Senqu – The Orange River

On the score, Mohapeloa names the river which this song describes in both Sesotho (‘Senqu’) and English (‘The Orange River’). It is a magnificent African chorus, composed in 1951, which recalls ‘Amazing Grace’ in its flowing 9/8 meter and surging harmonies. The song honours the mighty Orange River, whose source is in the extremely high Maloti mountains of Lesotho and which meanders west thousands of kilometres, through South Africa, eventually reaching the sea as a huge delta on the coast of Namibia.