Negotiating Musical Cultures in Colonial Hymnody: Analysing Localised Harmonisations of Western Hymn Tunes

Abstract

This essay analyses localised hymn tunes from the College of the Transfiguration (Anglican seminary) in Grahamstown, South Africa. Through several examples, it is demonstrated how western and southern African musical systems have intersected, with particular reference to aspects of harmony which have been re-interpreted to conform to local norms. Three features emerge as dominant markers of localisation: parallel harmonisation, localised westernisms and the skipping-third process. The musical meaning of the localisation process as it takes place at the College of Transfiguration is discussed. Transcriptions of performances show that the melodic norms of western hymnody are maintained, while the harmonic underpinning are radically transformed, suggesting that the meaning is not located in one particular tradition, but represents a sense of cultural flux.

Music and Religion: Trends in Recent English-Language Literature (2015–2021)

“…This work highlights the active role of First Nations people in their own cultural development during early contact with Europeans. Other research examines similar themes of religious self-determinism in other parts of the world including Indonesia (Poplawska 2020;Wiebe 2018), Nigeria (Adedeji 2017), and South Africa (Bethke 2016).…”