Fatše La Heso orchestral score

Moerane composed Fatše La Heso (My Country) in South Africa in 1941, in order to complete a Bachelor of Music degree through what was then Rhodes University College of the University of South Africa. He called it a ‘symphonic poem’ and subtitled it ‘My Country’, referring to Lesotho. The orchestration is late Romantic, the harmonic language is early Modernist, and the musical material is based on indigenous themes from Lesotho that Moerane quotes in his preface to the manuscript score and that can be traced throughout the work. It is scored for full symphony orchestra including double woodwinds, 4 horns, triple brass, piano, harp, and percussion, and lasts approximately 10 minutes. A set of 30 orchestral parts is also available on this site. The featured image on the right shows page 1 of the full score. The first recording below is Track 8 of Timbila: Orchestral Works Inspired by Elements in African Music played by the National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and conducted by Edgar Cree (Claremont Records, CD GSE 1513, 1991). The second recording below is Track 6 of South African Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 played by the same orchestra and conducted by Peter Marchbank (Naxos/Marco Polo DDD 8.223709, released 1994).