From the guttural opening chant by Rafiki, the baboon shaman – answered by a rich a capella choral backing in “Circle of Life” – the music of The Lion King establishes itself as consciously and authentically anchored in a fusion of traditional African and contemporary pop music idioms. Although some of the numbers are classic Disney, others, like the establishing “Grassland Chant” and “The Lioness Hunt”, forego English words altogether in favour of a dense musical fabric that’s essentially straight African vocal harmony and percussion.
Lion King Composer Lebo M
This isn’t the work of top-billed composer and lyricist Elton John and Tim Rice; instead, the driving force behind the the resonant choral sound of The Lion King goes by the name of Lebo M. He spoke about his contributions to The Lion King's score when the stage show made its debut in Toronto.
He is “born and bred in South Africa,” as he proudly pointed out when asked whether he actually spoke all the languages of the score, Lebo M, born Lebohang Morake, came to America as a 14-year-old exile. His big Hollywood break came when he teamed up with Hans Zimmer (also a Lion King collaborator) to work on the music for a Morgan Freeman vehicle called The Power of One.
“We were inspired by African music, but on a whole different level,” said M. The two conceived an idea of blending “the highest elements of African music, both choral and instrumental, and the highest elements of Eurocentric music, including orchestration: big African percussion and voices married into big orchestral arrangements.”
Lebo M's Film Compositions
M had previously created music for other films, like Congo and Outbreak. “We got the opportunity with The Lion King to implement what we started with The Power of One,” he said. “I wrote most of the lyrics in Zulu, Sesotho and Xhosa, as well as Swahili. I did most of the translations, but as you can imagine, translating African languages word by word isn’t easy. What’s much more difficult is to explain the feeling of what is going on musically.”
As The Lion King was making its triumphant progress around the world, South Africa was in the process of re-establishing its cultural identity after the breakdown of apartheid. M declared himself to be profoundly excited to experience “the excitement of being back in South Africa and the possibilities of being part of a new country. My main mission and passion right now is developing talent in South Africa,” he said.
The Lion King continues its runs on Broadway and in Las Vegas, and still tours around the world. The offical site shows how to buy Lion King tickets in North America and around the world.
Read on to find out more about Broadway musicals in New York, Chicago or Toronto.
An earlier version of this article was published in Word magazine in the spring of 2000.
Sarah B. Hood - Author of We Sure Can! How Jams and Pickles are Reviving the Lure and Lore of Local Food and Toronto: The Unknown City.
