Music Traditions of the African Indigenous Churches

Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies Vol. 22 (2) December 2012

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Music traditions of the African indigenous churches: A Northern Sotho case study.

Madimabe Mapaya School of Human and Social Sciences University of Venda [email protected]

Abstract

African independent churches (AICs), given their political independence, are emerging as reservoirs for some of the indigenous musical practices that would have otherwise faced extinction. The ability of the AICs to fuse indigenous African culture and Christianity in a give and take fashion has sustained over the years. During this period, African indigenous music, including acculturated hymns, informed the musical practices, and thus traditions of the AICs. This paper, therefore, critically analyses the emergent musical traditions within the AICs specifically with the view of tracing the African music connection.

1. Introduction

The well-documented historical penetration of Christianity into Africa has shaped the continent in many ways. Some African scholars assert that Christianity was bad for Africa, citing among many, the fact than African cultural practices, including song and dance, were once regarded ‘savage’, and as such needed to be eradicated. And in their place Western civilization, the cornerstones of which were the Christian church and the school, was installed. This is why from the 1940s, churches and schools, as Shaffer (1956:39) recounts, “…placed a strict ban on all forms of native music, musical instruments, and rhythmical devices, which were feared would encourage the people in their old practices.” Such was the environment in which early Christian missionaries encountered indigenous African music ─ something to be exterminated.

However, as Christianity was changing the complexion of the African life, African culture was also affecting the very Christianity. By so doing African religiosity, which saw the need for Africa-inspired churches came into being. But the establishment of the African Indigenous Churches, also known as the African Independent Churches or the African Initiated1 Churches, all acronymed AICs, (see Sundkler, 1961; Jules-Rosette 1985 and Kilonzo 2010), is a by-product for which, musicologically speaking, the Christian missionary could not have bargained. Whereas the mainstream churches sought to use music to capture, tame or even prune the “undesirable” cultural practices from the converted African, the AICs have systematically placed African cultural sensibilities at the centre of Christianity, thereby decoupling or wrestling Christianity away from its Eurocentric hegemonic origin. And by decoupling Christianity from the Eurocentric grip, a new environment was created.

Meanwhile, mainstream churches such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church and the Dutch Reformed Church engaged in studies of varied kinds in an effort to bring Eurocentric church music to Africa. Chief among their problems, however, was that

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the imported melodies framed by European languages were hardly compatible with the tone languages of Africa. Thus, the music project was not succeeding; how could the purpose of worship be served if, according to Axelsson (1974:95), the problems of rhythmic accents and tonal inflections of vernacular words in the singing of hymns remained unresolved? Given some of these seemingly overwhelming cultural incompatibilities, the missionary planted among Africans soon realised that there was a need to learn the language and the culture of the people he sought to convert, if his effort was to yield any results. These types of encounters, driven by the need for effective communication and the need to capture or ‘save’, the soul of an African, as it were, brought the missionary into contact with African music. After all Axelsson (1974:89) observes, “African musical idioms are by necessity closer to the hearts of the Africans than is the music of Euro-American origin." Consequently, a condition for the study of indigenous African music became an imperative in their line of duty. Troubled or fired up by the preceding questions nonetheless, strategies were devised by among others Weman (1960), Kauffmann (1966) and Jones (1968) to encourage converted Africans, who had been assimilated into the church and therefore, Christianity, to collaborate with the missionary in ‘creating’ sensible and ‘singable’ music; but still based on western music praxis. This process gave rise to difela (acculturated hymns) littered in many different vernacular hymnbooks today. But most importantly, it has brought aspects of the nature-dictated rituals into ‘formalised’ and periodised environments. In other words, music for healing purpose, which is performed as, and when there is a necessity for it, some of its aspects are now part of a weekly ritual in a church environment. Mpoo or even terone (musical genres discussed the following sections) are some such musical practices with healing properties, which, because of the AICs, take place on a regular basis. It is for these reasons that this article explores the properties encapsulated in the musical formations obtaining within the AICs. But first, a commentary is made on the methodology used during this study, followed by a critical discussion of musical constructs within the AICs. In addition, two representative song transcriptions are given to illustrate some of the nuances that are representative of indigenous African music. Lastly, an argument is made that AIC are blue prints of bringing indigenous African music practices into a ‘formal setting’.

2. Methodology

Amongst Northern Sotho speaking people, there exist two broad categories of AICs, namely masione (Zionists) and mapostola (Apostles). Ordinarily mmino wa Sione (Zionist music)is linked to masione and mmino wa postola (Apostolic music) to mapostola. For mmino wa Sione this article focuses on the two versions of the Zion Christian Church, and for mmino wapostola, the focus is on a Thembisa2 based apostolic church known as Holy Burner Apostolic Church.


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In the year 2000, after negotiations with Church elders, among them moruti3Mokobane of the Alexandra ZCC congregation, and muruti Masedi of Thembisa Centre congregation, I was allowed with limitations, of course, to observe musical activities in a typical Sunday church gathering at Thembisa Centre of the St. Barnabas Zion Christian Church (ZCC) (identifiable by the star badge). Around the same time, I also visited the St Engines version of the Zion Christian Church, also acromymed ZCC (identifiable by the pigeon badge) and several Apostolic Churches. I was also able to retrospectively speak to elders in these churches, and in some instances priests; in some cases, ordinary members were also consulted to fill in the gaps. Whereas the ZCC St. Barnabas did not allow any form of recording, the other Churches granted permission for footage to be captured; suffice to say, all music formations within these two categories of AICs were documented in a journal form, where permission was granted musical formations were videographed, and the musical formations obtaining amongst masione and mapostola (churches) explored.

3. Analysis

Jules-Rosette’s (1985) distinguishes between three categories of African church music, namely:

Hymns, which are, in essence, acculturated church music described by Weman (1960:10) as “compact, four-part improvised congregational signing,"

Didactic music, which the African Apostles consider to be a form of preaching because of its biblical interpretative function. This type of music also provides members with moral directives in their daily conduct, and

Ecstatic music, which is spirit-driven and is mainly praise and worship in style. But Jules-Rosette’s categorization does not limit the musical styles found in these African churches, whose styles are as diverse as the churches themselves.

Refraining from existing musicological analysis, I opt for a more empirical approach by testing the character of musical formation typical performances against the above listed categories. It should be noted that the grading from 1 – 5 only serves to give an indication of the general character of a musical formation.

4. On musical formations

The following is an exploration of musical formations starting with both versions of the ZCC and the ZAC. A graphic representation of all the musical formation is presented at the end of the section.

a. Musical formation within the ZCC

Mokhukhu is a male only song/dance worship group formation, comprising about 20 to


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100 participants, roughly from age 14 - 35. In mokhukhu, dancers/singers may form themselves into a circle, a semicircle, or sometimes in rows, with malokwane 4 in the centre (dinaka5 style) or upfront (the conductor style). Malokwane leads the performance in terms of dance sequences; but singing may be led by any group member who is deemed vocally competent. Malokwane ’s other function is to maintain order by sometimes whiplashing those who spoil the mokhukhu formation. This manner of maintaining order through malokwane , and the circular formations of mokhukhu during performances can be traced to back to the organisation of dinaka. Mokhukhu performances are not necessarily aimed at an audience but primarily to Modimo; as such, performances are actually forms of worship. The music accompanies a vigorous synchronised jumping and heavy stomping. Participation in mokhukhu is, according to Ngako Mapaya, a member of mokhukhu (personal interview: 02/01 2003), a sign of vitality for the young men of the ZCC. Go bina mokhukhu (to perform mokhukhu dance) is more than a musical performance. It is a strong way of worshipping Modimo (God). Manyanyatha (the white custom-made church boots) embellish the dance as well as providing the heavy thumping sound, which is part of the musical performance (Chidester: 1992). In this act of worship, the dancers/singers also derive satisfaction from having danced for the Lord. Mokhukhu sessions take place every Sunday morning, Wednesday and Saturday nights at the churchyard. Mpoo - a ZCC type of a musical performance construct sometimes referred to as koša ya badimo (song of the ancestors) is a mixed-gender and mixed age group formation (see Mapaya, 2010). Similarly, terone – a ZAC musical performance construct ─ is also a mixed-gender and mixed-age group formation. Like mpoo,terone is essentially, what I would refer to as a performative-prayer construct. The music associated with mpoo and terone is cyclic in nature and mostly consists of praise singing in reference to the leader of the church put in some cycle with the veneration of badimo (ancestors) and God. Phrases such as 'morwa Tafita' (son of David) and Ramasedi ‘a poloko (the Lord of lords) ─ artistically inspired phases ─ are commonly used in the many improvised vocalisations and extemporisations. The two primary aims of mpoo and terone, apart from them being prayer songs or performative-prayers, are to induce trance in mabone (prophets of the ZCC persuasion), baporofeta (prophets of ZAC persuasion) and to ensure endurance during meletelo (night vigils) and the general stoicism expected of members in and outside the church (music performance). These meletelo are held regularly in the churchyard, and especially during kopano (ZCC type pilgrimage-cum-conference), or when there is a ritual of go tshwara motse (to protect the house from evil), as well as other functions. Both versions of the ZCC6 have dikhwaere (choirs) in their music formation mix. Whereas in St. Barnabas ZCC, female and male choirs exist separately, in St. Engenas there are mixed-gender choirs. In St. Barnabas, the female choir wear a uniform of blue dresses and green berets, an alternative to which is khaki dresses with green jerseys and berets uniform. The latter is sometimes used when khwaere sings at funerals. The music of dikhwaere is choral in nature ─ meaning that it borrows substantively from the early western harmony ─ while at the same time employing structures that are polyrhythmic,


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with multi-incidental entries. The lyrics are mainly didactic in nature. There is no fixed arrangement as to who leads which song, nor is there a declared repertoire programme; singers chose from fashionable songs guided by their experience of the context within which they are sung. Like in all traditional congregational singing, anybody with a reasonable vocal quality may start a song. So powerful is the congregational singing tradition that it informs the commercialised singing styles of some AICs aligned recording artists from the late 1980s. A recent exponent of this type of music in South Africa is a group known as Matlakala and the Comforters. Nkedi is a music formation that seems to a feature specially selected group of young men, and is an exclusive musical practice that operates only within the church; few people outside the church know about this formation or its function. Participants wear brown jerseys, khaki shorts or maskhotšho (Scottish kilts), brownish socks, boots and belts that were common in South Africa during the 1950s as part of police or military uniforms, almost reminiscent of the World War II era uniform. The music is traditional in nature; i.e. cyclic, polyrhythmic and most importantly trance-inducing. The term nkedi (nkedi = singular; bonkedi = plural) stems from the exclusive use of syllabic scatting, such as ke-di-keke (no connection with Fela Kuti’s use of the same auraphonics in one of his songs) in the place of normal lyrics. Interesting to note, is affinity with the Scottish kilt ─ a mark of consistency with the performative rationalisation found within dinaka7. Phuthego refers to a normal church assembly or congregation. It could also refer to a special traveling church service where mokhukhu, for instance, is invited out to perform certain rituals at one of the member’s households. Phuthego, in its normal Sunday setting, is considered the main business of the church where scriptures are read. And as a form of congregation, it is attended by every member of the church. Acculturated hymns, translated into vernacular languages, are perhaps a common thread running through all Africa-inspired churches including some mainline churches, AICs and Pentecostal Churches (PCs) alike. Difela (hymns) are specially preferred when the preacher is about to take to the podium. Singing difela as an introduction to the sermon happens in almost all South African AICs. The strategic placement of difela in the most AIC services suggests their importance above any other style of song performance. Most importantly, the singing of difela is a venue where senior members of the church are accommodated because of the language used (in difela themselves) as opposed to English used mostly in choruses, the relatively relaxed style of rendition and the familiarity with difela tunes. The singing style of difela is, to a considerable extent, common in all African churches. Like in the ZCCs, difela occupies a special place in the ZACs. In ZACs, difela, generally of midtempo, are sung to the rhythm of pisalome8. Diphala (marching brass band) performance is usually the highlight of ceremonies during pilgrimages in Moria and in Podungwane (both in Limpopo province, not far from Polokwane), sacred sites for St, Barnabas and St, Engenas ZCCs respectively. The significance of diphala is magnified by its additional role of accompanying the Bishop on and off the podium; or when he is doing the walkabout through the several-thousands


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strong congregation. For many church members, this is a special moment of their visit to Moria or Pudungane (depending on the version of the ZCC church one is refereeing to). Anderson (2000:142) observes “...the highlight of the weekend activities is when Bishop Lekganyane, resplendent in the green and gold bishops’ attire, at the head of a brass band, takes the podium to address the assembled and expectant multitude." Phuti Makhwiting, a member of the church (personal interview: 14/11/2000) explains the mood in the congregation when diphala are performing as 'anointing'. Musically, though, diphala performers seem not to be aiming for precision when it comes to intonation. Others may attribute this to the less than ideal level of musicianship, and the fact that this is the only instrumental ensemble in the church and as such lacks the self-reflection it could be subjected to had it been in competition with other instrumental ensembles. This might also be attributable to the African attitude that permits zonal rather than precision tuning. The musical repertoire of diphala normally includes difela and choruses as sung in the church, only this time, brass instruments replace voices and thus lyrics. By eliminate singing altogether and through its intrinsic drum patterns are un-African, diphala, significantly deactivates audience participation. In other words, instead of singing and dancing along, members of the congregation become spellbound. Apart from the zonal tone tolerance, and perhaps the rhythmic sensibility informing phraseology and multi-incidentality of song, diphala as a musical formation falls short of being an African invention. Without fail, though, both versions of the ZCCs, apart from basing their church music chiefly on African indigenous musical practices, actually put aside a day during which they celebrate mmino wa setšo. Secular African indigenous music groups are periodically invited, particularly during the beginning of the year in September or Good Friday, to take part in the pilgrimage. This might be one of the many reasons there is so much similarity between the music of the church and some traditional secular music styles. In fact, ZCC members are not prohibited from belonging to secular genres such dinakamokankanyane and dinaka. This gesture of accommodating what other churches might consider as paganistic musical practices is, most importantly, an affirmation of members’ Africanness.


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Figure 2: Sebariki (transcription by Mapaya)


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This song is a mokhukhu song. Sebariki has two sections: A and B. The A section is sung with dancer/singers marking time, and then stomping occurs as they sing the B section. The harmony employed here is I II I over the questioning phrase or section A. Then it moves to a I IV V progression in the second (answering phrase) section B. The singing after the call starts immediately after beat one most of the time. The song demonstrates a version of call-and-response structure. The call is one and a half beats long with the response following immediately. Besides the call segment of the beginning phrases, the lead voice continues singing in a free fashion on top of the chorus. Sebariki

The meaning of the text in this song is probably not so obvious to an outsider. However, to an insider it is understood as a way of praising the leader Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane. The text proudly suggests that whoever is dealing with the church or the leader of the church, should exercise caution because the consequences are serious. This warning seems to be directed at baloyi (witches) or evildoers in general. It would seem that the church denounces the devil and his acts, but much focus is placed on baloyi who are, according to Sehananwa belief, the prime evil threatening humanity. In other churches, such as the PCs, sathane (Satan) is seen as the prime evil, while baloyi are his agents.

5. Musical formations within the ZACs

One of the most obvious characteristics of these churches is their colourful attire. In their dress codes, they emulate pictorial representation of characters in the bible. They carry sticks of all sorts. Their garments or sticks always bear a symbol of a cross, star, moon or some other symbol that has some biblical significance. Their songs are characterised by the use of a pisalome (a special drum) or bell used in ZACs. In a Thembisa9-based Holy Burner Apostolic Church, there exists a somewhat innovative accompanying dance culture. Matome Makgoshing (personal interview 2000), a senior member of the above-mentioned ZAC, distinguishes between 1) Right through ─ a type of dance almost similar to running in circles, 2) Halfway ─ said to be a walking-paced-back-and-forth type of a dance, and 3) Tsena o tšwe (come in and out) ─ a dance where dancers converge to the centre and then move back to their circular formation. However, the most common musical formation in the ZACs is known as mothethelele or terese wherein performers form a circle and spin around as they jump up and down to the rhythm of pisalome, while others stand at the periphery of the performance, singing and clapping hands until they are compelled by excitement to join in. Mothethelele as a circular dance choreography often moves anticlockwise. Matome Makgoshing (2000) states that the move, even


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though it is back and forth in nature, inevitable starts with the move to the right, meaning anticlockwise. Whereas the ZCCs have established different groups dedicated to different music styles within the church, the ZACs do not have performance groups per se. The entire congregation is the only group that sings and dances. However, there are a number of different styles of music in the church, namely difela, terone and dikhorase. Dikhorase are didactic in nature in the sense that they transmit some form of biblical teachings. Often they raise issues that have to do with a particular church doctrine. They also provide moral and directives for daily conduct. In short, choruses are a combination of two approaches namely: teaching based on either a quotation from the bible and/or a social moral commentary directed at people.


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Figure 3: Sathane sekepe (transcription by Mapaya)


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Sathane Sekepe

This song puts sathane (the devil) and baloyi (witches) side by side. Sathane is regarded as a ship that ferries baloyi. Greater danger is expected from Satan than from baloyi. Members of the church are likely to understand these metaphors more clearly than an observer would. As a didactic, the chorus may have been composed in response to or in support of a particular sermon. The second verse talks to an individual. This song asserts that people should keep up with their church commitments and because they will reap their reward in the end. The lyrics refer to the biblical scriptures of Mathew 13 verse 3-9; the parable of the 'sown seed' and the 'reaping of rewards'.

6. Conclusion

In this article, I have argued that AICs, because of their conscious efforts to become relevant in the religiosity of African people, have emerged as a site for the preservation of African musical traditions. It has become clearer that AIC have played a significant role in indigenising Christianity, and thereby helped in restoring pride in the image of an African. Contrary to the belief that African music was merely an object of study by missionaries, scholars such as Reverent A. M. Jones have now come to realise that African indigenous music, like African languages, is worthy to be studied at the same level as any other form of music. A key point highlighted is that such a study (of African indigenous music, has to be premised within the African epistemology and its relevant ontology. Consistent with Oosthuizen’s observation, Black Zionists indeed express their liturgy through singing, dancing, and clapping spontaneously, something that is not evident in most of the so-called main line churches. This multidimensional performance is directly reflective of traditional music practice.The songs they create, sing and to which they dance, including the manner in which the Black Zionists pray as they make reference to both Modimo (God in Northern Sotho) and the prophet-founder, makes for a splendid performative poetry ─ yet another feature in traditional music performance. These types of songs are used in addition to acculturated hymns, which still command a place in the repertoire of all churches.


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Notes 1 The conception of the Afrikan Independent Church suggests a splinter formation from some

mainstream church. In fact, the AICs were initially referred to as the Native Separatist Churches – a connotation that supports the breakaway theory implicit in the relational word ‘independent’ (Kilonzo 2010). The title (Native Separatist Church), however, could not stand, given among other things, the South Afrikan sensitivities to apartheid - an experience that rendered the use of the word ‘native’ offensive (Sundkler 1961:18). The Afrikan Initiated Church conception implicates an acknowledgment and reverence, on the part of Afrikan Christians, the brevity of the initiator or prophet founder of the church. Notably, many Zion Apostolic Churches (ZAC), including both versions of the Limpopo rooted Zion Christian Church (ZCC), the KwaZulu-Natal based Nazarene Baptist Church (bakwaShembe), the Independent Pentecostal Church (IPC) based in Gauteng, and many other Zion Apostolic Churches are centred on a prophet-founder. The names of these leaders featuresignificantly in choruses, almost messianic in stature but do not substitute a Black Messiah for Christ (Jules-Rosette 1985). The Afrikan Indigenous Church implicates the foregrounding of Afrikan ethos in the church practice.

2 Thembisa is a township in Ekurhuleni in Gauteng province, not far from the OR Tambo Airport. 3 Moruti is a title equivalent to pastor, priest or reverent. 4 Malokwane is a conductor or performance leader of dinaka. The ZCC’s mokhukhu performance has

adopted the concept for their mokhukhu performance. 5 Dinaka is a male song and dance performance genre, even though female master drummers

feature consistently in the drum section. 6 There are two different ZCC churches in South Africa: St. Barnabas that uses the star as their

emblem and St. Engenas that uses the pigeon. St. Engenas (pigeon emblem) is the least open to the media, while the St. Barnabas (star emblem) ZCC's Easter pilgrimages are mostly broadcast live by Thobela fm, one of the three major South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio stations in Limpopo Province.

7 Maskhotšo, the Scottish kilt, is closely associated with dinaka (a.k.a. kiba) from Sekhukhune area in the eastern side of Limpopo province, South Afrika.

8 Pisalome is the name derived from the biblical word psalm. 9 Thembisa is a township near Kempton Park in Gauteng province, South Africa.

7. References

Anderson, A. 2000. Zion and the Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of the Pentecostal and the Zionist/Apostolic Churches in South Africa. Pretoria: University of Pretoria.

Axelsson, O.E. 1974. Historical Notes on Neo-African Church Music. Journal Zambezia, 3(2), pp.89-102.

Jones, A.M. 1968a. African Rhythm. Journal of International Africa Institute, 24, pp.49-53. Jones, A.M. 1968b. Studies in African Music. London: Oxford University Press. Jules-Rosette. 1985. Ecstatic Singing: Music and Social Integration in an African Church. In I.V, J.

More than Drumming Essays on African and Afro-Latin American Music and Musicians. London: Greenwood Press.

Kauffman, R. 1960. Hymns of the Wabvuwi. African Music, 2(3), pp.31-35. Kilonzo, S.M. 2010. The Cohesive Role of Music, Dance and Traditional Artefacts in African

Independent Churches in Western Kenya. Reconstruction, 10(1).


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Makgoshing, M. 2000. face-to-face interview. Johannesburg. Makhwiting, P. 2000. face-to-face interview. Johannesburg. Mapaya, N. 2003. face-to-face interview. gaMamoleka. Mapaya, M.G. 2010. Music of Bahananwa: History, Soundscape and Aspects of Contemporary

Transmission of Sehananwa Culture through Music. Saarbrücken: VDM Publishing House Ltd.

Shaffer, J. 1956. Experiments in Indigenous Church Music among the Batetela. African Music, 1(3), pp.39-42.

Sundkler, B.G.M. 1961. Bantu Prophets in South Africa. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press. Weman, H. 1960. African music and the church in Africa. Uppsala: Lundequistska Bokhandeln.

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Music Traditions of the African Indigenous Churches