The Music of Mzilikazi Khumalo

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.

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 the author of The Land is Sung: Zulu Performances and the Politics of Place (2023). Pooley is founding managing editor of the journal Analytical Approaches to African Music. Naomi André is the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, and Professor Emerita of Afroamerican and African Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and the Residential College at the University of Michigan, USA. She is the author of Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement (2018) and a founding member of the Black Opera Research Network (BORN). 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.

List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction: The Music of J.S. Mzilikazi Khumalo Thomas Pooley, University of South Africa, Naomi André, UNC Chapel Hill, USA, Innocentia Mhlambi, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Donato Somma, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa 1. Ugqozi: A Biography of James Steven Mzilikazi Khumalo (1932 - 2021) Thomas Pooley, University of South Africa 2. An Interview with Diliza Khumalo Thomas Pooley, University of South Africa 3. The National Anthem Committee J.S. Mzilikazi Khumalo (ed. Ludumo Magangane), Composer and Independent Scholar, South Africa 4. Nation Building Massed Choir Festival: Collaboration between Professor J. S. M. Khumalo and Maestro Richard Cock Richard Cock, Choral Music Director and Conductor, South Africa 5. The Use of Tonic Sol-Fa Notation by Professor Mzilikazi Khumalo Ludumo Magangane, Conductor and Independent Scholar, South Africa 6. The Music for A Cappella Choir David Smith, Musician and Independent Scholar, South Africa 7. The Evolution of UShaka as an African Epic Robert Maxym, Conductor and Composer 8. Sigiya Ngengoma: Music Dancing History and Politics in UShaka KaSenzangakhona (1996) Innocentia Mhlambi, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa 9. The Unique Collaboration Behind the Opera Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu Sandra de Villiers, Opera Africa 10. The Music of Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu Megan Quilliam, Independent Scholar, USA 11. 'Walking in Thorns': Nested Contexts in the Creation of Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu Donato Somma, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa 12. Representing Princess Magogo in the Opera Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu Kholeka Shange, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Works List of James Stephen Mzilikazi Khumalo (1932-2021) Thomas Pooley, University of South Africa 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