Choral Praxis in the Reformed Church amongst Vhavenḓa

The choral heritage initiated by the Berlin missionaries was part of a wider colonial project that aimed to control worship in line with European Reformed standards. However, the role and nature of music in Reformed worship have undergone a significant change over time as African Christian communities have grappled with changing theological orientations, church structures, and cultural identities. This article investigates how choral music evolved and changed within the Reformed tradition of Vhavenḓa, historically, using musical practices to negotiate colonialist liturgical hegemony and local expressions of faith. Archival sources, including church music manuscripts, hymnals, liturgical manuals, and other theological sources, serve as the primary data for this study. This is supplemented by an analysis of research on the social and political context of worship, as well as the embodied practices through which it was developed. The article concludes that a contested theological and cultural site that emerged through the incorporation, reinterpretation, and vernacularisation of European Reformed musical traditions into a unique Tshivenḓa liturgical soundscape. Therefore, by positioning music as a site of theological negotiation and ecclesial identity development, this study is relevant to contemporary discussions of missionary-conversion Christians in general, liturgical withdrawal, and the socio-aesthetic development of African expressions of Christianity.