The Music of Mzilikazi Khumalo

Language, Culture, and Song in South Africa

Thomas Pooley, Naomi André, Innocentia Mhlambi, Donato Somma, Thomas Pooley, Naomi André, Innocentia Mhlambi, Donato Somma

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9798765113264
• eBook ISBN:
  9798765113288
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Ethnomusicology

Mzilikazi Khumalo (1932-2021), an iconic figure in choral music in South Africa, rose to prominence as one of Africa's leading composers of art music. This is a work of music history.

Biographical essays on Khumalo's major works, including those for choir, orchestra, and opera are complemented by contextual studies of his compositions and arrangements as well as reflections on his roles as editor, conductor, and music director. Specifically in the context of South Africa's cultural and political transition from Apartheid to democracy, Khumalo's key role in establishing the Nation Building Massed Choir Festival, a multi-racial institution that forged an inclusive space for music, in the 1980s is discussed as evidence of his importance and relevance in South African culture.

Khumalo's major works are studied in relation to contemporary art music, choral composition, and traditional song. These are UShaka KaSenzangakhona (1996), an African epic, and Princess Magogo KaDinuzulu (2002), one of the first indigenous African operas. Khumalo's artistic collaborators provide insight into their experiences working on these major projects, documenting the relationships the composer cultivated with his peers. This volume addresses a lacuna in the literature on South African art music which until recently tended to focus on works in the classical tradition and shows that Khumalo is a composer without peer in his synthesis of classical and choral, traditional and contemporary.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The Music of J. S. Mzilikazi Khumalo
• Chapter 1: “UGqozi”: A Biography of J. S. Mzilikazi Khumalo
• Chapter 2: An Interview with Diliza Khumalo
• Chapter 3: The National Anthem Committee
• Chapter 4: Nation Building Massed Choir Festival: Collaboration between Professor J. S. M. Khumalo and Maestro Richard Cock
• Chapter 5: The Use of Tonic Sol-fa Notation by Professor Mzilikazi Khumalo
• Chapter 6: The Music for A Cappella Choir
• Chapter 7: The Evolution of UShaka as an African Epic
• Chapter 8: Sigiya Ngengoma: Music Dancing History and Politics in UShaka KaSenzangakhona (1996)
• Chapter 9: The Unique Collaboration Behind the Opera Princess Magogo KaDinuzulu
• Chapter 10: The Music of Princess Magogo KaDinuzulu
• Chapter 11: “Walking in Thorns”: Nested Contexts in the Creation of Princess Magogo KaDinuzulu
• Chapter 12: Representing Princess Magogo in the Opera Princess Magogo KaDinuzulu
• Worklist of James Steven Mzilikazi Khumalo (1932–2021)
• Score: “Ma Ngificwa Ukufa” (1959) by J. S. M. Khumalo
• Score: “Izibongo ZikaShaka” (1981) by J. S. M. Khumalo
• Editor and Contributor Bios
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Discography
• Index