Kevin's Watch

maybe Avatar could help, i find this fascinating.

The present national anthem of South Africa consisting both "Nkosi Sikele iAfrika" and"Die Stem van Suid-Afrika". It was condensed into present form in 1995 at the recommendation of the President's appointed cultural committee. The new anthem is 1.30 minutes long and it contents two major Black languages in the republic ( Zulu and Sesotho) in the first 4 stanzas of " Nkosi Sikele iAfrika"; with Afrikaans and English in the first 2 and last 2 stanzas of "Die stem van Suid-Afrika"

Nkosi sikele iAfrika
maluphakanyiswu phondo iwayo
Yizwa imithandazo yethu
Nkosi sikelela;
thina lusapho lwayo

Morena boloka sechaba sa heso
O fedise dintwa le matswenyeho
O se boloke ! O se boloke!
Sechaba sa heso;
Sechaba sa South-Africa!


Uit die blou van onse hemel, Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes; Waar die kranse antwoord gee.

Sounds the call to come together and united we shall stand.
Let us live and strive for freedom in South Africa our land.

how many anthems consist of four languages. what are the time changes like? i haven't been able to find a version on the net to download.

www.mjvn.co.za/peterbi/anthems.htm

Since 1997, The South African national anthem has been a hybrid song combining verses from the national anthem under the apartheid government "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" and the popular hymn of the African National Congress and other black organisations "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika". This makes it perhaps the only national anthem in which the two halves are sung in completely different keys. It contains words from four of the eleven official languages of South Africa.

Xhosa
Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

Sesotho
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.

Afrikaans
Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

English language
Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.

English version of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika":

Lord, bless Africa
May her spirit rise high up
Hear thou our prayers
Lord bless us.

Lord, bless Africa
May her spirit rise high up
Hear thou our prayers
Lord bless us Your family.

Chorus
Descend, O Spirit
Descend, O Holy Spirit
Lord bless us
Your family.

thank you Edge, do you have a link where one can listen to rendition? i haven't been able to find one.
and sorry, i forgot, you are from SA as well?

You can download an mp3 here:

www.cuyamaca.net/tpagaard/Origins/Nkosi ... Afrika.mp3

(sung by Stellenbosch University choir).

And yes, I am South African.

thanks Edge, our computer speed sucks. will have my wife try at work. i may have to wait for the library to try.

There you go. Afraid I never spend much time in Vespers...don't even usually visit. Only here today because I found an interesting article which I'm about to post a link to.

But Edge covered it. I see the one English verse is slightly different from the original IIRC. And the Afrikaans verse is the one I always thought the most beautiful from Die Stem.

--A

thanks for the reminder to check this at the library Avatar!