Jali's XHOSA REQUIEM

ABOUT

The titled work, Jali’s Xhosa Requiem is set in the structure of traditional Latin requiem and is written for four soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), two pianos and chorus. Requiem mass, musical setting of the Mass for the Dead (missa pro defunctis), named for the beginning of the Latin of the Introit “Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine” (“Give them eternal rest, O Lord”). The polyphonic composition for the requiem mass differs from the normal mass in that it not only includes certain items of the Ordinary—e.g., Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei (the joyful portions, Gloria and Credo, are omitted)—but also contains the Introit and Gradual from the Proper. A tract, followed by the sequence “Dies irae” (“Day of Wrath”), is substituted for the Alleluia and often is a major dramatic element in the composition. Sometimes responses and other text are added from the burial service, which follows the mass.

Litha Jali was raised in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. He started composing music before he could actually write it and taught himself staff notation. He was 16 when he wrote his first piece, a setting to a poem called Goodnight Irene. It was two minutes long and was for soprano, alto, tenor and baritone with piano. After school he went on to Fort Hare where he studied piano, voice and African instruments and in 2013, when he was 26 and completing his Post-Graduate Certificate in Education, he composed a Xhosa Mass, later orchestrating it. Of course, he would like to have that performed! He was asked to write what became Huntshu Mthembu for the Old Mutual National Choir Festival. He also composed a piece for mezzo-soprano and orchestra for the Western Cape Choral Music Association which was conducted by Monde Mdingi, his first piece ever played by an orchestra, this one very small with only about 14 people.

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