Instrument building as a tool for the revitalisation and revaluing of traditional music transmission: An investigation in Tshandama and Mbahe in Venda, South Africa
- Authors: Makhanza, Joseph
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419525 , vital:71651
- Description: This study stems from my experiences as a child who grew up playing herd boys’ musical instruments from Venda, such as the tshipotoliyo (ocarina), and tshitiringo (flute). Importantly it also builds on my time working at the International Library of African Music (ILAM,) where the aforementioned instruments, as well as the dende (musical bow) and tshizambi (Vhavenda and Vatsonga mouth bow), are displayed in transparent glass cubicles with a note, “Do not touch, they are fragile”. This phrase is painfully apt because, as a musician, I have observed a decline in the availability and performance of these musical instruments. The truth is that, other than at ILAM, these instruments are hardly in circulation, let alone being performed. This fact ignited my interest in relearning some of the musical instruments I used to play and make while herding cows in Giyani. In the context of trends such as modernisation, rural–urban migration, and globalisation, I document my experiences as a musical-instrument maker, teacher, and performer in revitalising dende, tshipotoliyo, tshitiringo, and tshizambi through classroom practice, using Rhodes music students, instrument-making workshops, performances, and community collaborations as inspiration. I propose the development of crafting skills as a medium for revitalising and sustaining these musical instruments which serve as important identity markers of the Vhavenda people. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
- Authors: Makhanza, Joseph
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419525 , vital:71651
- Description: This study stems from my experiences as a child who grew up playing herd boys’ musical instruments from Venda, such as the tshipotoliyo (ocarina), and tshitiringo (flute). Importantly it also builds on my time working at the International Library of African Music (ILAM,) where the aforementioned instruments, as well as the dende (musical bow) and tshizambi (Vhavenda and Vatsonga mouth bow), are displayed in transparent glass cubicles with a note, “Do not touch, they are fragile”. This phrase is painfully apt because, as a musician, I have observed a decline in the availability and performance of these musical instruments. The truth is that, other than at ILAM, these instruments are hardly in circulation, let alone being performed. This fact ignited my interest in relearning some of the musical instruments I used to play and make while herding cows in Giyani. In the context of trends such as modernisation, rural–urban migration, and globalisation, I document my experiences as a musical-instrument maker, teacher, and performer in revitalising dende, tshipotoliyo, tshitiringo, and tshizambi through classroom practice, using Rhodes music students, instrument-making workshops, performances, and community collaborations as inspiration. I propose the development of crafting skills as a medium for revitalising and sustaining these musical instruments which serve as important identity markers of the Vhavenda people. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
A critical analysis of Professor Andrew Tracey’s contribution to African music pedagogy and the field of applied ethnomusicology
- Authors: Moyo, Vuyelwa O'Lacy
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Tracey, Andrew T N , Ethnomusicology , Music Instruction and study Africa , Mbira Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406829 , vital:70311
- Description: The research presented in this thesis is based on my interest and experience in forms of African music, ethnomusicology, and studying mbira with Professor Emeritus Andrew Tracey. When I arrived in South Africa in 2019 to join Rhodes University’s Applied Ethnomusicology programme, I chose to study the mbira with Tracey as the idea of learning more about Zimbabwe through music was important to the formation of my identity. Through the lens of embodied learning and a practice-based approach in this research, I evaluate how Tracey’s numerous contributions to African music pedagogy have improved prospects for African music scholars and students in terms of contributing to the goals of applied ethnomusicology. The primary purpose of this thesis is to respond to the absence of serious scrutiny of existing pedagogical approaches to African music at universities across South Africa. The contribution this research makes will be valuable to African music programmes across the continent as well as to practitioners of African traditional instruments, such as the marimba, mbira, timbila xylophones, nyanga pan pipes, and valimba xylophones. The thesis comprises five chapters. The first presents an introduction to the research, and its goals, procedures and approaches, along with an outline of the subsequent chapters. Tracey’s biography is covered in the second chapter. A consideration of the state of African music teaching in other African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe; the history of African music; and the state of African music pedagogy in tertiary institutions in South Africa constitutes the third chapter. Chapter 4 comprises an analysis of Tracey’s articles and data gathered from interviews, as well as my personal reflections as Tracey’s student. The final chapter presents a summary of the preceding chapters, the study’s findings, and suggestions for further research. A multidisciplinary approach was used for this thesis. The results finds that Tracey’s articles had six common themes which he wrote about and are a contribution to African music pedagogy. These themes are the history of instruments, the structure of the instrument, the learning/playing technique, structure of the instrument, transcription and dance steps. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Moyo, Vuyelwa O'Lacy
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Tracey, Andrew T N , Ethnomusicology , Music Instruction and study Africa , Mbira Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406829 , vital:70311
- Description: The research presented in this thesis is based on my interest and experience in forms of African music, ethnomusicology, and studying mbira with Professor Emeritus Andrew Tracey. When I arrived in South Africa in 2019 to join Rhodes University’s Applied Ethnomusicology programme, I chose to study the mbira with Tracey as the idea of learning more about Zimbabwe through music was important to the formation of my identity. Through the lens of embodied learning and a practice-based approach in this research, I evaluate how Tracey’s numerous contributions to African music pedagogy have improved prospects for African music scholars and students in terms of contributing to the goals of applied ethnomusicology. The primary purpose of this thesis is to respond to the absence of serious scrutiny of existing pedagogical approaches to African music at universities across South Africa. The contribution this research makes will be valuable to African music programmes across the continent as well as to practitioners of African traditional instruments, such as the marimba, mbira, timbila xylophones, nyanga pan pipes, and valimba xylophones. The thesis comprises five chapters. The first presents an introduction to the research, and its goals, procedures and approaches, along with an outline of the subsequent chapters. Tracey’s biography is covered in the second chapter. A consideration of the state of African music teaching in other African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe; the history of African music; and the state of African music pedagogy in tertiary institutions in South Africa constitutes the third chapter. Chapter 4 comprises an analysis of Tracey’s articles and data gathered from interviews, as well as my personal reflections as Tracey’s student. The final chapter presents a summary of the preceding chapters, the study’s findings, and suggestions for further research. A multidisciplinary approach was used for this thesis. The results finds that Tracey’s articles had six common themes which he wrote about and are a contribution to African music pedagogy. These themes are the history of instruments, the structure of the instrument, the learning/playing technique, structure of the instrument, transcription and dance steps. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Composition Portfolio
- Authors: Hanmer, Paul Dylan
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Composition (Music) , String quartets Scores , Symphonies Scores , Music South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327283 , vital:61100 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327283
- Description: Extract from Introduction: “In the cover bands I worked with, I used to do what all my colleagues in these bands were doing to learn and remember repertoire; transcribe “by ear” and then rehearse with the whole band. Later, when I joined “909” [a cover band named after the “909” model of drum-box developed and built by the Japanese company, Roland] I learned to extend that skill by notating my transcriptions and then playing from these self-made keyboard parts. All the instrumentalists in that band likewise played from their own notated transcriptions and, from that time onward it became rarer for me to do any kind of performance work without a set of self-made parts to read from or refer to. I had thus reverted to performing from musical notation. Even later, when I became involved almost exclusively in improvisational music performance, I never quite abandoned the notion of having notated keyboard or piano parts to hand, as a reference or guide. Since about 1990, I have led a life that has increasingly left pop music behind and instead embraced working with improvising musicians; those who wish to explore South African folk idioms in their compositional and performance output, as well as others who have a deep love of jazz music. At the same time, I have re-entered the realm of classical music and music-making; often through writing arrangements of my own music, which would incorporate classically trained players, as well as in response to commissions to compose [for particular musicians or groups of musicians] fully notated pieces of music – such as the works in this PhD portfolio. Yet, there are many circumstantial factors that feed into my composing, and exert an influence on my creativity. A major step in this particular direction came during 2002 when composer, Michael Blake, asked me to contribute to The Bow Project. This commission brought me into close contact with the [then intact and very active] Sontonga Quartet. Several further requests for, and commissions of, new works followed on from there. Two such works constitute the major portion of the portfolio to which these reflexive commentaries refer.” , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Hanmer, Paul Dylan
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Composition (Music) , String quartets Scores , Symphonies Scores , Music South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327283 , vital:61100 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327283
- Description: Extract from Introduction: “In the cover bands I worked with, I used to do what all my colleagues in these bands were doing to learn and remember repertoire; transcribe “by ear” and then rehearse with the whole band. Later, when I joined “909” [a cover band named after the “909” model of drum-box developed and built by the Japanese company, Roland] I learned to extend that skill by notating my transcriptions and then playing from these self-made keyboard parts. All the instrumentalists in that band likewise played from their own notated transcriptions and, from that time onward it became rarer for me to do any kind of performance work without a set of self-made parts to read from or refer to. I had thus reverted to performing from musical notation. Even later, when I became involved almost exclusively in improvisational music performance, I never quite abandoned the notion of having notated keyboard or piano parts to hand, as a reference or guide. Since about 1990, I have led a life that has increasingly left pop music behind and instead embraced working with improvising musicians; those who wish to explore South African folk idioms in their compositional and performance output, as well as others who have a deep love of jazz music. At the same time, I have re-entered the realm of classical music and music-making; often through writing arrangements of my own music, which would incorporate classically trained players, as well as in response to commissions to compose [for particular musicians or groups of musicians] fully notated pieces of music – such as the works in this PhD portfolio. Yet, there are many circumstantial factors that feed into my composing, and exert an influence on my creativity. A major step in this particular direction came during 2002 when composer, Michael Blake, asked me to contribute to The Bow Project. This commission brought me into close contact with the [then intact and very active] Sontonga Quartet. Several further requests for, and commissions of, new works followed on from there. Two such works constitute the major portion of the portfolio to which these reflexive commentaries refer.” , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
The soul of Mozambique: an autoethnographic and performance-based study on the correlation of glabalisation, Chopi people migrations and the reinterpretation of timbila music in Mozambique
- Authors: Bande Júnior, Venâncio
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Timbila , Chopi (African people) Mozambique , Music festivals Mozambique , Traditional knowledge , Music and globalization , Modernity , Traditional folk music
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406818 , vital:70310
- Description: This is an autoethnographic and performance-based study on the correlation between indigenous and modern cultures. It discusses the influence of globalisation, modernity, and of the Chopi people migrations to Maputo, the main city of Mozambique and to gold and platinum mines in South Africa, on timbila music. Timbila is both the name of a musical instrument (xylophone) and of a cultural manifestation, practiced by the Chopi people from Mozambique. It is one of the most documented music and dance cultures in Mozambique and was proclaimed as a masterpiece of the oral and immaterial heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2005. The oldest references by Father Andre Fernandes date from the 16th century. However, the most well-known timbila sources were written and recorded by Hugh Tracey, the founder of the International Library of African Music (ILAM), from 1940s. All these sources were based on traditional timbila music. None refers to contemporary timbila music, which is a mixture of timbila with Western musical instruments. The research is thus based on both historical and is new research to understand the role of the phenomena mentioned above to the reinterpretation of timbila music over the time. Performance based and autoethnography methods were selected because of my role as a pedagogue of the music and culture of timbila, allowing me to express my knowledge on this cultural expression. Literature review and interviews are the two procedures of data collecting employed to get an understanding of the research methods; the phenomena of modernity, globalisation and of the Chopis migration for the searching of better living conditions in Maputo and South Africa; and the approaches of different scholars who have written about timbila. The use of these methods and methodologies, allowed me to conclude that, Chopis migrations, modernity and globalisation has allowed the emergence of a modern version of timbila music; internationalisation and dissemination of this musical expression; and contributes to the extinction of traditional timbila orchestras in Zavala. Despite considerable studies on timbila music and culture, this thesis is important and pioneering, from the perspective of studying the influence of Chopis migrations, globalisation and modernity on timbila and is one of the few sources that approach the contemporary timbila music. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Bande Júnior, Venâncio
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Timbila , Chopi (African people) Mozambique , Music festivals Mozambique , Traditional knowledge , Music and globalization , Modernity , Traditional folk music
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406818 , vital:70310
- Description: This is an autoethnographic and performance-based study on the correlation between indigenous and modern cultures. It discusses the influence of globalisation, modernity, and of the Chopi people migrations to Maputo, the main city of Mozambique and to gold and platinum mines in South Africa, on timbila music. Timbila is both the name of a musical instrument (xylophone) and of a cultural manifestation, practiced by the Chopi people from Mozambique. It is one of the most documented music and dance cultures in Mozambique and was proclaimed as a masterpiece of the oral and immaterial heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2005. The oldest references by Father Andre Fernandes date from the 16th century. However, the most well-known timbila sources were written and recorded by Hugh Tracey, the founder of the International Library of African Music (ILAM), from 1940s. All these sources were based on traditional timbila music. None refers to contemporary timbila music, which is a mixture of timbila with Western musical instruments. The research is thus based on both historical and is new research to understand the role of the phenomena mentioned above to the reinterpretation of timbila music over the time. Performance based and autoethnography methods were selected because of my role as a pedagogue of the music and culture of timbila, allowing me to express my knowledge on this cultural expression. Literature review and interviews are the two procedures of data collecting employed to get an understanding of the research methods; the phenomena of modernity, globalisation and of the Chopis migration for the searching of better living conditions in Maputo and South Africa; and the approaches of different scholars who have written about timbila. The use of these methods and methodologies, allowed me to conclude that, Chopis migrations, modernity and globalisation has allowed the emergence of a modern version of timbila music; internationalisation and dissemination of this musical expression; and contributes to the extinction of traditional timbila orchestras in Zavala. Despite considerable studies on timbila music and culture, this thesis is important and pioneering, from the perspective of studying the influence of Chopis migrations, globalisation and modernity on timbila and is one of the few sources that approach the contemporary timbila music. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Composition portfolio
- Authors: Lemmer, Elizabeth Kate
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Composition (Music) , Music South Africa , COVID-19 (Disease) and the arts , Emotions in music , Violin music Scores , String quartets Scores , Chamber music Scores
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text , sheet music
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232624 , vital:50008
- Description: In this portfolio I reflect on issues Covid-19 has brought to our communities and the possibilities of creating a brighter future. My music reflects the struggle that most people have faced in the last two years, the emotions and the conspiracies surrounding the experience, and the effect of solitude. In a time such as this it is almost inevitable that the music being composed is connected to the struggle in society at large. For ma composition is a journal of the heart. The pandemic has created a situation where most are out of touch with each other, have lost all previous routine and structure, where relationships are broken due to lack of personal contact, and almost everyone has unwillingly (or unwittingly) been thrust into self-reflection. Every day sees a new struggle to squeeze in all those pre-pandemic ideals so that some normalcy can be obtained, but this is not a time to be looking back. It’s a time to understand what we are going through, build new joy and excitement for this different life and learn to live the best we can with the opportunities we are given. There has not been a more important time to foster some form of connection with friends and family, and to be as strong and supportive as possible. The portfolio begins with a solo violin piece, Unwelcome Solitude, which exemplifies the loneliness and sadness during the various lockdowns over the last two years, with hints of the past and the difficulties in trying to resurrect pre-Covid-19 times. There are some unusual expressive markings to add to the descriptive effect within the piece. This is followed by The Pandemic, two serialism works: Panic and Pain scored for a string quartet. Both of these pieces apply a flexible use of serialism to emphasize out the emotional aspects of the music, and quite simply; the panic and the pain caused by Covid-19 and the country’s response to the pandemic as a whole. Finally there is a three movement chamber piece titled A Storm Series which quite literally represents the series of events that occur from the upcoming to the closure of a typical Highveld storm. Further than this, these pieces represent the series of events that occurred in South Africa from the first rumour of the Covid-19 virus starting to circle around the world, through the various lockdowns and progression of events in our country and abroad. The final movement of this series, Re-awakening, ends on a positive note representing the rainbow at the end of the storm, and the positive outlook for South Africa to keep persevering through the pandemic. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Lemmer, Elizabeth Kate
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Composition (Music) , Music South Africa , COVID-19 (Disease) and the arts , Emotions in music , Violin music Scores , String quartets Scores , Chamber music Scores
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text , sheet music
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232624 , vital:50008
- Description: In this portfolio I reflect on issues Covid-19 has brought to our communities and the possibilities of creating a brighter future. My music reflects the struggle that most people have faced in the last two years, the emotions and the conspiracies surrounding the experience, and the effect of solitude. In a time such as this it is almost inevitable that the music being composed is connected to the struggle in society at large. For ma composition is a journal of the heart. The pandemic has created a situation where most are out of touch with each other, have lost all previous routine and structure, where relationships are broken due to lack of personal contact, and almost everyone has unwillingly (or unwittingly) been thrust into self-reflection. Every day sees a new struggle to squeeze in all those pre-pandemic ideals so that some normalcy can be obtained, but this is not a time to be looking back. It’s a time to understand what we are going through, build new joy and excitement for this different life and learn to live the best we can with the opportunities we are given. There has not been a more important time to foster some form of connection with friends and family, and to be as strong and supportive as possible. The portfolio begins with a solo violin piece, Unwelcome Solitude, which exemplifies the loneliness and sadness during the various lockdowns over the last two years, with hints of the past and the difficulties in trying to resurrect pre-Covid-19 times. There are some unusual expressive markings to add to the descriptive effect within the piece. This is followed by The Pandemic, two serialism works: Panic and Pain scored for a string quartet. Both of these pieces apply a flexible use of serialism to emphasize out the emotional aspects of the music, and quite simply; the panic and the pain caused by Covid-19 and the country’s response to the pandemic as a whole. Finally there is a three movement chamber piece titled A Storm Series which quite literally represents the series of events that occur from the upcoming to the closure of a typical Highveld storm. Further than this, these pieces represent the series of events that occurred in South Africa from the first rumour of the Covid-19 virus starting to circle around the world, through the various lockdowns and progression of events in our country and abroad. The final movement of this series, Re-awakening, ends on a positive note representing the rainbow at the end of the storm, and the positive outlook for South Africa to keep persevering through the pandemic. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
Gaze patterns of expert and amateur sight-readers with particular focus on the cognitive underpinnings of reading key and time signatures
- Authors: Viljoen, Jacobus Frederick
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Sight-reading (Music) , Eye tracking , Cognition , Musical notation , Tonality , Musical meter and rhythm
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190908 , vital:45040 , 10.21504/10962/190908
- Description: Over the last decade, eye-tracking technology has provided researchers with specific tools to study the process of reading (language and music) empirically. Most of these studies have focused on the “Eye-Hand Span” phenomenon (the ability to read ahead of the point of playing). However, little research investigates the cognitive implications of specific aspects of musical notation when performed in real time. This research aimed to observe the fixations patterns of sight-readers in order to investigate the cognitive underpinnings of key and time signatures in music scores. This research project is a quantitative study using a quasi-experimental research design. Tobii eye-tracking equipment and software were used to record the eye movements of 11 expert and 7 amateur keyboard sight-readers. Two key aspects of music notation, key and time signatures, were selected as the main focus of the study. To investigate these aspects, eighteen research participants were provided with seventeen sight-reading examples for one hand (low complexity) and two hands (high complexity) composed specifically by the researcher. Several examples contained one or more unexpected aspects (accidentals or changes of time signature) to test their effect on fixation count and duration. Two variables (fixation count and fixation duration) were utilised to analyze fixation patterns on the selected aspects of the scores. Three main results emerged from the data analysis: 1) Expert sight-readers performed with much greater accuracy than experts in both tests; 2) Expert sight-readers exhibited a higher fixation count on entire scores in complex examples; 3) Both expert and amateur sight-readers fixate more and for longer on certain notational aspects such as key and time signatures than other notational aspects such as deviations or individual notes. This selection of focused attention suggests that both expert and amateur sight-readers cognitively process music scores in a hierarchical order. In conclusion, key and time signatures appear to require more and longer fixations by both groups of readers than other aspects of the score. This supports previous research which suggests that sound musical knowledge may play a positive role in performers’ sight-reading skills, thereby contributing to more successful sight-reading performances. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Viljoen, Jacobus Frederick
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Sight-reading (Music) , Eye tracking , Cognition , Musical notation , Tonality , Musical meter and rhythm
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190908 , vital:45040 , 10.21504/10962/190908
- Description: Over the last decade, eye-tracking technology has provided researchers with specific tools to study the process of reading (language and music) empirically. Most of these studies have focused on the “Eye-Hand Span” phenomenon (the ability to read ahead of the point of playing). However, little research investigates the cognitive implications of specific aspects of musical notation when performed in real time. This research aimed to observe the fixations patterns of sight-readers in order to investigate the cognitive underpinnings of key and time signatures in music scores. This research project is a quantitative study using a quasi-experimental research design. Tobii eye-tracking equipment and software were used to record the eye movements of 11 expert and 7 amateur keyboard sight-readers. Two key aspects of music notation, key and time signatures, were selected as the main focus of the study. To investigate these aspects, eighteen research participants were provided with seventeen sight-reading examples for one hand (low complexity) and two hands (high complexity) composed specifically by the researcher. Several examples contained one or more unexpected aspects (accidentals or changes of time signature) to test their effect on fixation count and duration. Two variables (fixation count and fixation duration) were utilised to analyze fixation patterns on the selected aspects of the scores. Three main results emerged from the data analysis: 1) Expert sight-readers performed with much greater accuracy than experts in both tests; 2) Expert sight-readers exhibited a higher fixation count on entire scores in complex examples; 3) Both expert and amateur sight-readers fixate more and for longer on certain notational aspects such as key and time signatures than other notational aspects such as deviations or individual notes. This selection of focused attention suggests that both expert and amateur sight-readers cognitively process music scores in a hierarchical order. In conclusion, key and time signatures appear to require more and longer fixations by both groups of readers than other aspects of the score. This supports previous research which suggests that sound musical knowledge may play a positive role in performers’ sight-reading skills, thereby contributing to more successful sight-reading performances. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Performing Emil Hartmann – The Importance of Musical Contextualisation: A practice-based research project
- Authors: Robertson, Garreth Damon
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Hartmann, Emil, 1836-1898 , Hartmann, Emil, 1836-1898 Criticism and interpretation History 19th century , Practice (Philosophy) , Research Methodology , Contextualism (Philosophy) , Music Denmark History and criticism , Music appreciation , Musical analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190771 , vital:45026
- Description: When embarking on a journey of preparing a musical work for performance, a contextualisation process is undertaken which informs the performer/s of the factors which govern the parameters of the work. In this study, the author performed Emil Hartmann’s piano trio op. 10 as a part of an integrated master’s degree program. As the composer was not a part of mainland European musical society, information on his life and work was difficult to access, which presented the performer with a contextualisation problem. This study aimed to highlight the process of contextualisation, in the absence of sufficient literary material, through the lens of Emil Hartmann’s piano trio op. 10. The research used a three-pronged methodological approach in order to construct the narrative around Hartmann’s life and composition. Through a structured process of using practice-based research to analyse the creative process undertaken by the practitioners, alongside a micro-historical and analytical methodology, the study builds layers of understanding to inform Hartmann’s narrative, and thus provides interpretational insight into the execution of the work. The research finds that, although it is possible to interpret a musical work based on the musical score, there are layers of depth which cannot be accessed without a contextual understanding of the composer and the conditions in which the composition was written. Through forming the narrative on Emil Hartmann and his piano trio, the research uses the methodology to highlight a method which can be undertaken in the absence of contextual knowledge, and thus presents a contextual understanding of Emil Hartmann’s narrative. With the constructed knowledge, the author uses the findings based on the methodological approaches to weave a narrative around the life of Emil Hartmann. Applying the information discovered in the findings, interpretational approaches are discussed to inform future performances of the work. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Robertson, Garreth Damon
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Hartmann, Emil, 1836-1898 , Hartmann, Emil, 1836-1898 Criticism and interpretation History 19th century , Practice (Philosophy) , Research Methodology , Contextualism (Philosophy) , Music Denmark History and criticism , Music appreciation , Musical analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190771 , vital:45026
- Description: When embarking on a journey of preparing a musical work for performance, a contextualisation process is undertaken which informs the performer/s of the factors which govern the parameters of the work. In this study, the author performed Emil Hartmann’s piano trio op. 10 as a part of an integrated master’s degree program. As the composer was not a part of mainland European musical society, information on his life and work was difficult to access, which presented the performer with a contextualisation problem. This study aimed to highlight the process of contextualisation, in the absence of sufficient literary material, through the lens of Emil Hartmann’s piano trio op. 10. The research used a three-pronged methodological approach in order to construct the narrative around Hartmann’s life and composition. Through a structured process of using practice-based research to analyse the creative process undertaken by the practitioners, alongside a micro-historical and analytical methodology, the study builds layers of understanding to inform Hartmann’s narrative, and thus provides interpretational insight into the execution of the work. The research finds that, although it is possible to interpret a musical work based on the musical score, there are layers of depth which cannot be accessed without a contextual understanding of the composer and the conditions in which the composition was written. Through forming the narrative on Emil Hartmann and his piano trio, the research uses the methodology to highlight a method which can be undertaken in the absence of contextual knowledge, and thus presents a contextual understanding of Emil Hartmann’s narrative. With the constructed knowledge, the author uses the findings based on the methodological approaches to weave a narrative around the life of Emil Hartmann. Applying the information discovered in the findings, interpretational approaches are discussed to inform future performances of the work. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
The Effects of Monaural Beat Technology on Learners' Experiences of Music Performance Anxiety (MPA)
- Authors: Flanagan, Jayson Edward
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Performance anxiety Alternative treatment , School music South Africa Makhanda , Music students South Africa Makhanda Examinations , Beats (Acoustics) Psychological aspects , Monaural Beat Technology
- Language: English
- Type: Masters theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188419 , vital:44752
- Description: Music performance anxiety (MPA) is related to the experience of persisting, distressful, apprehensions about and/or actual impairment of performance skills in a public context, to a degree unwarranted given the individual’s musical aptitude, training and level of preparation (Salmon 1990). This research project set out to investigate learners’ subjective experiences of the effects of monaural beat (MB) vibrational frequencies on their experiences of MPA. The research project was a qualitative study based on a phenomenological research paradigm, which fundamentally aims to explore an experience in its own terms (Smith et al. 2009). The research participants consisted of four subject music pupils at St Andrew’s College and The Diocesan School for Girls and were interviewed through in-depth, semi-structured interviews over two practical examinations. The results suggested that various factors contribute to the experience of music performance anxiety, such as the performers’ perceptions of audience reactions, as well as the context of the performance. Self-esteem and the performer’s fragile sense of self-worth and self-confidence also play an important role in influencing their music performance anxiety. However, listening to monaural beats during a performance has the ability to lower levels of music performance anxiety by eliciting the following effects: an improved sense of confidence within the listeners; a sense of calm; the monaural beats working on a passive awareness level that allows the beat to operate at a sub-conscious level; the ability to focus better on the task at hand as well as benefit the listener in non-musical contexts such as studying; general concentration or ordinary tasks such as gardening or going for a run. The research suggests that listening to monaural beats during a musical performance can benefit the performer by lowering levels of MPA. As a result, the performer will experience an improved sense of confidence, calmness and the ability to focus better on the task at hand. Monaural beats have also shown to be a useful method of dealing with MPA instead of resorting to pharmaceutical drugs or other methods of coping such as playing games for distraction. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Flanagan, Jayson Edward
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Performance anxiety Alternative treatment , School music South Africa Makhanda , Music students South Africa Makhanda Examinations , Beats (Acoustics) Psychological aspects , Monaural Beat Technology
- Language: English
- Type: Masters theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188419 , vital:44752
- Description: Music performance anxiety (MPA) is related to the experience of persisting, distressful, apprehensions about and/or actual impairment of performance skills in a public context, to a degree unwarranted given the individual’s musical aptitude, training and level of preparation (Salmon 1990). This research project set out to investigate learners’ subjective experiences of the effects of monaural beat (MB) vibrational frequencies on their experiences of MPA. The research project was a qualitative study based on a phenomenological research paradigm, which fundamentally aims to explore an experience in its own terms (Smith et al. 2009). The research participants consisted of four subject music pupils at St Andrew’s College and The Diocesan School for Girls and were interviewed through in-depth, semi-structured interviews over two practical examinations. The results suggested that various factors contribute to the experience of music performance anxiety, such as the performers’ perceptions of audience reactions, as well as the context of the performance. Self-esteem and the performer’s fragile sense of self-worth and self-confidence also play an important role in influencing their music performance anxiety. However, listening to monaural beats during a performance has the ability to lower levels of music performance anxiety by eliciting the following effects: an improved sense of confidence within the listeners; a sense of calm; the monaural beats working on a passive awareness level that allows the beat to operate at a sub-conscious level; the ability to focus better on the task at hand as well as benefit the listener in non-musical contexts such as studying; general concentration or ordinary tasks such as gardening or going for a run. The research suggests that listening to monaural beats during a musical performance can benefit the performer by lowering levels of MPA. As a result, the performer will experience an improved sense of confidence, calmness and the ability to focus better on the task at hand. Monaural beats have also shown to be a useful method of dealing with MPA instead of resorting to pharmaceutical drugs or other methods of coping such as playing games for distraction. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
The prominence of choral music in the search for, and preservation of, an African identity: A study focusing on the role of choral composers in the formation of black nationalism during and after the colonial era in South Africa
- Authors: Nelani, Athenkosi
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Choral music South Africa , Choral singing South Africa , Black people Race identity South Africa , Black nationalism South Africa , Composers, Black South Africa , Amakwaya
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190965 , vital:45045
- Description: In South Africa, choral music has been prominent in schools, churches, and community choirs since the 19th century. However, the majority of South Africans know little of the history of indigenous choral music. This study investigates the origins of South African indigenous choral music, its canonic figures, and their contribution to this genre in promoting an African identity among the indigenous people of South Africa. Using the methodological lens of historical ethnomusicology, this thesis explores the genesis of choral music in South Africa. Choral music was introduced to the region when it was first colonised by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. Missionaries established institutions in the villages of the local people and translated the Bible and hymn books into the local languages. These actions had lasting consequences for music, and choral singing was greatly advanced. In addition, in this work early composers of South African indigenous choral music are recognised in an effort to establish a choral canon. Three definitive choral periods are recognised, namely those of the first-generation, second-generation, and post-colonial composers. Using this historical framework, this thesis investigates the social and political influence these composers had on African identity during the liberation struggles in the late colonial era and during the early apartheid period. The history and compositions of the composers are discussed, including how they used their compositions as political tools and as mouthpieces to communicate societal issues of concern to the indigenous people during and after the colonial era. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Nelani, Athenkosi
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Choral music South Africa , Choral singing South Africa , Black people Race identity South Africa , Black nationalism South Africa , Composers, Black South Africa , Amakwaya
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190965 , vital:45045
- Description: In South Africa, choral music has been prominent in schools, churches, and community choirs since the 19th century. However, the majority of South Africans know little of the history of indigenous choral music. This study investigates the origins of South African indigenous choral music, its canonic figures, and their contribution to this genre in promoting an African identity among the indigenous people of South Africa. Using the methodological lens of historical ethnomusicology, this thesis explores the genesis of choral music in South Africa. Choral music was introduced to the region when it was first colonised by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. Missionaries established institutions in the villages of the local people and translated the Bible and hymn books into the local languages. These actions had lasting consequences for music, and choral singing was greatly advanced. In addition, in this work early composers of South African indigenous choral music are recognised in an effort to establish a choral canon. Three definitive choral periods are recognised, namely those of the first-generation, second-generation, and post-colonial composers. Using this historical framework, this thesis investigates the social and political influence these composers had on African identity during the liberation struggles in the late colonial era and during the early apartheid period. The history and compositions of the composers are discussed, including how they used their compositions as political tools and as mouthpieces to communicate societal issues of concern to the indigenous people during and after the colonial era. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Traversing Sonic Spaces: Expressions of Identity, Gender, and Power in the Musical Traditions of the Nupe in Northern Nigeria
- Authors: Njoku, Obianuju Akunna
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192886 , vital:45276
- Description: Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Njoku, Obianuju Akunna
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192886 , vital:45276
- Description: Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
A reconceptualisation of music performance anxiety
- Authors: Van Schoor, Nina
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Performance anxiety , Music -- Performance -- Psychological aspects , Anxiety
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167631 , vital:41498
- Description: Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) refers to the potentially debilitating anxiety experienced before and/or during the public performance of music, despite adequate preparation. MPA is generally treated by means of drug therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, psychoanalysis or various relaxation techniques. This research aims to present a different approach to dealing with MPA, based on a reconceptualisation of the concept. As a result, it attempts to unpack all three concepts inherent in the term from both a psychological and philosophical viewpoint. The study used autoethnography as a methodology, as I wished to explore my own lived experience of MPA and anxiety in general, in conjunction with that of my two participants, two other student Western Art music performers, and how our methods for confronting MPA within the performance context itself suggests a more complex understanding of performance and MPA than is reflected in the current literature. Thus the data was collected from two first-person interviews as well as a self-reflective written account. The results of the analysis were that existential anxiety is potentially a contributing factor to MPA, and that performance itself can potentially provide the very means for overcoming not only MPA, but all forms of anxiety, due to the cathartic quality of music as well as performance, especially when the liminal or interstructural, nature of performing and its ritualistic function is explored. This exploration reveals the world and self-disclosing nature of agency and Play, or the potential within experiences to resolve conflicts and reveal otherness. This requires a degree of existential courage, or an affirmative response to the unknown, which is more relational than the definition suggests. In conclusion, this study reconceptualises MPA as a potentially potent existential experience, and that the anxiety in response to it is considered as a reaction to the catharsis inherent in being an agent, rather than merely as an obstacle to be controlled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Van Schoor, Nina
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Performance anxiety , Music -- Performance -- Psychological aspects , Anxiety
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167631 , vital:41498
- Description: Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) refers to the potentially debilitating anxiety experienced before and/or during the public performance of music, despite adequate preparation. MPA is generally treated by means of drug therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, psychoanalysis or various relaxation techniques. This research aims to present a different approach to dealing with MPA, based on a reconceptualisation of the concept. As a result, it attempts to unpack all three concepts inherent in the term from both a psychological and philosophical viewpoint. The study used autoethnography as a methodology, as I wished to explore my own lived experience of MPA and anxiety in general, in conjunction with that of my two participants, two other student Western Art music performers, and how our methods for confronting MPA within the performance context itself suggests a more complex understanding of performance and MPA than is reflected in the current literature. Thus the data was collected from two first-person interviews as well as a self-reflective written account. The results of the analysis were that existential anxiety is potentially a contributing factor to MPA, and that performance itself can potentially provide the very means for overcoming not only MPA, but all forms of anxiety, due to the cathartic quality of music as well as performance, especially when the liminal or interstructural, nature of performing and its ritualistic function is explored. This exploration reveals the world and self-disclosing nature of agency and Play, or the potential within experiences to resolve conflicts and reveal otherness. This requires a degree of existential courage, or an affirmative response to the unknown, which is more relational than the definition suggests. In conclusion, this study reconceptualises MPA as a potentially potent existential experience, and that the anxiety in response to it is considered as a reaction to the catharsis inherent in being an agent, rather than merely as an obstacle to be controlled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Composition portfolio
- Authors: Cooper, Corinne Jane
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Musical bow -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sound recordings in ethnomusicology -- South Africa , Dywili, Nofinishi. The bow project , Music -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168338 , vital:41568
- Description: In June 2014, I was introduced to Christine Dixie by a film maker I had worked with on a previous project. Christine was looking for a composer who could arrange a soundtrack around musical themes that she had commissioned from Jared Lang to accompany her video installation To Be King (Dixie 2014. Jared composed five different melodies that I wove into a palette of sounds that comprised the soundtrack. To Be King was exhibited at the National Arts Festival in 2014 as part of the Main Festival. It moved to Cape Town in 2015 and 2017, to Venice and London in 2017, and to Lithuania in 2018. In 2017, Christine approached me to compose a soundtrack for a different work, based again on seventeenth century Spanish artist, Velázquez’ painting ‘Las Meninas’ (1656), but this time, using a series of sculptures representing the different figures in the painting, a reinterpretation with strong Eastern Cape (South Africa) themes and associations. Christine proposed reimagining the figures in the painting by clothing them in Shweshwe 1 material and placing African masks on each of them, masks that she had sought out during her travels around Africa. The use of Shweshwe material, ties the figures very closely to the Eastern Cape, and in particular, close to where I grew up in Alice, just 60 kilometres away from where it is manufactured in King William’s Town. Alice is important in the unfolding of this portfolio as Ntsikana, purportedly the first Xhosa person to be converted to Christianity and a prophet, lived in Peddie (which is about 70 kilometers from Grahamstown and Rhodes University) and Gqora, near the Kat River District which is located in the Amathola District near Alice. (Kumalo 2015, p.26). Alice is steeped in history, and is the town where Lovedale Mission Station was founded in 1824 and later, the Lovedale Press in 1861. Therefore, this project felt close to my roots, hence this interaction between Western and African cultures is very relevant to my world view and has impacted on my scoring of this music. I was initially challenged by the idea that the project would require a deeper understanding of traditional Xhosa music and while I had been exposed to Xhosa culture while growing up in Alice, my formative years were largely shaped by the culture of my Christian parents who immigrated to South Africa from England during the 1960s. During the first decade of the twentieth century, in my capacity as a sound engineer, I was tasked with recording and mastering a double CD called The Bow Project. Various South African composers were invited to transcribe and paraphrase or reimagine traditional Xhosa bow music for the classical string quartet. The uhadi songs 2 of Nofinishi Dywili formed the basis for many of these intercultural explorations, and I recorded and mastered the string quartets as well as 12 individual recordings of Dywili’s music. I spent many hours listening to Dywili’s recordings while I mastered them, but though I was very familiar with how they sounded, I realised, as I started compiling this portfolio, that I was not familiar with their notation and rhythmic structures. I approach sound engineering with a very different ear and sonic perspective to that of a composer. To learn more about uhadi bow music I visited the International Library of African Music (ILAM) which is housed by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Here I consulted with sound engineer and African music specialist, Elijah Madiba, on Xhosa instruments and traditional music-making. With Madiba’s assistance I listened carefully to different bow performances and examined a variety of instruments. After this introduction I loaned a selection of recordings from the ILAM collection and listened to them as carefully as I could. Every time I listened, I seemed to hear something different, both melodically and rhythmically. To gain a deeper understanding of how this music was created I decided to transcribe some of the songs. Following a steep learning curve I completed transcriptions of two songs with my transcriptions including a wealth of vocal parts. As my ears grew accustomed to the sound world I heard additional counter melodies. Notating the rhythms using staff notation was challenging, as this music is created according to a different format, but I am familiar with staff notation and if I was going to use this material while composing then I needed to remain with that which was familiar. I finally settled on notating with shifting time signatures and the first song is scored in bars of 3/4, 4/4, and 2/4 while the other song uses 3/4, 2/4. It was a very worthwhile exercise and after completion I humbly set about composing the eleven pieces that would musically express Dixie’s new work: Worlding the White Spirit Maiden (2019).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Cooper, Corinne Jane
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Musical bow -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sound recordings in ethnomusicology -- South Africa , Dywili, Nofinishi. The bow project , Music -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168338 , vital:41568
- Description: In June 2014, I was introduced to Christine Dixie by a film maker I had worked with on a previous project. Christine was looking for a composer who could arrange a soundtrack around musical themes that she had commissioned from Jared Lang to accompany her video installation To Be King (Dixie 2014. Jared composed five different melodies that I wove into a palette of sounds that comprised the soundtrack. To Be King was exhibited at the National Arts Festival in 2014 as part of the Main Festival. It moved to Cape Town in 2015 and 2017, to Venice and London in 2017, and to Lithuania in 2018. In 2017, Christine approached me to compose a soundtrack for a different work, based again on seventeenth century Spanish artist, Velázquez’ painting ‘Las Meninas’ (1656), but this time, using a series of sculptures representing the different figures in the painting, a reinterpretation with strong Eastern Cape (South Africa) themes and associations. Christine proposed reimagining the figures in the painting by clothing them in Shweshwe 1 material and placing African masks on each of them, masks that she had sought out during her travels around Africa. The use of Shweshwe material, ties the figures very closely to the Eastern Cape, and in particular, close to where I grew up in Alice, just 60 kilometres away from where it is manufactured in King William’s Town. Alice is important in the unfolding of this portfolio as Ntsikana, purportedly the first Xhosa person to be converted to Christianity and a prophet, lived in Peddie (which is about 70 kilometers from Grahamstown and Rhodes University) and Gqora, near the Kat River District which is located in the Amathola District near Alice. (Kumalo 2015, p.26). Alice is steeped in history, and is the town where Lovedale Mission Station was founded in 1824 and later, the Lovedale Press in 1861. Therefore, this project felt close to my roots, hence this interaction between Western and African cultures is very relevant to my world view and has impacted on my scoring of this music. I was initially challenged by the idea that the project would require a deeper understanding of traditional Xhosa music and while I had been exposed to Xhosa culture while growing up in Alice, my formative years were largely shaped by the culture of my Christian parents who immigrated to South Africa from England during the 1960s. During the first decade of the twentieth century, in my capacity as a sound engineer, I was tasked with recording and mastering a double CD called The Bow Project. Various South African composers were invited to transcribe and paraphrase or reimagine traditional Xhosa bow music for the classical string quartet. The uhadi songs 2 of Nofinishi Dywili formed the basis for many of these intercultural explorations, and I recorded and mastered the string quartets as well as 12 individual recordings of Dywili’s music. I spent many hours listening to Dywili’s recordings while I mastered them, but though I was very familiar with how they sounded, I realised, as I started compiling this portfolio, that I was not familiar with their notation and rhythmic structures. I approach sound engineering with a very different ear and sonic perspective to that of a composer. To learn more about uhadi bow music I visited the International Library of African Music (ILAM) which is housed by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Here I consulted with sound engineer and African music specialist, Elijah Madiba, on Xhosa instruments and traditional music-making. With Madiba’s assistance I listened carefully to different bow performances and examined a variety of instruments. After this introduction I loaned a selection of recordings from the ILAM collection and listened to them as carefully as I could. Every time I listened, I seemed to hear something different, both melodically and rhythmically. To gain a deeper understanding of how this music was created I decided to transcribe some of the songs. Following a steep learning curve I completed transcriptions of two songs with my transcriptions including a wealth of vocal parts. As my ears grew accustomed to the sound world I heard additional counter melodies. Notating the rhythms using staff notation was challenging, as this music is created according to a different format, but I am familiar with staff notation and if I was going to use this material while composing then I needed to remain with that which was familiar. I finally settled on notating with shifting time signatures and the first song is scored in bars of 3/4, 4/4, and 2/4 while the other song uses 3/4, 2/4. It was a very worthwhile exercise and after completion I humbly set about composing the eleven pieces that would musically express Dixie’s new work: Worlding the White Spirit Maiden (2019).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Deconstructing “the South African jazz feel”: roots, rhythms and features of South African jazz
- Authors: Thorpe, Christopher John
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Jazz -- History and criticism , Jazz -- African influences , Jazz -- Africa --History and criticism , Jazz -- South Africa --History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76649 , vital:30612
- Description: South African jazz has established itself as a distinct and influential genre in modern popular music that merges musical elements from traditional South African musics with influences from U.S.-American jazz. Formed during a time of extreme social inequality in a divided country, South African jazz became the soundtrack of the struggle against social injustice and racial oppression, and was brought to international attention by artists such as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, and Abdullah Ibrahim who gave poignant musical expression to the hardships of the time. South African jazz is celebrated for its unique sound, original catalogue and all-important “feel”. To many listeners, performers and musicologists, it is this concept of feel that makes South African jazz so distinctive and inimitable. To date, however, much of the scholarly and popular literature on South African jazz has centred on the historical, social and political aspects of the music, with less attention given to close musical-textual analysis. A few studies have considered the melodic and harmonic language of iconic saxophonists and bass players but there are – to date – no close studies of rhythm and feel in South African jazz. Beginning to address this gap in the literature, this study uncovers some of the elements that constitute the South African jazz feel through close rhythmic and more general musical analyses of a selection of South African jazz recordings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Thorpe, Christopher John
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Jazz -- History and criticism , Jazz -- African influences , Jazz -- Africa --History and criticism , Jazz -- South Africa --History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76649 , vital:30612
- Description: South African jazz has established itself as a distinct and influential genre in modern popular music that merges musical elements from traditional South African musics with influences from U.S.-American jazz. Formed during a time of extreme social inequality in a divided country, South African jazz became the soundtrack of the struggle against social injustice and racial oppression, and was brought to international attention by artists such as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, and Abdullah Ibrahim who gave poignant musical expression to the hardships of the time. South African jazz is celebrated for its unique sound, original catalogue and all-important “feel”. To many listeners, performers and musicologists, it is this concept of feel that makes South African jazz so distinctive and inimitable. To date, however, much of the scholarly and popular literature on South African jazz has centred on the historical, social and political aspects of the music, with less attention given to close musical-textual analysis. A few studies have considered the melodic and harmonic language of iconic saxophonists and bass players but there are – to date – no close studies of rhythm and feel in South African jazz. Beginning to address this gap in the literature, this study uncovers some of the elements that constitute the South African jazz feel through close rhythmic and more general musical analyses of a selection of South African jazz recordings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Repatriating Xhosa music recordings archived at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) and reviving interest in traditional Xhosa music among the youth in Grahamstown
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: International Library of African Music , Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Sound recordings in ethnomusicology -- South Africa , Ethnomusicology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Cultural property -- Repatriation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap musicians -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76599 , vital:30611
- Description: This research looks at the feasibility of using repatriation as a tool for the revitalisation of indigenous music within a contemporary South African musical context. Using tracks from the International Library of African Music (ILAM), this investigation presents isiXhosa traditional and indigenous music to a group of musicians from a hip-hop background that would never have had access to this type of music before. The thesis then traces their creative use of the music within their own genres. Speaking to the legacy of the Hugh Tracey collection at ILAM and criticisms that have surfaced, this research also attempts to validate the efforts made by Hugh Tracey in collecting and documenting African music. Themes ranging from understanding the term “tradition” are addressed, as well as other technical terms in the vernacular while also exploring and analysing the results of the repatriation project. Practical issues regarding the sampling of indigenous music were interrogated carefully due to the fact that the complexity of African music was foreign to most of the participants. Their familiarity with the music, or lack thereof, either motivated or ended the musicians’ participation in the research project. An in-depth analysis of the results of the musicians’ interaction with the music is presented where this study finds, at the heart of this research, that the musicians performed as agents who easily took to revitalising the music.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: International Library of African Music , Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Sound recordings in ethnomusicology -- South Africa , Ethnomusicology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Cultural property -- Repatriation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap musicians -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76599 , vital:30611
- Description: This research looks at the feasibility of using repatriation as a tool for the revitalisation of indigenous music within a contemporary South African musical context. Using tracks from the International Library of African Music (ILAM), this investigation presents isiXhosa traditional and indigenous music to a group of musicians from a hip-hop background that would never have had access to this type of music before. The thesis then traces their creative use of the music within their own genres. Speaking to the legacy of the Hugh Tracey collection at ILAM and criticisms that have surfaced, this research also attempts to validate the efforts made by Hugh Tracey in collecting and documenting African music. Themes ranging from understanding the term “tradition” are addressed, as well as other technical terms in the vernacular while also exploring and analysing the results of the repatriation project. Practical issues regarding the sampling of indigenous music were interrogated carefully due to the fact that the complexity of African music was foreign to most of the participants. Their familiarity with the music, or lack thereof, either motivated or ended the musicians’ participation in the research project. An in-depth analysis of the results of the musicians’ interaction with the music is presented where this study finds, at the heart of this research, that the musicians performed as agents who easily took to revitalising the music.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Performing the township: pantsula for life
- Van Niekerk, Heather Elizabeth
- Authors: Van Niekerk, Heather Elizabeth
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Pantsula (Dance) South Africa Johannesburg , Pantsula (Dance) South Africa Makhanda , Dance Social aspects South Africa , Sophiatown (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57874 , vital:26998
- Description: Pantsula dance is a performing art born from the townships of Johannesburg. It is a dance form performed across South Africa, in a variety of contexts; in theatres, music videos and competitions in community halls, on national and international stages and on television, and in the streets of townships, cities and suburbs across South Africa and abroad. Its performance is widespread, but it has its beginnings as a dance form born in areas created to marginalise and oppress. There is a scarcity of academic scholarship related to pantsula dance. This thesis aims to be a contribution to that pre-existing body of knowledge in the hope that there can be further engagement on this important, and increasingly mainstream, art form. I have focused my thesis on analysing pantsula dance as a performance of 'the township'. This has been attempted through an ethnographic engagement with pantsula dancers based in different township areas of Johannesburg and Graha mstown: various members of Impilo Mapantsula, Via Katlehong, Intellectuals Pantsula, Via Kasi Movers, Dlala Majimboz and the cast of Via Katlehong's Via Sophiatown. The research was conducted between 2013 and 2016 and serves to represent various moments within the ethnographic research process, while coming to understand various aspects of pantsula dance. An engagement with notions of 'the township', the clothing choices of the pantsula 'uniform', the core moves, inherent hybridity in the form itself, and the dedication to the dance form as a representation of the isipantsula 'way of life', are addressed throughout the thesis. As well as engaging with the memory and representation of Sophiatown as an important component to pantsula dance. Pantsula dance, an intrinsically South African dance form, provides a celebratory conception of 'the township' space and allows people from different backgrounds to engage in an important part of South Africa's past, present and future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Van Niekerk, Heather Elizabeth
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Pantsula (Dance) South Africa Johannesburg , Pantsula (Dance) South Africa Makhanda , Dance Social aspects South Africa , Sophiatown (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57874 , vital:26998
- Description: Pantsula dance is a performing art born from the townships of Johannesburg. It is a dance form performed across South Africa, in a variety of contexts; in theatres, music videos and competitions in community halls, on national and international stages and on television, and in the streets of townships, cities and suburbs across South Africa and abroad. Its performance is widespread, but it has its beginnings as a dance form born in areas created to marginalise and oppress. There is a scarcity of academic scholarship related to pantsula dance. This thesis aims to be a contribution to that pre-existing body of knowledge in the hope that there can be further engagement on this important, and increasingly mainstream, art form. I have focused my thesis on analysing pantsula dance as a performance of 'the township'. This has been attempted through an ethnographic engagement with pantsula dancers based in different township areas of Johannesburg and Graha mstown: various members of Impilo Mapantsula, Via Katlehong, Intellectuals Pantsula, Via Kasi Movers, Dlala Majimboz and the cast of Via Katlehong's Via Sophiatown. The research was conducted between 2013 and 2016 and serves to represent various moments within the ethnographic research process, while coming to understand various aspects of pantsula dance. An engagement with notions of 'the township', the clothing choices of the pantsula 'uniform', the core moves, inherent hybridity in the form itself, and the dedication to the dance form as a representation of the isipantsula 'way of life', are addressed throughout the thesis. As well as engaging with the memory and representation of Sophiatown as an important component to pantsula dance. Pantsula dance, an intrinsically South African dance form, provides a celebratory conception of 'the township' space and allows people from different backgrounds to engage in an important part of South Africa's past, present and future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Composition portfolio
- Boesack, Lenrick Jonathan Angus
- Authors: Boesack, Lenrick Jonathan Angus
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Piano music , Prepared piano music , Saxophone music
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56233 , vital:26786
- Description: This short composition portfolio comprises 40% of the requirements for the Master of Music Degree in performance and composition at Rhodes University. In addition to the music presented here, I played two public exam recitals of 70 minutes each. While I played piano as a child, my main instrument during my BMUS studies at the University of Cape Town (2004-2007) was the saxophone. In 2010 I was diagnosed with Polymyositis(an auto-immune desease) which particularly affected my breathing and therefore my ability to play the saxophone. For this reason I opted to play my recitals on the piano. The first recital focused on interpretations of Swing Era, Bebop and post-Bebop standards such as: Someday my prince will come, What is this thing called love, In your own sweet way, Eternal Triangle, Recordame, Peace, Dolphin Dance, Caravan and Some other blues. The second recital comprised of seven original compositions that were presented in trio, quartet and quintet settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Boesack, Lenrick Jonathan Angus
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Piano music , Prepared piano music , Saxophone music
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56233 , vital:26786
- Description: This short composition portfolio comprises 40% of the requirements for the Master of Music Degree in performance and composition at Rhodes University. In addition to the music presented here, I played two public exam recitals of 70 minutes each. While I played piano as a child, my main instrument during my BMUS studies at the University of Cape Town (2004-2007) was the saxophone. In 2010 I was diagnosed with Polymyositis(an auto-immune desease) which particularly affected my breathing and therefore my ability to play the saxophone. For this reason I opted to play my recitals on the piano. The first recital focused on interpretations of Swing Era, Bebop and post-Bebop standards such as: Someday my prince will come, What is this thing called love, In your own sweet way, Eternal Triangle, Recordame, Peace, Dolphin Dance, Caravan and Some other blues. The second recital comprised of seven original compositions that were presented in trio, quartet and quintet settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Conversations between trip hop and jazz
- Authors: Lang, Jared Anthony
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Trip hop (Music) , Jazz
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5009 , vital:20752
- Description: Restricted access-thesis available at the Music Library
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Lang, Jared Anthony
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Trip hop (Music) , Jazz
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5009 , vital:20752
- Description: Restricted access-thesis available at the Music Library
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2017
Analysing from experience : Gustav Mahler’s Quartetsatz for piano and strings
- Authors: Du Plessis, Jacques
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911. -- Quartet, piano, violin, viola, cello, A minor , Musical analysis , Music appreciation , Phenomenology and music
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2696 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017818
- Description: Musical analysis has traditionally been located within the context of musicology. It is therefore an activity usually considered the purview of music scholars rather than practical musicians. The musical analyses produced by music scholars therefore provide us with intellectual understandings of musical works, rather than insights into the experience of listening to or playing music. In this thesis, I will propose that those agents involved in practical music-making can produce insights into musical works that are as valid as the work of traditional music scholarship. I will attempt to re-conceptualize the position of the ‘knower’ or ‘experiencer’ - the performer - of music as one with primary access to knowledge of a musical work, and therefore ideally suited to offer analyses of these works. The establishment of the performer as a bearer of central analytical knowledge functions in direct opposition to the traditional distinction between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’. My thesis will trace the Platonic origins of the philosophical separation of practice and research, and as an alternative to the traditional separation of practice and research, I shall explore the concept of Practice-Based Research (PBR). My exploration of PBR will be informed by phenomenological approaches to music scholarship. As a field of enquiry which concerns itself with experience, the phenomenology of music suggests that the mind and body of the practitioner are important sources of musical insight. To address this issue, Bourdieu’s notion of habitus will be explored. The habitus will be shown to contain a vast network of socio-cultural codes informing the practitioner’s relationship with the musical work. A central aim of this thesis is to explore the possibilities of using practice-based research as the foundation for the study and analysis of a composition, in order to allow for a deeper understanding of the work by means of the generation and harnessing of practical knowledge. Thus, the theoretical outline of PBR provided in this thesis will be applied to a piece of practical performance-based analysis. As such, an analysis of Mahler’s Quartetsatz will be used as the basis on which to draw knowledge in this project.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Du Plessis, Jacques
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911. -- Quartet, piano, violin, viola, cello, A minor , Musical analysis , Music appreciation , Phenomenology and music
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2696 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017818
- Description: Musical analysis has traditionally been located within the context of musicology. It is therefore an activity usually considered the purview of music scholars rather than practical musicians. The musical analyses produced by music scholars therefore provide us with intellectual understandings of musical works, rather than insights into the experience of listening to or playing music. In this thesis, I will propose that those agents involved in practical music-making can produce insights into musical works that are as valid as the work of traditional music scholarship. I will attempt to re-conceptualize the position of the ‘knower’ or ‘experiencer’ - the performer - of music as one with primary access to knowledge of a musical work, and therefore ideally suited to offer analyses of these works. The establishment of the performer as a bearer of central analytical knowledge functions in direct opposition to the traditional distinction between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’. My thesis will trace the Platonic origins of the philosophical separation of practice and research, and as an alternative to the traditional separation of practice and research, I shall explore the concept of Practice-Based Research (PBR). My exploration of PBR will be informed by phenomenological approaches to music scholarship. As a field of enquiry which concerns itself with experience, the phenomenology of music suggests that the mind and body of the practitioner are important sources of musical insight. To address this issue, Bourdieu’s notion of habitus will be explored. The habitus will be shown to contain a vast network of socio-cultural codes informing the practitioner’s relationship with the musical work. A central aim of this thesis is to explore the possibilities of using practice-based research as the foundation for the study and analysis of a composition, in order to allow for a deeper understanding of the work by means of the generation and harnessing of practical knowledge. Thus, the theoretical outline of PBR provided in this thesis will be applied to a piece of practical performance-based analysis. As such, an analysis of Mahler’s Quartetsatz will be used as the basis on which to draw knowledge in this project.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Composition portfolio
- Richard, Paul Christian Patrice
- Authors: Richard, Paul Christian Patrice
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Composition (Music) , Vocal music -- Scores
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2695 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017548
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Richard, Paul Christian Patrice
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Composition (Music) , Vocal music -- Scores
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2695 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017548
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Religious musical performance as an articulation of transformation : a study of how the Tsonga Presbyterians of the Presbyterian Church of Mozambique negotiate their indigenous Tsonga and Swiss reformed church heritages
- Authors: Germiquet, Nicole Madeleine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Igreja Presbiteriana de Moçambique , Sacred music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Presbyterian , Tsonga (African people) -- Mozambique -- Music , Ethnomusicology , Church music -- Cross-cultural studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2699 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020836
- Description: The Presbyterian Church of Mozambique (IPM) has its origins in the Swiss Mission and the European Reformed Church. An ethnomusicological study was conducted on the music of the IPM in order to uncover its musical influences. The musical influences were found to pertain to an indigenous Tsonga musical character, as well as to a Reformed Church musical tradition. By situating the discussion in this thesis within the perspective that music may reflect that which is not explicitly spoken about in words, the music of the IPM was shown to reflect the dual-heritage of the members of the IPM. Thus, this thesis attempts to answer the questions: how is the music of the IPM a reflection of the Tsonga Presbyterians’ dual-heritage?; and how do the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage? It was found that the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage by blending a Reformed Church performance style with a Tsonga one. For example, the music in the form of hymns and church songs, performed by church choirs, is shown to be didactic in nature where the lyrics are the most important aspect of the music. The didactic nature of the music is a principle of the Reformation carried forth in the music of the IPM. Although music serves to transmit the Christian message and is used as a means of praising the Christian God in the IPM, it also exists on the level in which the indigenous Tsonga heritage may be incorporated into the Christian lives of the members of the IPM without having an impact on the Reformed Church belief system. This is where the members have the freedom to blend their musical heritages. Music, in this instance, is shown to be a powerful tool by which the importance of an indigenous, and an appropriated, heritage may be garnered and observed.Looking to the historical aspects of the IPM, the music and language literacy education, provided by Swiss missionaries on the mission stations, was shown to have had an influence on Tsonga hymn composition. Along with the mobile phone, the observed decrease in music literacy at Antioka was situated within a discussion that looked at the influence of these aspects on the transmission, conservation and continuation of music in the IPM. Throughout the thesis, social transformation is referred to and the manner in which the music of the IPM is conserved or continued is an indication of how musical transformation may reflect social transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Germiquet, Nicole Madeleine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Igreja Presbiteriana de Moçambique , Sacred music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Presbyterian , Tsonga (African people) -- Mozambique -- Music , Ethnomusicology , Church music -- Cross-cultural studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2699 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020836
- Description: The Presbyterian Church of Mozambique (IPM) has its origins in the Swiss Mission and the European Reformed Church. An ethnomusicological study was conducted on the music of the IPM in order to uncover its musical influences. The musical influences were found to pertain to an indigenous Tsonga musical character, as well as to a Reformed Church musical tradition. By situating the discussion in this thesis within the perspective that music may reflect that which is not explicitly spoken about in words, the music of the IPM was shown to reflect the dual-heritage of the members of the IPM. Thus, this thesis attempts to answer the questions: how is the music of the IPM a reflection of the Tsonga Presbyterians’ dual-heritage?; and how do the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage? It was found that the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage by blending a Reformed Church performance style with a Tsonga one. For example, the music in the form of hymns and church songs, performed by church choirs, is shown to be didactic in nature where the lyrics are the most important aspect of the music. The didactic nature of the music is a principle of the Reformation carried forth in the music of the IPM. Although music serves to transmit the Christian message and is used as a means of praising the Christian God in the IPM, it also exists on the level in which the indigenous Tsonga heritage may be incorporated into the Christian lives of the members of the IPM without having an impact on the Reformed Church belief system. This is where the members have the freedom to blend their musical heritages. Music, in this instance, is shown to be a powerful tool by which the importance of an indigenous, and an appropriated, heritage may be garnered and observed.Looking to the historical aspects of the IPM, the music and language literacy education, provided by Swiss missionaries on the mission stations, was shown to have had an influence on Tsonga hymn composition. Along with the mobile phone, the observed decrease in music literacy at Antioka was situated within a discussion that looked at the influence of these aspects on the transmission, conservation and continuation of music in the IPM. Throughout the thesis, social transformation is referred to and the manner in which the music of the IPM is conserved or continued is an indication of how musical transformation may reflect social transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015