Founded in the 19th century, Lovedale College and Lovedale Press became a heartbeat for South African musical and linguistic life. Through the publication of choral works in tonic solfa, music literacy spread, empowering generations of community choirs to sing, shape, and inhabit sound. The Eastern Cape grew into a cradle of choral brilliance and indigenous jazz, where composers, arrangers, and ensembles blended harmonies in African rhythms and melodies. Lovedale’s archive preserves these stories, offering a lens into identity, language, and the layered histories of colonial and post-colonial life. It is a living map, connecting past and present through song, creativity, and cultural memory.
Lovedale Harmony traces the flow of South African creativity, from communal oral and choral traditions to experimental, cross-cultural soundscapes. Each work in the album is uniquely crafted by various composers and carries its own colour, becoming a metaphor for dialogue between eras, instruments, and cultural expression. History and tradition bend into new shapes as melodies intertwine across time. The album exists as a space where past and present meet, where local voices resonate globally, and where music tells stories that cannot be written on a single page. It celebrates connection, curiosity, and the art of listening.
More on this case study coming soon.
Disciplines:
Art Direction, Print Design, New Media Art
Credits:
Archival images - Provided by the Amathole Museum, eQonce
