Ei, Ei (1980 recording)

Mohapeloa published Ei, Ei in 1935. It is a humorous lullaby, trying to get a baby boy to stop crying by making him laugh, using the Sesotho words ‘ei, ei’ which mean roughly ‘oh, oh’ or ‘there, there’. The music’s time signature, chromatic notes, and parallel sixths parody a sentimental Victorian part-song, as you can hear on this 1980 recording made by the SABC of the Orlando Methodist Church Choir (conductor not specified). This historic recording was reissued in 2014 by ACE as Track 19 on the CD African Choral Legacy: Historic Recordings of Joshua Pulumo Mohapeloa.