Barali Ba Jerusalema

Moerane adapted verses from the Old Testament ‘Song of Songs’ for this mellifluous, chromatic choral setting. In Lesotho, Barali Ba Jerusalema has been known since 1968 or 1969 when it was first prescribed as a competition piece for schools. In South Africa, the score was ‘discovered’ in the Library of the royalty agency, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) in the late 1990s, although it must have been there since 1973 when Moerane joined the organisation and deposited dozens of scores. The music wonderfully exploits the powerful hidden meanings embedded in phrases such as, ‘I am black but beautiful’. In order to help choirs learn this song, a free mp3 of the lyrics spoken by Mpho Ndebele is downloadable when the song is purchased along with a rehearsal mp3 of the song at a slow tempo.
Duration: 1’43”

The audio sample below was generated from the Sibelius file of the score and the image on the right shows the first page of the score.