Siyahamba
by Traditional · arranged by Nikki Iles
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Duration
- 0'53''
- Publisher
- ABRSM (Cello Exam Pieces from 2024, Grade 1, List C no. 3, arranged by Nikki Iles; (c) 2023 ABRSM, AB 4104); also sold as a single digital download
Purchase or download
About this piece
Siyahamba, Zulu for "we are marching", is a South African chorus whose earliest written record is a 1952 transcription; the authors of the tune and the Zulu words are unknown [1]. Swedish musician Anders Nyberg recorded it at a girls' school in Appelsbosch, Natal, in 1978 and published it in 1984, and it spread through churches and schools and into the international campaign against apartheid [1]. Jazz pianist and composer Nikki Iles [2] arranged it for ABRSM's Grade 1 cello list [3]. The cello sings the tune in long tied notes and short phrases that enter after rests, and instead of a loud finish the arrangement ends on three plucked open strings in free time [3].
Technical overview
G major, cut time, half note = c.104, all in first position with the range running up to the C on the A string. The challenge is counting: tied notes across the barline, entries after half-note rests and a three-bar wait at the start. Two-note slurs, bow retakes marked in the part, dynamics from mp to f, a slight rall., and plucked open G, D and A strings at the end.
Technical focus
- 2 Note Slurs
- A String Notes
- Bow Retakes
- Collaboration with Piano
- D String Notes
- Dynamics
- Hairpin Dynamics
- Pizzicato
- Syncopation
- Tempo Changes