Afrikaans

Commercial recording in South Africa began in the first decades of the twentieth century, with sessions often tied to visiting engineers and local labels in the Cape and the Witwatersrand. Afrikaans material sat beside English, Zulu, Xhosa and other repertoires in the same catalogues. Typical forces include voice with piano, guitar or small salon ensemble; some sides reflect pure singing traditions from the church and home. The surviving records document everyday popular taste as much as formal art song, and they show how a young written language found a public voice on disc before mid-century.

Recorded in: Cape Town, Johannesburg