South Africa - A Historical Record on Music

 

           

South Africa - A Historical Record on Music

            South African music dates back to many years, starting in the 1600's. The Dutch colonial era brought along slaves and tribes from the west into the eastern part that taught their culture of music. In the 1690's, a slave orchestra was formed and owned by the governor of the Cape. Throughout the years, many instruments were produced and introduced to the world of music. For example, the mamokhorong. This is a type of violin. [1]

In the 1800's, the South Africans started marching around much like the British military marching bands, similar to the minstrel shows. Every New Year’s Celebration to this day includes the marching band and a carnival. Hymns were being formed by John Knox Bokwe using Xhosa, a harmonic pattern. Through the years, folk music traveled and different regions and types of music met and blended, were shared, and traded as ears heard and learned to pass on the tunes. [2]

In 1912, the first recordings of South African music occurred. In the 1920's, the South African music style was much like the American swing style except they had their own little twist with the Marabi melodies. Jazz was becoming a big hit to the nation. Distinct, South African jazz was called mbaqanga.[3]

One piece to be specially featured of the music produced in the history of South Africa is their national anthem. Nkosi’ Sikelel’ iAfrika (God Bless Africa) was written by a teacher named Enoch Sontonga in the early 1900's. It was considered the unofficial national anthem at the time. The official anthem contains two combined anthems and a total of five different languages. The official anthem contains: Nkosi’ Sikelel’ iAfrika (God Bless Africa) and Die Stem (The Call of South Africa). Die Stem was originally a poem written in May of 1918 by CJ Langenhoven. Originally, it was considered the official anthem until the two anthems, the official and unofficial were combined to produce: The Call of South Africa, which became the official one in 1962. [4]

The national anthem is an important piece of history in South African music and is still used today because it declares the peoples’ pride and loyalty to their country. The national anthem is well known to so many because of the many languages it contains and the translations produced.

References

[1] "The Developement of Music in South Africa Timeline 1600-2004 | South African History Online." The Developement of Music in South Africa Timeline 1600-2004 | South African History Online. Accessed May 23, 2015. http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/developement-music-south-africa-timeline-1600-2004.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] "SouthAfrica.info." South Africa's National Anthem. June 4, 2012. Accessed May 23, 2015. http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/anthem.htm#.VV-_fflViko.

Image #1:  South African Jazz. Accessed May 22, 2015. https://soulsafari.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/african-jazz-pioneers-1987-pic-copy.jpg?w=300&h=183.
Image #2: South Africa's National Anthem. Accessed May 22, 2015. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/401172279282851146/&ei=XUNjVay9FYbTsAXA-YCIBA&bvm=bv.93990622,d.b2w&psig=AFQjCNHt7aosN2pN17MT8rjK10f84yQ8EQ&ust=143.