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isicathamiya
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What is isicathamiya music?
Isicathamiya is a style of a cappella choral singing that was created in South Africa by migrant Zulu communities. It gained popularity outside of Africa in the late 20th century. Isicathamiya is a mix of local music, Christian choral singing, and blackface minstrelsy. It is performed in a call-and-response style by male choral ensembles of 4 to 20 singers. The bass vocalists are the most numerous, and the group sings in four-part harmony, usually led by a tenor soloist. Zulu is the main language, but many songs include English.
The term isicathamiya comes from the Zulu root -cathama, which means to walk lightly and stealthily, like a cat. Isicathamiya is cultivated through weekend competitions where groups are judged on singing precision and appearance. Groups wear unique uniforms or matching formal wear and perform smooth, coordinated gestures with light, shuffling footwork.
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Where did isicathamiya originate?
Isicathamiya, a genre of a cappella choral singing, originated in South Africa within migrant Zulu communities. Its roots can be traced back to the years following World War I, when Zulu men migrated to urban areas, especially the province of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), in eastern South Africa, to work in coal mines and factories.
These workers formed vocal ensembles within their communities, which evolved into a local choral style called mbube in the late 1930s. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Enock Masinaās King Star Brothers rose to prominence, and their gentler style became known as isicathamiya. The music gained global recognition through Joseph Shabalala and his ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
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What are the main features of isicathamiya?
Isicathamiya is a secular a cappella choral style that developed in South Africa among migrant Zulu communities and gained global recognition in the late 20th century. It blends local music, Christian choral traditions, and blackface minstrelsy. Male choral ensembles, ranging from 4 to over 20 singers with a strong bass section, perform in call-and-response fashion, singing in four-part harmony, often led by a tenor soloist, primarily in Zulu, with some English.
Competitions judge groups on singing precision and appearance, featuring unique uniforms or formal wear, along with smooth gestures and light, shuffling footwork, which inspires the name isicathamiya, from the Zulu root -cathama, meaning to walk lightly and stealthily, like a cat.
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How is isicathamiya performed and by whom?
Isicathamiya is a style of a cappella choral singing created by Zulu migrant communities in South Africa. Male choral ensembles, ranging from 4 to over 20 singers perform the music in a call-and-response format. Though all vocal ranges are represented, bass vocalists are the most numerous. The group sings in four-part harmony, typically led by a tenor soloist, and the principal language of performance is Zulu, though many songs include some English.
Isicathamiya is cultivated through weekend competitions where groups are evaluated on their singing, neatness, and appearance. Ensembles execute smooth, coordinated gestures and light, shuffling footwork, from which the genre gets its name, derived from the Zulu root -cathama, suggesting a catlike, stealthy movement. Joseph Shabalala and his ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo brought isicathamiya to global audiences.
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Why is harmony important in isicathamiya music?
In Isicathamiya music, harmony is important because the genre is performed by male choral ensembles singing in four-part harmony, typically led by a tenor soloist. Isicathamiya is a synthesis of diverse traditions, including local musics, Christian choral singing, and blackface minstrelsy. The bass vocalists are the greatest in number, and Zulu is the principal language of performance, although many songs contain an admixture of English. The precision of their singing is a key evaluation criterion in weekend competitions. Overall, harmony is essential to Isicathamiya's structure, performance, and cultural identity.
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How has isicathamiya influenced South African culture and music?
Isicathamiya is a style of a cappella choral singing that developed in South Africa within migrant Zulu communities and has become the most recognizable South African music genre. Isicathamiya is a synthesis of local music, Christian choral singing, and blackface minstrelsy. The term isicathamiya comes from the Zulu root -cathama, describing the light, stealthy movements that accompany the music.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, founded by Joseph Shabalala in 1964, helped popularize isicathamiya globally through collaborations, such as their work with Paul Simon on his album Graceland. Their music appeared in films like Coming to America and Cry the Beloved Country. Ladysmith Black Mambazo also performed in The Song of Jacob Zulu, a play about apartheid.
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isicathamiya, a type of secular a cappella choral singing developed in South Africa by migrant Zulu communities. The music became widely popular outside of Africa in the late 20th century when it was picked up and promoted by the world-music industry.
Isicathamiya is a synthesis of diverse traditions, including local musics, Christian choral singing, and blackface minstrelsy, a form of entertainment that flourished in the United States and England in the mid- to late 19th century. The music is performed in call-and-response fashion by male choral ensembles that range in size from 4 to more than 20 singers. Although all vocal rangesāsoprano, alto, tenor, and bassāare represented, the bass vocalists are the greatest in number. The group sings in four-part harmony, typically led by a tenor soloist. Zulu is the principal language of performance, although many songs contain an admixture of English.
Isicathamiya has been cultivated primarily through weekend competitions in which contestants are evaluated not only on the precision of their singing but also on the neatness and integrity of their appearance. Groups perform in unique uniforms, if not in matching formal wear. As they sing, the members of the ensemble execute smooth, carefully coordinated gestures atop light, shuffling footwork. It is from this distinctive movement that the genre draws its name: the term isicathamiya is derived from the Zulu root -cathama, which carries the sense of walking lightly but stealthily, in a catlike fashion.
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The prototype of isicathamiya dates to the years following World War I, when Zulu men from the countryside moved closer to urban areas to find work in coal mines and factories, especially in the province of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) in eastern South Africa. Within these migrant communities, workers formed vocal ensemblesāusually named after the homeland of their members (or of their leader)āas a type of competitive entertainment within and between the workersā hostels. In the late 1930s a local choral style emerged that exhibited the polished sonic and visual qualities that later came to characterize isicathamiya. This style was called mbube. Although mbube took on a more boisterous, so-called ābombingā sound in the late 1940s, it returned about two decades later to its mellower manifestation. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Enock Masinaās King Star Brothers arose as the most prominent a cappella group of the region, and it was their gentler style that became known as isicathamiya.
Joseph Shabalala and his ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo were the musicians through whom global audiences were exposed to the genre. Performing in various combinations of 7 to 13 singers, the group released a number of immensely popular isicathamiya recordings that sparked a veritable frenzy in the local music market in the 1970s and early 1980s, but by the mid-1980s the craze had subsided. It was then that the ensemble caught the attention of international popular music artist Paul Simon. By recording with Simon, Ladysmith Black Mambazo gained access to and was enthusiastically received by the world-music market. Isicathamiya consequently became the most readily recognized South African music genre of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.