Cellist Abel Selaocoe’s New Album, “Hymns of Bantu”

Released on Warner Classics, the album features traditional Bantu music alongside works by Bach and Marais

The South African cellist, composer, and vocalist Abel Selaocoe has released his second album, “Hymns of Bantu,” which shares the modal scales and overtone harmonic systems of South African music before Western four-part harmony was introduced. 

Exploring how cultural histories evolve, the works on the album were written for ensembles varying from African percussion to orchestra, solo cello, and electric bass.

The album includes Selaocoe’s Tsohle Tsohle; Emmanuele; Kea Morata; Tshepo - I; Tshepo - II (Rapela); Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: IV. Sarabande (arranged by Fred Thomas for Cello and String Orchestra); and Dinaka.

More works include Voices of Bantu (an improvisation on Marin Marais’ piece Les Voix Humaines); Takamba; Giovanni Sollima’s LBFiles: Concerto and Igiul; and Camagu. 

To purchase and listen to the album, click here.

“Emmanuele comes from a South African Hymn of the same name — Emmanuel being the name for Jesus or God — and is dedicated to people who work with their hands,” Selaocoe explained. “Often they can be dismissed, yet they make the world we are all a part of. The piece follows traditional Western four-part harmony but incorporates African rhythm, starting with a simple bassline and growing into something that makes you dance.”

A studio performance of Emmanuele can be viewed below. 

Among the musicians on the album include members of the Manchester Collective; pianist and percussionist Fred Thomas; electric bass player Alan Keary; as well as Sidiki Dembélé and Dudù Kouate on percussion. 

Inviting a freeing and deep listening, “Hymns of Bantu” ultimately highlights the shared universalities of people, the healing power of song, and the drawing of inspiration and understanding from history. 

“The crux of the album is about celebrating those that have come before us, and how we are all connected,” Selaocoe said. “It’s allowing classical music to again sit in the same space as where I’m from — allowing Bach to sit next to overtones and the world of throat singing.”

Selaocoe is currently the Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Artist in Association with the BBC Singers, and Artist in Residence with Kölner Philharmonie. In 2016, he formed the Chesaba trio specialising in African music, including many of his own compositions, and in 2022, he created the Bantu Ensemble.

His recent career highlights include the world premieres of two works written by him for the Signum Quartet and The Hermes Experiment at the Kölner Philharmonie and Wigmore Hall, respectively.

A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, where he earned his International Artist Diploma in 2018, Selaocoe is an exclusive recording artist with Warner Classics. He performs on a copy of a c.1735 Montagnana cello crafted by Robin Aitchison in 2020, supported by the Alan Powell Trust.