Faber Music Hamba Lulu - Zulu Traditional/L'Estrange - SAB

Music: Zulu Traditional
Arranger: Alexander L'Estrange
Format: Choral Octavo
Voicing: SAB with piano accompaniment

Singing ("umculo") is a huge part of the culture and everyday life of many African peoples, none more so than those in Southern Africa. Hamba Lulu is a wedding song that advises Lulu, a bride, to "Hush, listen to all the things they are telling you." The unusual time signature is in fact incredibly straightforward, with a gentle, comforting rhythm that is first set up by the piano. It then follows with the choir and soloist (or group of singers) intoning the simple melody above. The men of the choir and then the sopranos take over this tune in the middle of the piece and it ends, as softly as you dare, with humming.