South
Africa 'A Simunye
concert is an unforgettable experience. Don't miss it.' - Classical
Music Simunye is a Zulu
word meaning 'we are one' and is the name given to a project developed by
I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale of Soweto. It resulted in a CD and joint
concert tours to South Africa, the UK, Scandinavia and Bermuda. Below is
an introduction from the CD booklet by Brett Pyper who brought the two
groups together. Following it are more recent notes as a follow up for
this website. Notes on the pieces follow. This CD is currently unavailable new but second hand copies can be obtained from plenty of websites. CD Sleeve
introduction Oxford is a long way from
Soweto, and the distance is not only to be measured in miles. Depending on
from where you are looking, the two cities represent a lot of what is both
best and worst about modern history. Simunye is a way of hearing
that distance that draws on the spiritual traditions of both places and
captures hints and echoes of a harmonious world. During April 1997, I
Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale met in South Africa for an intensive
cultural exchange project to compare, contrast and combine their
respective musical worlds. Although European and African vocal musics have
existed alongside one another in South Africa for hundreds of years, there
has been very little creative interaction between them. Free exchange
between the traditions which the two groups represent has only really
become possible in the post-apartheid environment, and this project
celebrates a kind of dialogue that was difficult to engage in
previously. At the same time, the
meeting took place in an age of extended international contact, an era in
which the boundaries which define countries, cultures and musical
traditions are becoming increasingly permeable. In the process, the world
is becoming more uniform, as former collective identities are absorbed
within an expanding global culture. Much stands to be lost in this
process; countless languages, songs and ways of envisioning the world. But
something new is emerging as well, and Simunye represents one
attempt to give it substance: the vision of a global community in which
membership does not require sameness, and difference does not mean
subservience. During their exchange
project in South Africa, I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale sang at African
church services, performed together in township community halls and city
theatres, and spent a lot of time in workshops, developing a joint
repertoire. The album Simunye: Music for a Harmonious World was a
document of their meeting, and contains recordings made at a variety of
locations: during a live performance at a Soweto community hall, at a
township church with the congregation in attendance, in the open African
bush at the resort where the workshops were held, and at a leading
Johannesburg studio. Combining different
musical traditions with integrity is never easy, but I Fagiolini and the
SDASA Chorale have proven worthy of the challenge. The groups have a
number of things in common; a similar youthful membership age, comparable
histories of singing together (both groups have been in existence for
about thirteen years) and an infectious love of different kinds of music.
But this has never eclipsed their differences; each group has remained
rooted in its own musical traditions, while establishing points of contact
with another musical world. Much of the original exchange project simply
centred on singing for one another and responding through music, rather
than in words. That spirit has remained constant as the collaboration has
developed. Most of the music in the
collective repertoire expresses religious themes, as a result of the
strong historical links between British and South African church music and
the SDASA Chorale's base in congregational service. Some pieces are almost
as old as the musical cultures in which they originate, while others were
created for or with one another. Many are statements of faith, however
broadly one wishes to define it. Folksong is another important source of
inspiration, as is African hymnody. The intention was not primarily to
create a new musical "fusion", and where that happened it was the result
of a spontaneous sparking of ideas between the resident composers of I
Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale. What were important aims were the
meaningful sharing of one another's music and one another's worlds, and a
desire to cross the unproductive gap between professional and
community-based music-making. Since their first meeting,
I Fagiolini and the SDASA Chorale have performed to audiences across South
Africa in a variety of settings. It is now with particular pleasure that
they share the fruits of their collaboration with audiences elsewhere.
Thank you to all those who, over the duration of this project, have made
it possible for them to span this bridge of voices across the boundaries
of race, nation and culture and, in a small way, to narrow the divisions
within and between human hearts from which South Africa, and our world at
large, continues to emerge. Brett
Pyper Further personal
reflections Brett
Pyper I've often told people
that the project that became Simunye was like thinking aloud; that,
for me, it was about posing the question of what it might mean to
democratize South Africa's cultural institutions and musical life. When I
first articulated the question to myself, I was a junior music
administrator in one of the apartheid-era provincial arts councils,
ensconced in the enormous, modernist State Theatre in Pretoria's city
centre (a monument to rather than of culture, as South African composer
Kevin Volans has so aptly put it). I soon realized that that particular
organization was not particularly eager or equipped to respond to the
question, and so by the time I Fagiolini met the SDASA Chorale in South
Africa, I had left the public cultural sector and was trying my hand at
project co-ordination on a freelance basis. Seven years later, the
old-style arts councils have been disbanded and replaced, the State
Theatre has been closed down and then reopened, and I'm a visiting
doctoral student in New York. As the collaboration between the two groups
has become a chorus of other people's musical, sociopolitical, and
religious questions, I realize that I have reflected on it in writing
virtually each step of the way. And so, since Robert Hollingworth has
asked me for a new contribution for I Fagiolini's website, I find myself
looking over what I have been moved to write about the project over close
on eight years and tracking my shifting (developing?) ideas on such
questions as the merits of musical multiculturalism, South Africa's
cultural transformation, and the capacity and limitations of music in
effecting social change. Some years down the line,
my critical antennae hover equivocally over an earlier statement like
"Although European and African vocal musics have existed alongside one
another in South Africa for hundreds of years, there has been very little
creative interaction between them." Now, I would be more inclined to point
to the black South African choral tradition as a prime example of creative
interaction in its own right, regardless of whether people of European
descent choose to respond to it musically or not. But rather than
indulging in an extended self-critique of my own existing pronouncements
on the project, it seems most relevant here to point out how projects like
this one are often, quite literally, a kind of thinking aloud, and that
the musical expressions solidified beneath the rainbow sheen of a compact
disc are necessarily a kind of sonic freeze-frame that offers a brief
glimpse of this broader process. From where I stand today,
I'm inclined to feel that cross-cultural projects such as this one (or
rather, "inter-cultural" projects as examples of "good cross-culturalism"
are coming to be called in my current environment) are probably better at
raising important questions than resolving them. For all the obvious
harmony and warmth generated between I Fagiolini, the SDASA Chorale and
their audiences, the project has not dispelled cultural and economic
differences, but rather been based on trying to find constructive ways of
working with them. Some attempts have, of course, been more successful
than others. Perhaps that process, in the long run, is as or even more
important than the music that such projects produce: creating a context in
which people of divergent backgrounds attempt to create something together
in spirit of respect and reciprocity that forces them to confront their
respective preconceptions and ways of making music. Oxford may not turn
out to be so far from Soweto after all; not, at least, in the ongoing
cultural conversation of which this project is such an engaging
example. Roderick Williams
(composer) Few compositional or
arranging projects that I have been involved in have meant as much to me
as this, and for a variety of reasons. I have to admit to having
been a little apprehensive about the project when it was first described
to me, if only because I had no idea how the musical elements of these two
such separate cultures would fit together from a purely practical
viewpoint. For one, I did not understand how a group such as the SDASA
Chorale could compose their music 'democratically' and, recognising how
diverse they are culturally, even within their own group, I had misgivings
about how quickly we could match our styles of music and music-making to
produce anything remotely useful. I certainly wasn't
prepared for the power and commitment of the way they perform their music.
There is a strength and warmth about the SDASA Chorale that communicates
across any barrier almost instantly; clearly this stems from the strength
of their faith, but there is also a directness and simplicity about the
music they sing and the way they deliver it that gives it tremendous
force. This made our time together with the SDASA Chorale inspirational on
many levels, and I am surely not alone amongst my colleagues in having
been profoundly moved by the collaboration. In particular, it has affected
the way I see the power of direct communication in music, and I hope it
informs the way I now perform music of all sorts. It was a particular
pleasure for me to see the 'democratic' compositional process in action,
in such pieces as 'Ah Robin' (track 2) and 'Te lucis ante terminum' (track
13); here the SDASAs developed their music in response to what we sang.
They continue to develop it (and so do we) each time the two groups
meet. When I returned to England
once the album recording had been completed I was again apprehensive.
Although I felt that we had achieved something important, I also wondered
whether the music would mean anything at all to anybody who had not been
there to witness the whole process. Perhaps the whole thing would just
confuse or irritate disinterested audiences. However, it is hugely
gratifying that the album has found its fans all over the world and that
audiences at live concerts have enjoyed the music and been engaged in the
experience as much as we were in working and recording the album back in
April 1997. Robert Hollingworth
(director - I Fagiolini) If there was a single
project that changed I Fagiolini, this was it. The fact that the recording
didn't go platinum (although it has sold a very respectable 17,000) is
less important to us as musicians than the experience it provided. And to
judge that recording as less than a success, as a few radio pundits did,
because it failed to live up to their philosophical criteria of what such
a meeting should produce is to devalue the process involved for the
musicians who took part. I like Brett's description
of thinking aloud. This is what happened over the four days of musical
preparation for the CD in April 1997. The recording reflects that. Perhaps
it would have sold more if we had experimented less and polished more,
producing a stream of pieces like 'Ah Robin' for a more homogenous CD
which people could easily hum along to. But instead, you have the raw
variety of the project as it was and, rare for a CD these days, a more
honest and open result. It's not the final word on
the subject - just where we got to in the time we had. And the CD doesn't
do justice to the live performance which has been a very emotional
experience for those who have shared in it, whether as singers or
audiences. But it gives you a feel of the incredible buzz which we all
shared while taking part. Notes about the
music Trad. South African -
eGolgotha (at Golgotha) South Africans of almost
all backgrounds sing hymns, but African hymnody is immediately
identifiable through its robust voice production, typically African
call-and-response figures, "blue notes" and undeniable swing. The SDASA
Chorale regards this popular hymn as one of its signature
tunes. William Cornyshe
(d.1523) arr.SDASA Chorale / Roderick Williams - Ah
Robin In many ways, this piece
marked the start of the creative relationship that ultimately resulted in
the recording of this album. After hearing I Fagiolini sing this rather
hypnotic 16th-century English round, the SDASA Chorale improvised its own
lover's lament in the style of traditional Zulu chant and then
superimposed it on the original. Bheka, who chants the lament, says that
"somewhere, somehow, there are chords in the English piece that are
similar to Zulu traditional music." Tracing such unexpected points of
convergence became a highly stimulating aspect of the exchange
project. Mokale Koapeng (b.1963)
/ Roderick Williams (b.1965) - Khutsho Mokale composed this
heartfelt chant for peace in 1988, after years of intense political
oppression and resistance in South Africa with no end in sight. When he
introduced the piece during one of the first sessions that the two groups
spent together, Roddy was moved to write a part for I Fagiolini that would
combine Mokale's piece with another chant for peace with a text from the
heart of the Western liturgy, the 'Agnus Dei'. Monkitsi Seoketsa
(b.1966) - U Jehova Monkitsi is a pastor in
the Seventh Day Adventist church and a composer of marvellous contemporary
African church music. The SDASA Chorale has been singing this setting of
Psalm 23 for some years now, and everywhere we went during the exchange
project, the younger members of the congregation recognized it, waved
their hands and joined in. I Fagiolini impressed everyone by arriving in
South Africa having learned the hymn in Zulu, and so were invited to sing
the opening verse alone - always a surprise for the
congregation. Monkitsi Seoketsa -
Dumisa (Praise) Monkitsi says that he
composed this praise song "to give thanks; thanks for, amongst so many
other things, the opportunity of collaborating with I Fagiolini." The
almost understated choral backing and the soloist's impassioned vocals are
masterfully combined in a simple and sincere statement of
faith. Orlando Gibbons
(1583-1625) / Roderick Williams - O clap your hands Having spent time
listening to recordings of the SDASA Chorale before coming to South
Africa, Roddy had the ambitious idea of combining African hymnody with
Gibbons' lively eight-part motet setting of Psalm 47. This was a piece
that took the SDASA Chorale deep into unfamiliar musical territory, but
they rose to the occasion admirably and affirmed the Psalmists' claim:
"God is gone up with a merry noise." Mokale Koapeng -
Kgosietsile (Kingdom Come) Perhaps the most eclectic
of the SDASA Chorale's resident composers, Mokale combines his interest in
international gospel and jazz styles with a deep love of indigenous
African music. He has based this swinging setting of "the Lord's Prayer"
on a shifting whole-tone bass pattern that is typical of traditional Xhosa
music. Above this, he has written a sophisticated blend of parts that
exploits the respective vocal idioms of I Fagiolini and the SDASA
Chorale. Trad.Cornish - The
trees they grow so high Although the sacred music
of Britain and South Africa was central to this project, the composers
within the two groups became increasingly interested in the folk roots of
one another's repertories. The purity of Carys' performance of this
bittersweet Cornish folksong clearly touched the SDASA Chorale when she
sang it to them, and was reciprocated when I Fagiolini heard Bheka's
renditions of Zulu folksong. Trad.Zulu arr.Dlamini
(b.1965) - Kwa Zulu senzeni? (Kwa Zulu, what's our
crime?) When we were preparing for
the exchange project, I Fagiolini asked whether the SDASA Chorale knew of
any traditional African chant which could be compared with Gregorian
chant. Mokale immediately thought of Zulu amahubo music, and played us an
example which had been recorded by the revered Princess Magogo (mother of
Chief Buthelezi) in the 1970s. I Fagiolini was fascinated by the recording
and Bheka decided to make an arrangement of the chant that could be sung
by both groups. Bheka says: "that tape
took me back home and reminded me of the olden days, those terrible days,
which saw the destruction of the Zulu nation." It is indeed about the
destruction of Shaka's nation that Princess Magogo was singing, and so I
asked Bheka why he wanted to sing the song with a group of English men and
women, descendents of an empire that played such an active role in that
process. "They liked the song," he replied, "and I thought that it would
be nice to sing it together; it would show unity. We can all share our
fruit of life." Guillaume de Machaut
(c.1300-1377) / Roderick Williams - Douce dame jolie Everyone agreed that
Machaut's beautiful 14th-century melody would provide suitable material to
work with, but no-one anticipated what Roddy wanted to do with it. In his
own words: "I thought that, coming to Africa, it would be interesting to
work with the types of processes that one finds in African drumming, and
to relate this to contemporary ideas in so-called 'pattern music' which
have become so widespread in Western music since the
1960s." Trad.South African -
Vela! (Come!) The two groups used this
lively community song to introduce one another at their township
performances. Meaning simply "come, we want to see you, we are SDASA
Chorale/I Fagiolini", the unexpected "vela" sung by I Fagiolini aroused a
lot of excitement from the audience. John Sheppard
(c.1515-c.1559) - Libera nos Both groups are devoted
fans of one another, but developed special preferences during their time
together; the SDASA Chorale fell in love (musically!) with I Fagiolini's
sopranos and I Fagiolini became particularly attached to the SDASA
Chorale's bass voices. For this piece, the latter simply sang the
plainchant-derived bass part of Sheppard's sublime polyphony with I
Fagiolini singing the upper voices. Plainchant
arr.Koapeng/I Fagiolini - Te lucis ante terminum When I Fagiolini sent us a
transcription of this timeless Gregorian melody, Mokale says that he set
out to "approach the plainchant from a typically African perspective".
Both the Tswana text and the music could be described as a free paraphrase
of the original. Bheka Dlamani - Uma
ngimbona Lomsindisi One of the joys of the
SDASA Chorale's music is the variety of African styles that the group
employs for use in church. This piece combines a gospel text with the
delightful isicathamiya style of singing, which developed among male
migrant workers in the mine compounds of South Africa during the first
half of the 20th century (made internationally famous by the group
Ladysmith Black Mambazo). A neo-traditional style that combines both
indigenous and imported elements, it is accompanied by a whole repertoire
of movements and gestures in live performance. No Night There / Akukho
Ubusuku Le! English missionaries must
have brought this Victorian hymn to South Africa some time during the 19th
century, but since then, African Christians have made it something
entirely their own. Here I Fagiolini sings the hymn in its original form,
followed by the version which the members of the SDASA Chorale sing in
church today. Bheka Dlamani -
Home Bheka has written a moving
gesture of hope, deliberately combining African and Western languages to
express his vision of our common destination. He explains the passage
which he composed for I Fagiolini's sopranos towards the end of the piece
as follows: "When you are very tired and hungry after a day of watching
over the cattle in the fields and you turn to go home, then you can hear
the songs of birds and sweet memories fill your mind. Then I think of the
Home where we are going: definitely, sure." The SDASA
Chorale Musical director:
Mokale Koapeng The SDASA Chorale is an
amateur gospel group which draws its members from the Seventh Day
Adventists' Students Association (SDASA) in Soweto. In recent years it has
earned the reputation as one of South Africa's mostly highly regarded
Gospel ensembles. The group was selected as the only South African choir
to be featured on the main programme of the Standard Bank National Arts
Festival in 1996. It has also performed at the Johannesburg Arts Festival
alongside the celebrated Wendy Mseleku and Gloria Bosman. SDASA Chorale
has performed with Sibongile Khurnalo, Mimi Coertsee and shared stage with
some of the well-known musicians in the country like Benjamin Dube and
Tshepo Tshola. It has performed all over South Africa including Botswana
and Lesotho. A male-voice ensemble
comprising nineteen members, the SDASA Chorale has been in existence for
fourteen years and is committed to rendering community service. The group
often performs for charities, and has initiated projects like visits to
prisons and the upgrading of hostels. It is also involved with educational
programmes like the Catch Them Young and Project Sunrise initiatives in
Soweto. What distinguishes the group further is the fact that it has a
number of talented composers within its ranks. The group's repertoire
includes original compositions by four talented songwriters, all of whom
sing in the group as well: G.M. Mojapelo (regrettably deceased in 1994),
Mokale Koapeng, Boyce Monkitsi Seoketsa and Bheka Dlamini. These composers
write in widely divergent styles, and the group is renowned for the
versatility of its repertoire, while remaining firmly rooted in the
bedrock of indigenous church
music. | |||||||||
