Ngeloi La Me

This song for female voices draws on words by Lesotho poet, Kemuel Edward Ntsane (1920-1983). It is about the homesickness felt by people from Lesotho when they crossed the borders of the country to seek work in apartheid South Africa, or (during political unrest in Lesotho) to go into exile in neighbouring African countries. The Caledon River (Mohokare) is the main boundary between Lesotho and South Africa, witness to the many sorrows faced by people leaving their homes behind. Moerane makes poignant use of phrasing, modulations, and rapid changes of mood and texture in order to mirror this poem of nostalgia for home, the place where ‘my angel’ (ngeloi la me), my mother, lives. 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: 3’02”

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.