South African Choral Music (Amakwaya): Song, Contest and the ...

278 The Sectionalised Repertoire ofAmakwaya
more spontaneous... I don't know; maybe the style of the Western music, all these chromatics and
difficult intervals.25
Sam Shabalala feels that it is imperative "to expose the choirs to the culture of Western music
[because] you must go through Western music before you can understand African songs".26 It is
interesting that he should regard training in Western music as prerequisite for the understanding of
African compositions. Here he highlights not only the fact that African compositions are to a large
extent affected by western influences, but also makes the debatable assumption that you have to be
an educated and trained musician in order to understand African eclectic compositions.
Even though traditional songs do not get the same attention during the rehearsals as the other
parts of the repertoire do, they nevertheless have a very important function at performances, as
Fakazi emphasises:
A choir can't just restrict and sing only serious pieces from Western or African composers. How do you
entertain? I mean you won't be able to entertain people. Because this is where everybody feels free.
When it is this Western, you listen to a Haydn, you sit and listen, through the passages and at the end big
applause. But this traditional, you can give a whisde in between. The listener is more involved... So actually
they [the choristers] entertain the audience with something that is relaxed. They sing it in the end because
it takes away the voice. You know movement and singing at the same time, you can't do that and
then sing [Western repertoire].27
Mngadi, a seasoned choral Conductor himself, knows that the audience expects a good choir to
entertain with
these traditional songs [which] are mainly wedding songs, songs that are known, that are used by everyone...
You start the song and other people know it... it's easy to get into them and they are moving
songs for the audience. The audience likes it very much, even if it's a Western type of a concert. But if
you go into these songs, everyone cries. You have to. You can't just leave it without getting into it. It relaxes
everyone. 28
Audience participation and the need to let the audience enjoy itself after going through the seri­
ous part of the repertoire are key features in the performance practice of amakwqya. In the rather
informal second part of these concerts, the choirs and their audiences alike release the tensions set
up by the earnestness of the first part in a way that is regarded by my informants as rooted in Afri­
can cultural practices. At this stage of the performance both the choir and the audience are trans­
formed: members of the audience start participating, and the function of the conductor changes as
he turns around and faces the audience; merging with the choral group and giving up his prominent
position. Furthermore, the choristers communicate more direcdy with the audience, not only
through their singing, but also through the medium of movements and gestures. At this stage, the
highly organised separation of performers (choristers, conductor, pianist etc.) and audiences that
exists in the presentation of Western as well as African eclectic compositions, where interaction is
not intended, vanishes.
Of all the competitions and festivals that I have attended during the past years, I shall never
forget a school competition, which was organised at Bizana, Eastern Cape, in May 2000. I was
invited to conduct a workshop for the regional choirs and accompany them on the piano during the
25 Personal communication with Zakhele Fakazi, Marianhill, November 05,1999.
26 Personal communication with Sam Shabalala, Durban, SABC, March 07, 2000.
27 Personal communication with Zakhele Fakazi, Marianhill, November 05,1999.
28 Personal communication with Edward Mngadi, Durban, November 16, 1999.