Thoko Ea Tlhōlo

At 122 bars and several changes of key and time signature, ‘Thoko ea Tlhōlo’ (1947) was Mohapeloa’s most ambitious work so far; indeed, it set a benchmark for a new kind of multi-sectional competition song in southern Africa. The text celebrates a recent victory over a great enemy – surely a reference to the end of World War II – and the hope of freedom this gives to nations in ‘the land of Africa’. Lesotho was still a British Protectorate when the song was first published and only became independent in 1966, but even though political aspirations are couched in veiled, religious terms, the message of the song is clear.