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Music from Africa
The Folk Rhythm Volume I: South African Folk, Church & Protest Songs
2004, Arranged by Matlakala Bopape, edited by Patty Cuyler.
Softcover. Includes teaching CD & performance CD and a DVD.
Information about the collection follows the table of contents and sample tracks, below.
All items are also on the accompanying teaching CD
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- South African Folk Music
An Overview to South African Languages and a Guide to Pronunciation - An Explanation of Tonic Sol-fa Notation
- The Polokwane Choral Society
- Dithotonyana(Sotho folk song)
- Fiela(Sotho wedding song)
- Hamba ka ncane(Xhosa folk song)
- Ikhon’ i ndawo(Sotho folk song)
- Ithemba lami (Zulu church chorus)
- Jo we(Zulu folk song)
- Khotso ya morena(Sotho church chorus)
- Khutso(Zulu church chorus)
- Lesang magwala a cheche (Xhosa struggle song)
- Matlakala (Sotho wedding song)
- Sesi we(Sotho folk song)
- Skhandamayeza (Sotho folk song)
- Thina by T. Mabaso (composed folk song)
- Thina sizwe e zi mnyama(Zulu struggle song)
- Umandela uth’a ihlome(Xhosa struggle song)
- The South African National Anthem
- Form for permission to copy songs in the book
- CD Track-lists: Performance CD & Teaching CD
About The Folk Rhythm
The result of months of collaborative work between Patty Cuyler (Village Harmony) and Matlaka Bopape (Polokwane Choral Society), The Folk Rhythm, Volume I is a choral director's dream. 16 rich, arresting songs arranged for SATB choir, accompanied by cds to guide choruses toward an "authentic" sound (and, where appropriate, dancing) style.
One of the main characteristics of South African folk and traditional music is the syncopated nature of rhythms, which often defy the measure system. An accompanying dance often adds a new rhythmic pattern to the mix, with song and dance together forming a complex and not easily defined rhythmic structure.
Because of this, most songs are best understood through careful listening and close observation if one wants to capture the essence of the performance. Recordings and video therefore accompany Folk Rhythm , to assist in this regard, as notation alone cannot adequately capture all these nuances of the rich South African folk music tradition.