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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 April 2025
Moerane was a family man who spent much of his life in rural communities and was attuned to their traditions. This chapter explores 17 songs about family, community and traditional life. They have features in common with songs discussed in Chapters 7 and 9, but their lyrics and musical styles – sometimes drawing on traditional sources – set them apart. Moerane was knowledgeable about Sotho folk music, although he explicitly quotes it only in his symphonic poem Fatše La Heso. Because Western elements dominate his choral language, his use of traditional elements elsewhere are at risk of being overlooked. Half the songs discussed in this chapter are for female voices, with content associated with children or children's games.
Moerane uses SATB in eight songs: ‘Mankokotsane (The Rain Game), Alina, Ha Ke Balahē (Who Says I’m Running Away?), Letsatsi (The Sun), Liphala (Whistles), Matlala (Matlala), Morena Tlake (King Vulture) and Seotsanyana (Rock Kestrel). He uses four female voices (SSAA) in Liflaga (Flags), three (SAA) in ‘Mankholikholi (Yellow-billed Kite), Bonukunyana (My Little Baby!), Ma-Homemakers (Ingoma Ka Zenzele) (Homemakers), Mosele (Mosele), Sa ‘Mokotsane (Wailing) and Sekolo Se Koetsoe (School's Out); and two (SA) in Pelo Le Moea (Heart And Soul) and Nonyana Tse Ntle (Beautiful Birds). I begin with the smallest social unit in these 17 songs, that of ‘family’, and proceed outwards to works that speak of community, tradition and history.
Songs about family
Bonukunyana, Ma-Homemakers, Mosele, Sa ‘Mokotsane, Pelo Le Moea and Alina all tell of family love. Bonukunyana survives as a fragment (the ending), but this and the title indicate a song composed to soothe a baby. (One of the folk songs Moerane quotes in Fatše La Heso is a lullaby.) Under ‘Remarks’ in Bonukunyana's listing in the SAMRO ‘Catalogue’ are the words ‘From “Setsoto” Junior Poems’. Moerane attributes the lyrics of six other songs to ‘Setsoto’, which implies drawing on the traditional: ‘Mankokotsane, Ha Ke Balahē, Mosele, Letsatsi, Pelo Le Moea and Ngeloi La Me. These songs all have short texts and relate to a Sotho children's story, rhyme or game song.
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