Bazar - Stellenbosch University Choir

Directed by André van der Merwe
Bazar (Moroccan Marketplace)
Hans Schanderl (1960 - , Germany)
The piece employs an invented language to suggest
the gibberish and hubbub of a Moroccan market place.

[@miavos3610]

Undeniably the best mixed voices university choir in the world!

[@tyrone7583]

It is a remarkable achievement to have listened to every single mixed voices university choir in the world! It really makes you uniquely qualified to make such profound statement.

[@euwenetson2865]

@@tyrone7583there’s actually a world ranking list that helps a lot. Stellenbosch University Choir is ranked number 1 in the world.

[@wjcvwcrsa]

And they have been ranked first for the past 11 years.

[@user-be2fx8zd2u]

@@wjcvwcrsaUnd womit? Mit Recht! Der beste Chor, den ich je gehört habe.

[@yusufasanda641]

Give this choir it's grammy asap 😭

[@antm64]

While students move in and out, this marvelous director stays the same, insuring that quality of voice will carry forward. When he retires, the sound of this world ranked chorus will change to reflect whomever takes his place. Beautiful performance!!

[@aidanforbes2232]

Obsessed!!😭♥️reminds me of why I loved singing in this choir!!! Excellent and such a powerful sound!!

[@miavos3610]

The privilege!!! WOW! 👍

[@Irenesinger]

Lucky so and so.... were I a lot younger and not in the UK this is a choir I would have given a lot to be a member of. 😊

[@YKwagga]

Wow! The dynamics are so good! Favourite choir for a reason

[@kamva_chexx_07queenkay76]

The performance was absolutely stunning. The way the choir seamlessly blended harmonies during the powerful sections gave me chills. The emotional depth the piece conveyed was truly remarkable. It's clear that a lot of hard work and dedication went into preparing for this performance.😍10/10!

[@patriciamarquez8609]

Mi coro favorito, saludos desde Republica Dominicana🇩🇴🎶🥰 My favorite choir. Greetings from Dominican Republic🇩🇴🎶🥰

[@michaeld2519]

Wow, this is fantastic!! My niece is in the second row. What a great song! 👍 👍💯💥

[@UntouchedMatters-ij5sd]

Wow!!! This choir is undeniably the best in the world. Always a Matie in spirit❤❤❤❤

[@thatoo.k]

The best 5 minutes on the net❤️🔥🔥🔥

[@chrishodgson6302]

Stunning, captivating. Simply brilliant and I always enjoy listening to your new videos. Saying well done doesn’t seem sufficient. Thank you, all.

[@DevisonKamanga]

When is the new album coming out? It's been more than four years... 😫

[@lawrencematthee1107]

Retweet, it’s all I want😭

[@jessebrian7474]

I have listened to all songs by this choir, and I don't understand much of their language, yet I am totally intrigued by their singing. Blessings

[@Micaela.S]

Patiently waiting for an album 🥹😭

[@Psych0Play]

Prachtig symfonisch gezang, en een mooie afsluiting.😍

[@user-ug6ph6vk5n]

Lot's of love from Kenya

[@valeriaguatteo3549]

Bravissimi, come sempre!!!❤

[@NielTolken]

Always original, always different, always amazing ❤

[@kumoingeengunouanivi]

😍😍The amount of obsession I have for this choir is unhealthy😫😫🙆🏽 I am missing one of my favourite old Altos. I can't see her for the first time😢Where is she?

[@mwindanji6714]

Probably graduated. That's the beauty of this choir director. Despite an annual change of talent, the quality of production is consistently world class. Amazing dedication to the craft.

[@kumoingeengunouanivi]

@@mwindanji6714 I knooow right🙆🏽😭it never drops👌🏽 I don't know what I will do when I see them live😭 I'll probably faint🤣

[@adebimpeakinrombi3382]

I am so obsessed with them too...can't also find many of my favourite faces anymore😟I miss them already but the choir remains the best. I love them all.

[@garyprins1163]

Amazing!!!!

[@grahamlindsay1864]

Good to see you guys back on stage! Wonderful music. Inspiring.

[@alankruza997]

WOW! Stellenbosch does it again! An amazing choir and an amazing director.

[@colehenry1588]

You guys still amaze me 🥹🙌🏿

[@dorianarnoldus7453]

Outstanding!🎶❤️

[@alecciagiovanni2356]

Coro fantastico!

[@oliverwabwire2836]

This choir is a finely tuned musical 🎶 instrument, periodt!

[@chukwudubemokereke3279]

What a brilliant performance! ❣️

[@finlandtaipan4454]

Brilliant, as always!

[@vuyiswa-fumba]

STUNNING!

[@VMMv35124]

Соскучился по вам очень сильно)

[@ahmadplmmer]

That actually gave me goosebumps We’ll done 👏👏

[@chrismouton1985]

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

[@mytraemeliana9869]

Fantastic! Superb choir!

[@kevernsmith990]

Oh my my this was amazing nice choreography

[@amandaferreira7536]

magnifico....👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@maartjeeuwens437]

Love the choreo 😍

[@stefanolaspia3484]

Sempre più bravi e coinvolgenti ❤

[@Black_under_my_skin]

Excellent

[@psel2501]

Fantasties!

[@user-ns3zr4rq9q]

What a song ❤️❤️

[@noamikent6085]

Bravissimo!!

[@benjahsheetmusicproject]

Always ending in style 🎉🎉🎉

[@borntorepent]

Bravooooooooooooooo...

[@benjahsheetmusicproject]

Well the best I get for choral music 🎉🎉❤

[@laurenblight5176]

❤❤❤

[@pedroosoriomondlane]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ You're always surprisingly perfect! Sooo beautiful...😢❤

[@Jane-xk7vt]

The movement from 3:47 is maaaaaaad af. Damn!

[@nathanjohannisen428]

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@bmlangeni]

The camera work on these new videos is sloppy and all over the place.

[@zipho]

we are fed🙏🏽

[@philyew3617]

Thank you all for this video. A truly incredible performance. Can anyone explain the significance of the white lapel buttons worn by some of the male members? I noticed gent's wearing either one, two, or three buttons in their left lapel, or, some with none at all.

[@tsholofelotshilwane7068]

It’s badges that mark the number of years a member has been in the choir. One year (maroon), 3 years(silver), 5 years (gold).

[@philyew3617]

@@tsholofelotshilwane7068 Thank you for your reply, it's appreciated.

[@khanyanqabomzinqundwana7599]

The current songs aren't good as the olden ones, they don't have feel and emotion as before

[@cheyennelewis4724]

Sounds amazing,but with no facial expressions from the choir members-the song doesn’t transcend the language barrier.I have no idea what the song is about? Love/War etc.At the end they did some movements,but I still couldn’t tell what the song was about,it was choreographed movements with no expression.

[@sebastianboeddinghaus3505]

From what I understand it’s gibberish intended to emulate the sounds of a market. There is no underlying message that is meant to be brought across and no rhetorical responsibility. It is also an insanely difficult piece to sing so understandably many singers had to focus rather than just feel

[@TheRabbleChorus]

Great singing & conducting, fantastic choir, but baffles me that anyone would use a made up language to represent a Morrocan market place. It's only "Gibberish" (pretty derogatory word) to someone who doesn't know the actual languages being spoken! Seems an odd & dare I say lazy take from the composer.

[@andrevandermerwe5572]

Thank you very much for the kind words about our choir - much appreciated! You possibly miss the objective of the composer: to emulate the atmosphere and unintelligble noises of a market place. He does not try to emulate a specific language, but rather the hustle and bustle of sounds experienced at the market. His sound world, however, is still reminiscent of the dialects of the three main Arabic languages: Quranic (or Classical), Modern Standard and many variants of Colloquial Arabic. In this context I think the composer's "fantasy language" is effective, fun and creative. Gibberish thus is not derogatory, but distorted sounds that represent the flavour of the region.

[@olabisikuboni5066]

This is an interesting discussion. While I appreciate the explanation, I think there is an important point in the original comment. Most definitely the chatter in a marketplace is largely unintelligible. But to use the word 'gibberish' to describe it, is difficult to accept. In post colonial societies when someone says you are talking gibberish it often is intended to mean that you are talking utter foolishness. Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed the music. I really like how this choir always seeks to venture away from the conventional. Thank you.

[@TheRabbleChorus]

@@olabisikuboni5066 Thankyou, yes I think there have been some pretty uncomfortable past issues with white European composers using nonsense syllables to ‘sound ‘African’ or similar & those pieces are not things I would consider performing in these hopefully more thoughtful times.Apart from anything there is so much wonderful music out there from across the world to discover & singing in another language is such a gift in opening doorways to other cultures! Perhaps this piece is more kindly using the idea of ‘glossolalia’ rather than ‘gibberish’…

[@pred7949]

@@TheRabbleChorus words are not always meant with ill intent, to automatically jump to a negative connotation is only hindering your happiness

[@clarencechiira]

❤❤❤