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

308 African Eclectic Compositions
all African. There is nothing Western in it... [in the nineteenth century,] there were very, very few such
songs. He [Ntsikana] felt that we don't have to follow Christianity and worship God in exactly the same
manner as white people do. He felt that we should use our own ways of worshipping when we worship
God. 50
For Khumalo, Ntsikana's compositions are an important source of religious and musical inspiration:
He was trying to put little pieces of music to each part of worship: the ''Bell Song", for instance, was
when he was calling the people to come to worship... like ringing the church bell, calling people to
come. (singing ''Intsimbi ka Ntsikana'): Come, come all of you, you children too, come. He is calling them
to worship. And then when they are all seated, (singing 'Valibom ka Nsikana'): Here is the creator of the
world, of the school, etc. etc. And then when they are all settled now, (singing ''Elinqukuva '; the Round
Hymn): This is the great God, who is above in heaven. They are all small different songs that form part
of the worship. So worship was in small sections where the singing was in the music of the people. It
was quite amazing. 51
The singing at the Kat River Mission, where Ntsikana heard the preaching of the first mission­
ary among the Xhosa, J. T. van der Kemp, and later Joseph Williams from the London Missionary
Society, had been mainly confined to Dutch hymns.52 These were alien in musical style and language
to the black converts. In his compositions Ntsikana attempted to make Christian doctrine more
accessible to the people. Though inspired by missionary teaching, his compositions are rooted in
African tradition, as revealed in the musical structure and style. For Khumalo the importance of
Ntsikana is that, in formulating Christian theology, he achieved an African distinctiveness:
Ntsikana song is a Christian song, [he] was a Christian. But you see, he was not a Western man. And he
used black music to worship Christ, which was in traditional style. (singiniJ It's unbelievable, it's just so
beautifu1. 53
In contrast to later missionary converts, Ntsikana continued to live among his own people and
maintained cultural continuity by infusing Christian elements into Xhosa traditions. He used a wide
range of imagery and symbolism relating to fighting, hunting and pastoral life to convey the mes­
sage. With these symbols and images, Ntsikana was able to reach beyond the people's intellectual
consciousness and engage with them on the emotional level. Thus elements of the old culture became
'carriers' of change. His fourth composition, "Ulo Tixo 'Mkulu" ("Great Hymn"), for instance,
is based on a Xhosa umdudo (wedding song)54 and uses the form of a praise-poem (isibongo).55
N tsikana, who before his conversion was a celebrated singer and actor, was obviously highly con­
versant with important traditional art forms. 56 However, whereas in the traditional praise-poem the
ancestors or rulers are addressed, Ntsikana's praises in his "Ulo Tixo 'Mkulu" are for the Christian
omnipotent God, the creator, defender and protector.57
50 Personal communication with Mzilikazi Khumalo,Johannesburg, SAMRO, November 20, 2000.
51 Ibid.; see also J. K. Bokwe, 1914: 18.
52 For details about the Christian beginnings among the Xhosa see J. Hodgson "A Battle for Sacred Power: Christian
Beginnings among the Xhosa" in Christianity in South Africa: A Political, Social and Cultural History, Richard Elphick and
Rodney Davenport, ed. (Cape Town: David Philip, 1997): 68-88.
53 Personal communication with lVIzilikazi Khumalo, Johannesburg, SAMRO, February 13, 2001.
54 V Erlmann, 1999: 127.
55 D. Dargie, 1988: 4-5, 105.
56 J. Hodgson, 1980: 23.
57 For a detailed discussion see Chapter 1.2.1 (page 17).