- Title
- Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s compositional style and techniques: piano case study in Rituals for Forgotten Faces
- Creator
- Julies, Jason
- Subject
- Composers, Black -- South Africa
- Subject
- Hymns, Xhosa
- Date Issued
- 2021-04
- Date
- 2021-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/52897
- Identifier
- vital:44320
- Description
- Bongani Ndodana-Breen is a South African born Xhosa composer trained in Western Classical music and composition. His music is a reflection of his Xhosa heritage, and is internationally recognised. While there have been discussions of Ndodana-Breen’s individual works, the current available literature does not sufficiently investigate his compositional style. This treatise aims to address this. To determine Ndodana-Breen’s compositional style, the techniques and practices he uses in his works are investigated. This is achieved by deconstructing the compositional elements, and musical techniques and practices he employs in his compositions. They are then investigated through the use of thematic analysis and fragmentation, and are viewed through the lens of polystylism and postcolonialism. Ndodana-Breen’s composition Rituals for Forgotten Faces is used as a case study. The results of this investigation show that Ndodana-Breen, through the use of strong rhythms, light textures and simplicity in writing, creates a unique Africanness in his compositions. This Africanness overcomes the Eurocentric sound traditionally found in Western Classical composition. Furthermore, these findings suggest a hybridity of polystylistic elements found in Ndodana-Breen’s music, that could potentially be found in the works of other African musicians that are trained in Western Classical composition. On this basis, this study paves the way for further study of African composers and their works.
- Description
- Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- Format
- 1 online resource (v, 101 pages)
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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NMU School of Music, Art and Design
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Julies, J.pdf | 11 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |