Shembe Hymns

Composed by Isaiah and Galilee Shembe between 1940 and 1940, Izihlabelelo zama Nazaretha - Shembe Hymns - is one of the earliest known books in the Zulu language. Drawing on the poetic traditions of lzibongo (praises), the Biblical Psalms, and local renditions of African American Spirituals, these texts speak to conditions of oppression and suffering, but also to the will to joy and hopefulness in such moments. The hymns were translated by Bongani Mthethwa before his death and are edited and introduced by Carol Muller, who also produced the accompanying CD. Muller's introduction brings the song texts to life and recounts the controversial moment in the 1990s, when the organ was introduced by church member and ethnomusicologist, Bongani Mthethwa, to accompany the hymnal repertory. The initiative gave birth to dozens of youth choirs who subsequently began composing their own repertory about Shembe in a more 'gospel-inflected' musical version of their faith.

Bongani Mthethwa was a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a member of lbandla lamaNazaretha. Carol Muller is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania. She has published widely on South African music and on women's performance in lbandla lamaNazeretha.