Michael Mosoeu Moerane Scholarly Edition

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Ea Hlolang is a rousing hymn or short anthem of four verses, beginning in call-and-response style. It originated as hymn no. 122 in Lifela tsa Sione (Songs of Zion), the Sesotho hymnal that Moerane knew very well as a member of the Lesotho Evangelical Church. This hymnbook was first published in 1844, with many of its texts written by Lesotho missionaries and music drawn from composers of the day: the original tune of Ea Hlolang was written by 19th-century French composer, Ignaz Pleyel, for example. Moerane does not alter the text by missionary Louis Duvoisin, which draws upon the kind of natural imagery - fountains, reeds, and palms - that is found in the Bible, but he creates a new musical setting of a suitably triumphal and uplifting kind. The spoken text is available as a free download when this work is purchased, so that choirs know how to pronounce the Sesotho.

Duration: 4'16"