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Kwanzaa was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 to give African Americans a special holiday of their own which would encourage constructive focus on heritage, family, community, and the worth and dignity of the individual within a communal context. Kwanzaa was not meant to be a Christmas substitute, but was intended to eschew the emphasis on materialism that has so permeated American Christmas observances. While he envisioned it as a non-religious celebration, Karenga hoped that celebrants would infuse it with their own personal values and family traditions. Composer Glenn Burleigh has done just that, explaining that he has approached the writing of both music and text for The Nguzo Saba Suite as an African American man who is very much a Christian. As such, it was important for him to find bridges between the conceptual ideas of each of the Nguzo Saba or Seven Principles, the realities of life in the African American community today, Scripture, and his own faith. Each of the seven movements of the suite represents a Principle: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamma (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and lmani (Faith).
"Umoja" begins as a hushed invocation with men and women singing descending 4ths and parallel chords in imitation of each other. Following a chant-like section, intensity and tempo build to a rhythmic counterpoint. Finally, the celebration of unity spent, "Umoja" ends as quietly as it began. The extroverted "Kujichagulia" brims with the sense of unrelenting determination of which the text speaks, and is sometimes even reminiscent of a military drill march. The layering of ostinati, voice upon voice, heard at the beginning and again at the end of the piece, produces a polyrhythmic effect which draws upon African musical roots. Plaintive and moving, "Ujima" informs that "The 'Son' is going down." But its minor mode and opening note of despair notwithstanding, the "village" offers encouragement and hope: "Look up, O man of color....we are your village, you are our child." "Ujamma" combines the feel of a work song with a sense of jazz, and labor becomes not a chore, but a cause for celebration. The most introspective of the set, "Nia" poses what is perhaps the ultimate question: "Why was I born.?" The choir muses in unison phrases, "Was I born to feed hungry children or give shelter to the homeless?..." Harmony is finally heard at the words, "I was born to love the Lord with all my heart....for to love God is to love man, to love man is to love God." The stately "Kuumba" commences by invoking Elohim, the Supreme Creator, ("Elohim, creativity comes from you") and, after a play on the words "Kumba yah!" (Come by here), focuses, perhaps to our surprise, not on creative artistic expression, but rather on the creativity necessary to uplift humanity and make the world a better place. After a short treatise on faith, "Imani", the concluding work of the suite, sums up the six previous movements, reprising their main musical ideas.
We commissioned Mr. Burleigh to compose this work for us in 1993, through a UW-Parkside 25th Annivcrsary Events Grant. We sang two movements of the suite, "Kuumba" and "Kujichagulia", for the annual meeting of Wisconsin Music Educators Association in Madison on November 24, 1994. We gave the world premiere performance of The Nguzo Saba Suite on December 11, 1994 at the First Presbyterian Church in Racine, with the composer accompanying at the piano.
Dr. James Benjamin Kinchen, Jr.
Conductor and Director of Choral Activities
University of Wisconsin-Parkside