’Mutlanyana (Hare)
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Morija Training College Choir, cond. not specified. Listed by ILAM as Mutla le hlo on ILAM 78 r.p.m. Shellac record no. TP3432, master no. 1080, 1936/37, copied 1946. A virtuoso song for SATB (here TTBB) based on a Basotho folk tale about a hare - or rabbit, for ‘mutla’ or ‘tlholo’ (‘hlolo’) is a hare whereas ‘mmutlanyana’ is a rabbit. Mohapeloa’s first composition, this was written c.1930 and established a template for the combination of Basotho and Western idioms.
The whistles of Hlolo, pilolo, pii. Hlolo is a boy’s name, pilolo, pii. He fried me but I didn’t get ripe. I fried him and he became ripe. He got burned and became ripe. He fried me and didn’t get ripe. I fried him and he became ripe. I am the hare that can be found on the wayside. (JPM)