The Music of Mzilikazi Khumalo - by Thomas Pooley & Naomi André & Innocentia Mhlambi & Donato Somma (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Biographical essays on Mzikilikazi Khumalo's (1932-2021) songs, arrangements, and major works for orchestra and opera are contextualized and sit alongside reflections on his many roles, including that as guide for a cultural transition from Apartheid to democracy in South Africa. Of primary focus are uShaka kaSenzangakhona (1996), an African epic, and Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu (2002), one of the first indigenous African operas, to which Khumalo's artistic collaborators provide insight. This volume addresses a lacuna in literature on South African art music that has historically focused on works in the classical tradition and demonstrates that Khumalo is a peerless composer"--

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"The immortal sometimes must die in order to emasculate the pangs of birth and death, especially in artistic creations. The essays in this volume represent a timely appraisal and celebration of the Mzilikazi Khumalo that never would die-his contributions are immortalized far beyond the singable and the imaginable; they are sites of renewable Africanities." --Daniel K. Avorgbedor, Professor of Music, University of Ghana, Legon

"No one can contest the fact that this collection of essays on Mzilikazi Khumalo and his creative outputs spanning his career draws readers to not only appreciate the depth of his contributions as an iconic South African choral music composer and pioneer of the aptly described 'Black choralism' tradition in South Africa and in global choral music, but also to interrogate the ever-evolving nexus between art music and the social contexts in which they are composed, as exemplified by Khumalo in the changing social contexts and dynamics of South Africa that he lived and worked in. These essays, which insightfully weaved Khumalo's life and times as a highly respected and resourced creative figure in Black Choral Music of South Africa for readers and researchers on African choral music, are certainly a groundbreaking contribution focusing on the under-reported and under-represented but strong Black African composers and their works on the one hand and to the growing literature on historiography of African choral music composers on the other hand. The rich and robust contents of the book which extend to contemporary discourses on decoloniality, identity, indigeneity, coloniality, and race are of significant interest on their own but are also critical points of convergence/intersection with current concerns and themes in global scholarship, giving the book the latitude and currency which would be of interest to scholars for a very long time. This book is strongly endorsed and recommended to musicologists, African music researchers and enthusiasts, choral music performers interested in the works of Khumalo, students of music and librarians looking for fresh and unique collections." --Christian Onyeji, Professor of African Music and Composition, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Enugu State

"A trailblazer for Indigenous music, Mzilikazi Khumalo triumphed as composer, reimagining what can be called 'classical music.' Integrating various artforms in his musical works, this publication illustrates that for Khumalo music was life, life was art, art was poetry, poetry was song, and together it was so much more." --Hilde Roos, Africa Open Institute for Music, Research, and Innovation, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

"The book is a collection of riches. In a multitude of ways, the authors pay tribute to one of South Africa's great contemporary composers: linguist, teacher, lover of history and visionary, path-breaking musician, Mzilikazi Khumalo. The breadth of the essays here sets new trends in music scholarship and changes our understanding of music, story, magic in 'Mzansi, ' South Africa." --Liz Gunner, Visiting Research Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

About the Author

Thomas M. Pooley is Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Art and Music at the University of South Africa. He has published widely on African art music, and on Zulu music, language and culture. He is Editor-in-Chief of Muziki, Journal of Music Research in Africa and author of The Land is Sung: Zulu Performances and the Politics of Place (2023).

Naomi André is the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, and Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan, USA. Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement, is published by the University of Illinois Press. She is John E. Sawyer Fellow, National Humanities Center, 2022-2023.

Innocentia Mhlambi is Associate Professor in the Department of African Languages at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She is the author of African-language Literatures: Perspectives on isiZulu Fiction and Popular Television Series, and co-author of Mintiro ya Vulavula: Arts, national identities and democracy in South Africa.

Donato Somma is Senior Lecturer and Head of Music at the Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Somma has published on African operas and on music in Italian prisoner of war camps in South Africa.