Todd Matshikiza: Using jazz to resist the apartheid system

0

During his lifetime he was an “exiled person”, but today Todd Matshikiza is considered one of South Africa’s most important jazz musicians. His compositions openly criticized the apartheid system and became global successes. On the anniversary of his greatest appearance, Google is dedicating a doodle to him.

Exactly 67 years ago, Todd Matshikiza had what was probably the greatest performance of his life. On September 25, 1956, his choral composition “Uxolo” was performed at the City of Johannesburg’s 70th anniversary celebrations. The success of the play is indicative of Matshikiza’s influence in South African history. Translated it means “peace”.

The jazz pianist, composer and journalist Matshikiza was born in Queenstown in 1921. Both parents were also musicians and taught their seven children to play the piano. The instrument remained the central medium of his classical jazz music throughout Matshikiza’s career.

Todd Matshikiza: With “King Kong” to London

Todd Matshikiza had the greatest success with musicals. His first composition for the musical “King Kong” was a national success in 1959 and even took the musician, who had previously been working as a teacher, to London a year later. “King Kong” is considered a milestone in South African cultural history. The production, which features exclusively black musicians, sharply criticizes the country’s racist society during apartheid.

Photo report

Life in South Africa: The dramas in the townships

Two years after the premiere, Matshikiza followed his musical to Europe to escape systematic racism. However, he was never able to gain a foothold in the British music scene. In 1964 he moved back to Africa and worked as an ethnomusicologist in Zambia. Because of the criticism, he was never allowed to return to his home country. Todd Matshikiza died in Lusaka, Zambia in 1968 at the age of just 47.

Sources: Britannica, South African History Online

jus

#Subjects


source site-8