Generating page narration, please wait...
Vocal Music III
Listening Guide: Lesotho Circumcision Songs
The text of our selected song, as transcribed and translated by Bill Wood, is as follows:
Composer: 0
-
"Lekoa e Khele Banna - (Hey in the Valley, You Men)"
|
Listening Guide |
|
|
|
|
| He Lekoa e Khele Banna (chorus) | Hey in the valley, you men |
| Khomo li ntle tsena tseso moholo Lipuhetsoana tse melala lithole Ke bone ba li otla ba li phaphatha |
My grandfather's cattle are very beautiful, They are the greys with strong necks and heat thy bodies, I saw people driving them and beating them |
| Phakoe e theatse maeba thabeng Ea sia maholi ntho tse bohlale A sala a fera-fera lithabeng 'Na ke hopetse nkhono khanoana Ke hapa se maraibe sethole |
The hawk has chased the doves away from the mountains. It has left the clever birds called maholi. Left them hopping in the bushes. I have captured the red cow for my grandmother, And a red-and-white one. |
| Lethula o nyantsang ke le oa hao Ke le thipa ke bile ke le lemeko Ket la khobella ke tsena tafoleng |
Lethula, why do you refuse me When I am your man? I have a knife and a spoon With which you can eat the food at the table. |
| (Ululation) | |
Listen to this song again and take note of the following:
- The distinction between the lead singer's call and the chorus' response is undermined as both parts tend to interweave.
- A solo voice starts the song, singing Lekoa e Khele Banna.
- About five seconds later, he is joined by another voice singing the same phrase.
- About two seconds later, a much richer chorus joins, singing the same phrase.
- The soloist, upon the entry of the chorus, breaks into another part.
- At the end of each phrase, notably when the lead singer and the chorus sing the word banna, a third part may be heard.
- The type of call and response pattern featured in this song is known as overlapping call and response pattern, simply because the call and the response sections often overlap.
- At such overlapping points, both the call part and the response part sound together to produce a form of counterpoint-the simultaneous combination of two independent parts. But this is an accidental case of counterpoint, since the singers here were probably not thinking about counterpoint. This form of involuntary counterpoint is very common in African music.
- At about 1 minute 55 seconds into the song, a new section is introduced. Here the chorus stops singing, while a solo voice renders a chant-like phrase before breaking into speech.
- The performance ends with the singers providing punctuations through the use of a vocal technique known as ululation.
When the music changes, so does the dance.
-African Proverb
"The curious beauty about African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad story."
-Nelson Mandela
The Vai have professional musicians--both men (manja) and women (kengai)--who receive training in the secret societies and provide music for social activities and events.
