Indodana virtual performance by Inland Master Chorale

Enjoy Inland Master Chorale's virtual performance of Indodana, a traditional South African song arranged by Michael Barrett and Ralf Schmitt. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, live performances are on pause. Under the direction of Artistic Director Dr. Joseph Modica, chorale members joined their voices to share this stirring anthem.

Language: South African, isiXhosa

‘Indodana’ was arranged for the University of Pretoria Camerata by its director, Michael Barrett, and Ralf Schmitt, a South African composer and director of multiple youth choirs around the country. (One of Schmitt’s choirs, the Ndlovu Youth Choir from the Ndlovu Care Centre in Limpopo, part of a social uplift and HIV/AIDS awareness program, appeared on America’s Got Talent in 2019, becoming the first choir to reach the finals of the competition.)

‘Indodana’ is a fusion between traditional African and Western compositional techniques. The goal for the work was to honor the diversity of South African society and the country’s love for choral singing, and to create a new approach to arranging and performing traditional songs.
Hololo helele are vocables representing crying. Zjem zja are intended to resemble drums.

Ngob’umthatile umtwana wakho, uhlale nathi hololo helele
Indodana ka nkulunkulu bayi’bethelela hololo helele
Hololo Baba Jehova Zjem zja baba

The Lord has taken his son who lived amongst us.
The son of the Lord God was crucified.
Hololo Father Jehovah Zjem zja father

Indodana is published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing (SBMP1177)