Similar to many of the songs I’ve shared in the past, I chose Indodana because it is a song I have become well-acquainted with through choral performances. I learned this piece in particular in 2019 with the WSMA Honors Choir, along with 7 others, and have never forgotten the absolute beauty and solemnity performing it brought me. Arranged by two South African composers, Michael Barrett and Ralf Schmitt, it was intended to be a choral composition derived traditional African song isiXhosa. The text speaks to the relationship between God, Jesus, and those who believe. It is a song of both adoration for the divine and mourning for the death of their beloved deity; the bittersweetness of all-encompassing gratitude and overwhelming grief at the price of sin. The sound of voice alone amplifies this expression, speaking to the raw vulnerability of these emotions, especially in the “crying out” of “Oh, oh ba! Oh baba, ba!” which is intended to represent crying out to “Father” in desperation and worship. Though Indodana has religious meaning, I believe that those from all backgrounds can identify with the complexity of lamenting over loss whilst reminiscing in the joys of what was. 

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