Ethnic and Multicultural Music

Scott Sexton, Ethnic Music

Tongo (Polynesian/South Pacific)

TB (also available in 2-part and SAB)

Traditional, arr. Greg Gilpin

Alfred

“Tongo” is a fun Polynesian piece for the beginning ensemble. My middle school guys have enjoyed singing the TB arrangement. It utilizes the pentatonic scale, the foreign language text is minimal, and it has lots of percussion and hand-clapping to give the piece an exciting texture. It is also a perfect beginning a capella piece, as most of the song is a call and response between the two parts. This is a great multicultural piece for a growing program or ensemble!

Sto Mi E Milo (Balkan Europe- Macedonian)

SSA (also available in TTB)

Traditional, arr. Daniel Hughes

Earthsongs

Sto Mi E Milo is a folk song left over from the Ottoman Empire (an empire that ruled Balkan Europe for hundreds of years). It is about a village on the shores of a beautiful Macedonian lake and depicts the beauty of village girls by the lake collecting water in their pitchers. Macedonian is easier to sing that you think- the vowels are pure and the consonant pronunciations are very predictable. This piece is in 7/8 time (the meter alone is full of teaching opportunities!). Because the alto part almost exclusively uses a so to do motif, it would be a great piece for an SA ensemble wishing to try some SSA repertoire.

Mangisondele Nkosi Yam (South Africa-isiZulu)
SATB divsi with Alto and Baritone solos
Traditional, arr. Michael Barrett
Santa Barbara

In this traditional Zulu setting of the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee”, South African composer and conductor Michael Barrett has masterfully arranged this piece to capture the spirit of his country’s choral tradition. Also the piece is SATB divisi, the ranges and harmonies are very singable and therefore are very accessible, even to a younger high school choir. My students enjoy singing the Zulu text and it has a fun and rhythmic “Amen” section. The piece definitely does not have a “manufactured” feel and feels very organic and true to the original hymn.

Balkan Bridges: Traditional Music of the Former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria

Mary Cay Brass has published two book resources on Balkan choral music and this is the second book. Ms. Brass spent time in Former Yugoslavia as a Fulbright Scholar and these books are a result of many years collecting this music. I like this resource because it includes multiple voicings (great for people that teach multiple levels of choir!). Balkan music has fun meters (7/8, 9.8, etc) and much of its music is set in gorgeous minor and modal tonalities. The harmonies are both simple and challenging (you have anything from simple thirds to dissonant seconds… if anything, this book would be great for sight-reading practice)!