Siyahamba
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Siyahamba is a South African hymn that became popular in American churches in the 1990s. The title means "We Are Marching" in the Zulu language.
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[edit] History
"Siyahamba" originated in South Africa. It is said to have been composed circa 1950 by an elder of the Judith Church (church).[1] The original composition was in Afrikaans (with the title "Ons marseer nou in die lig van God") and was subsequently translated into Zulu by Thabo Mkize. In 1978, the Swedish choral group Fjedur toured South Africa at the invitation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa. Afterwards, Fjedur's musical director, Anders Nyberg, returned to Cape Town to record traditional choral music. It was during this year that he heard and recorded "Siyahamba" at a girls' school in Applesbosch, Natal.
In 1984, Nyberg arranged "Siyahamba" for a Western four-voice setting and published it in a songbook and recording called Freedom is Coming: Songs of Protest and Praise from South Africa. In 1994, GIA Publications included the song (under the title "We Are Marching in the Light of God") in Gather Comprehensive[2], a hymnal widely used in American Catholic parishes. A year later, the United Church of Christ included the song, under the same title, in The New Century Hymnal .[3]
Today, "Siyahamba" is often performed by children's groups in both sacred and secular environments. Occasionally, the translated lyrics are modified for a secular performance: for example, the English translation "We are marching in the light of God" becomes "We are standing in the light of peace."
[edit] Lyrics
The structure of the song is cyclic, rather than sequential: the lyrics consist of one phrase, repeated with permutations. Hawn [4] notes that cyclical forms tend to emphasize a spirit of community and allow for physical response during the performance. This cyclical form, along with the meaning of the lyrics, may explain the song's popularity as a processional and offertory as well as a protest or marching song.
[edit] ZuluSiyahamba ekukhanyen' kwenkhos', Siyahamba ekukhanyen' kwenkhos'. Siyahamba ekukhanyen' kwenkhos', Siyahamba ekukhanyen' kwen', khanyen kwenkos', Siyahamba, Hamba Siyahamba, Hamba Siyahamba ekukanyen' kwen', Khanyen' kwenkos', Siyahamba, Hamba Siyahamba, Hamba Siyahamba ekukanyen' kwenkos', |
[edit] EnglishWe are marching in the light of God, We are marching in the light of God. We are marching in the light of God, We are marching in the light of, The light of God, We are marching, Marching, We are marching, Marching, We are marching in the light of. The light of God, We are marching, Marching, We are marching, Marching, We are marching in the light of God. |
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Choral Wiki", accessed March 5, 2007.
- ^ Gather Comprehensive. GIA Publications, 1994.
- ^ A New Century Hymnal. Pilgrim Press, 1995.
- ^ Hawn, C. Michael. "Singing with the Faithful of Every Time and Place: Thoughts on Liturgical Inculturation and Cross-Cultural Liturgy," Yale Institute of Sacred Music, retrieved August 5, 2006.
