Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

is a

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

n nation surrounded entirely by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The largest

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

is the

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

. The Basotho culture is immersed in musical traditions.

National anthem

The

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of Lesotho is " Lesotho Fatse La Bontata Rona". Written by

François Coillard François Coillard (17 July 1834 in Asnières-les-Bourges, Cher, France – 27 May 1904 in Lealui, Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia) was a French missionary who worked for the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society in southern Africa. Life Coillard w ...

, a French missionary, it appears in the popular computer game "Sims 2: University" as the theme from a videogame console.

Traditional instruments

Traditional musical instruments include lekolulo, a kind of

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

played by

herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

boys, setolo-tolo, resembling an extended jaw harp played by men using their mouth, and the women's stringed thomo. More recently the ''mamokhorong'', sometimes known as the ''sekhankula'', has also become popular.

Church music

Vocal choirs, which sing church music in

Sesotho Sotho () or Sesotho () or Southern Sotho is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South Africa (particularly the Free Sta ...

, are extremely popular. These choirs are formed in villages, towns, churches, etc., and can be heard on the radio every evening.

Popular music

As an

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of South Africa, it is not surprising that South African musicians have a large following in Lesotho. Most frequently heard on the radio are various sub-Saharan AfroPop styles, Sotho Hip-hop, RnB, Deep house, Soulful House, Dancehall, Jazz,

kwaito Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

, and reggae. While South African music is generally enjoyed in Lesotho, there is a tremendous following for ''

famo FAMO, short for Fahrzeug- und Motoren-Werke (''Automobile and Engine Works'') was a German vehicle manufacturer in the early 20th century. Products *Sd.Kfz. 9: Heavy half-track used by German forces in World War II; some were also produced by Vo ...

'' (contemporary Sesotho music, which features the accordion and oil can drum) such as that by Mosotho Chakela. The music recording industry is nascent, but many of the Basotho musicians sign with South African companies - undermining growth prospects
Malome VectorNtate StunnaTaiylor Manson
an
Juvy
are well known musicians in the South African music Industry. Malome Vector is signed under a well known recoding label 'Ambitioz Entertainment'.

Music festival

*The

Morija Arts & Cultural Festival Morija Arts & Cultural Festival, also known as Morija Festival, is an annual event held in Morija, a large village in the Maseru District of Lesotho. This hugely successful event is coordinated by the Morija Museum & Archives, with support from ma ...

is a prominent Sotho

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

, held annually, which highlights the dance and music of the Basotho people.

Famous BaSotho musicians

Joshua Pulumo Mohapeloa Joshua Pulumo Mohapeloa (1908-1982) was a prominent choral music composer in Sesotho, the native language of the BaSotho people of Southern Africa. Early life Joshua Mohapeloa, a member of the Bataung clan, was born in Molumong in Lesotho ...

References

External links

Morija Arts & Cultural FestivalRecordings of music from Lesotho recorded by Kevin Volans
{{Africa-music-stub