Leseli La Hao

The main image of this chorale-like supplication to God is light, another is the mountain, a high, solid, place. Moerane chose the text of Leseli La Hao from verses 3-5 of Psalm 43 in the Old Testament ‘Book of Psalms’. He adapted them to the Sesotho language, and in the process changed their meaning slightly, as can be seen when comparing them with the King James Version of the Old Testament Psalms. He sets the words very effectively at the beginning, for a soloist, who seems to represent the supplicant to God who sings with, and then blends into, the chorus. 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 3’04”

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.