5.4 Amahubo songs
5.4.1 Introduction
According to Xulu (1992), the “meaning of Amahubo songs can be derived from the nature of the contexts within which they are performed” (p. 1). These performance contexts are the Zulu wedding, the funeral of a king, chief or induna (the chief’s right-hand man), and other commemorative ceremonies, which could involve a clan, a region or the whole Zulu nation (Ibid;
also see Pewa 2005, p. 152). Xulu (1992) records the following about amahubo songs:
Informants refer to Amahubo as amagama abadala, that is, the songs of the old people or amagama amadlozi (the songs of the ancestors). When we look at the nature of the context with which Amahubo songs are performed we note that the involvement of the ancestors is sought by the performers. Performers are old people of the clan, a region or the nation (p.
1).
Ukuhuba means to sing with a deep roaring sound, like a flooding river, or a waterfall (Xulu 1992, p. 2; Nkabinde 1997, p. 24). This suggests that an ihubo song performance can only be achieved by a group of people. Thus, is the nature of African music: it relies on the idea of ubuntu (humanity) and the belief that umuntu, umuntu ngabantu (a person is a person because of other people) or
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umuntu uwutho ngabantu (a person matters because of others). Hence Nzewi & Nzewi (2009, p.
4), posit that:
The staging of a musical arts activity in traditional Africa invariably adhered to the mandatory ensemble principle that a community of individuals must contribute and interact differentiated attributes to accomplish a common goal. Even a solo music performance can be imaginatively structured to convey ensemble presence…It was not common, however, in traditional Africa to present one artistic sub-field in isolation as a functional public performance. Thus, a musical performance in solitude invariably implicates notional dance and drama; a dance being performed in public space without any music complement would then be regarded as the antics of a mentally deranged person.
That is abantu (Africans) and ubuntu (humanity). Rycroft (1982), cited in (Xulu 1992), also confirms that Amahubo songs “are also catalysts of certain social ideas…an example is their musical structure which, as a result of the nature of ukuhuba, which demands the participation of many people, as well as the ‘call-and-response’, makes it impossible for one person to sing an ihubo song meaningfully” (p. 3). Ihubo is the single form of the word, Amahubo.
During an ihubo song performance, the meaning of the piece lies in what the participants seek to achieve within that performance context, be it a wedding, in war, or the funeral (Xulu 1992, p. 15).
Like most, if not all, IAM vocal music performances, the performance is more than just for musical satisfaction. It is functional. For example, as mentioned in the introduction, when performing a relevant ihubo song, a group of Zulu warriors attain power to face their enemy, or a certain clan in a wedding, attains power to carry out the task of getting one of its members married (Xulu 1992, p. 20). That married member, in turn, attains power to exist functionally in his/her newly-attained role.
Pewa (2005, pp. 152, 153) records that, there are Amahubo songs that may be performed for certain exclusive functions and that these songs possess a sacred aspect of Amahubo culture:
• They are performed in the custody of the Zulu King’s programmes of ceremonial office, where only certain royal elders may attend. These are for certain ancestral functions that relate to the monarchical rituals. There are some that can be sung for the respective ceremonies that the king holds for his subjects, like the Umhlanga
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(reed) ceremony, Ukweshwama (first fruits) ceremony, (Interview: Inkosi Endala KwaKhoza 23rd. October 2004).
• Similar items can be observed when certain family rituals are conducted by the leaders of the ibandla lakwaShembe, like the ceremony of ukukhipha intombazane (Interview: Rev. J. Mthethwa: 19th. December 2004 – Mtubatuba).
• There are also sacred Amahubo that are performed only at a king’s funeral, and these may not be sung anywhere else. When they are done at the next king’s funeral, it will be then that people who were not present at the previous king’s funeral will know them. In this sequence, knowledge is passed from one generation to the other.
In this way, the new generation relies on the memory of the previous generation.
This is also one of the ways in which the vertical line of interaction is maintained (Interview: John Hadebe. 31st. October 2004 - Emahlabathini).
• Certain Clans that are culture-conscious do have ihubo for the family. That music is performed only when the whole family is gathered for some ritual. Such music is never sung as a form of entertainment (Interview: Bhekisisa Mthethwa. 19th. December 2004).
These kind of Amahubo are not known by most members of the community because “if a person has never attended that type of a function, he is likely not to know that there are such items in repertory of his own people” (Pewa 2005, p. 153). Today, Amahubo songs are also performed in theatrical performance versions for entertainment, though the objective behind the establishment of the ensembles is to preserve the Zulu or African heritage at large. Mbuso Khoza, the founder of African Heritage Ensemble, is one of the musicians who is exemplary in that aspect. Khoza (2020), commenting about the music style, states that:
Amahubo is a rare style of music and also serves as a scroll of the nation. These are songs associated with the very beginning of the time when the Nguni people were in control of their destiny…Amahubo are songs of the ancients. They are at the centre of our spiritual lives, our historical lives. Even our religious lives. They carry messages of the past, warning us about the present. (The South African State Theatre publication, 02/13/2020 13:16:43).
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Figure 7: African Heritage Ensemble and Mbuso Khoza in Concert at the South African State Theatre, February 2020. Images used by permission from Mbuso Khoza.
Currently in schools, the most common Amahubo songs in use are those that are performed during the reed dance ceremony – Amahubo ezintombi (girls) and those that are performed during a traditional wedding (umgcagco). Also, learners relate more with theatrical version of Amahubo and of the girls, as some of the girls do ritually attend umhlanga (reed ceremony). Ensembles like African Heritage Ensemble are even recorded and accessible in digital platforms and Zulu- speaking radio stations such as Ukhozi Fm.