Die dilemma van die musiekwetenskaplike in die onderrigsituasie

The dilemma of the musicologist who is also a teacher. In this article a main educational objective, namely the interpretation of reality, forms the basis for discussing the dilemma of the musicologist who is also a teacher. Firstly, various facets of musical reality are discussed under the following headings: the meaning of reality for the musicologist, artistic representation of reality and an idealized musical reality. Secondly, the manner in which musical reality is interpreted is discussed. Thirdly, results of a fragmented musical reality are mentioned and finally, proposals aimed at solving the problem of the musicologist-teacher are put forward, arguing for a more objective view of reality as a whole, stressing the double responsibility of the musicologist-teacher to interpreting difficult texts and the necessity to re-evaluate traditional theories in the light of their didactic effectiveness

Stefans Grové’s Raka as a musical narrative

Stefans Grové se musiek word dikwels as ontoeganklik ervaar, omdat luisteraars op 'n "tradisionele" manier daarna luister. Die werk wat hier gebruik word om 'n alternatiewe manier van verstaan te bevorder, is sy Raka, 'n simfoniese toondig in die vorm van 'n konsert vir klavier en orkes (1996). Waar die komponis groot waarde heg aan programmatiese inhoud en homself as mededeler van verhale beskou, is die ondersoek na musikale narratief in hierdie toondig 'n logiese beginpunt. Die vraag is dus hoe abstrakte konsepte in N.P. Van Wyk Louw se grootse vers-epos, Raka, deur middel van musiek vergestalt kan word. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om aan te toon dat direkte belewing van die musiek self, dit wil sê voordat dit gereduseer word tot teoretiese konstrukte, 'n moontlikheid bied om toegang tot Grové se musiek te verleen. Aangesien kort melodiese motiewe 'n kenmerkende eienskap van sy musiek is, en aangesien die artistieke fatsoenering van melodiese motiewe (as verteenwoordigers van karakters in 'n verhaal) en die wyse waarop dit in die verloop van 'n werk ontplooi word, die narratief op 'n musikale wyse vergestalt, konsentreer die musikale ontleding op melodiese motiewe. Die ontleding van Grové se Raka lewer twee prominente, uiteenlopende motiewe op wat onderskeidelik met die protagonis en die antagonis geassosieer word. Verder toon die ontleding aan dat goed en kwaad nie noodwendig deur twee aparte gestaltes (Koki en Raka) verteenwoordig word nie, maar dat die verstrengeling van die twee motiewe ook daarop dui dat goed en kwaad onskeibaar in die menslike psige is. Waar die meeste van die interpretasies van Louw se Raka verwys na die verwoestende invloed van eksterne magte op die lotgevalle van 'n groep mense, konsentreer hierdie artikel op 'n interpretasie van Raka as die simboliese voorstelling van interne botsende magte in die psige van die mens.The celebrated South African composer Stefans Grové reached the remarkable age of 90 in 2012. As the first South African recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, he obtained a master's degree at Harvard University and lectured from 1956 to January 1972 at the Bard Liberal Arts College in New York state. In 1972 he returned to South Africa and was appointed as lecturer in the Department of Music at the University of Pretoria, where he later retired as Professor of Composition. Listeners often find it difficult to appreciate Stefans Grové's music because of the absence of conventional tonal melodies and harmonic progressions, as well as of traditional formal structures. The aim of this article is, accordingly, to show that direct experience of the music - without its being reduced to theoretical constructs - offers a possible solution to the problem of inaccessibility. Grové's Raka - A symphonic poem in the form of a concerto for piano and orchestra (1996) is used in the second, empirical part of the article to demonstrate the potential of melodic motifs to establish a musical narrative. As an introduction to Grové's Raka, the first part of the article deals with the historical background of N.P. Van Wyk Louw's lengthy epic poem on which the composition is based, a work that is often described as one of the greatest achievements in Afrikaans literature.http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news&cat=201&cause_id=1270am2013gm201

Het klassieke musiek 'n toekoms in Suid-Afrika?

No abstract available.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_woord.htmlgm201

Signification in atonal, amotivic music? Extending the properties of actoriality in Ligeti's second string quartet

In the absence of melodic and motivic structures, how does signification function in atonal music? By extending the properties of actoriality, this article focuses on the goal-directedness of kinetic energy as an independent property of actoriality. The demonstration focuses on various modalities of goal-directed kinetic energy in meaningful segments of György Ligeti’s second string quartet (1968) in order to promote an understanding of the overall design. Because time and space are integrated in the various modalities of atonal musical processes, a conceptual framework for making sense of signification in Ligeti’s string quartet as a whole becomes possible.http://go.galegroup.com/hb201

Introducing music students to harmony ‒ an alternative method

If teaching and learning harmony could rely less on prescriptive rules and more on the music that students themselves play, an alternative teaching method for harmony beginners may become possible. This approach yields a specific kind of knowledge, namely non-propositional knowledge or knowledge acquired by direct experience. After considering the function of thinking and doing in experiential learning, the article shows how the teaching of harmony in the twentieth century steadily moved away from the legacy of Rameau, the founder of harmony as a discipline in the eighteenth century. By using as point of departure melodic motifs in the piano music that students play, this article demonstrates the integration of horizontal and vertical musical features when introducing music students to the study of harmony. Furthermore, it shows how a linear approach could eventually lead through two-part counterpoint to the writing of four-part harmony, demonstrated at the end of the article. This proposed method provides a foundation for acquiring basic music-writing skills that are less concerned with music theory as a regulatory discipline and more with music as a creative art.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/redc202016-06-30hb201

Five new South African short operas : a report

The University of Cape Town commissioned five South African composers to write a 20-minute opera each in celebration of the centenary of the South African College of Music. The Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) funded the composition and production of the operas, presented collectively as Five:20 Operas Made in South Africa. The operas were presented by Cape Town Opera, the University of Cape Town Opera School and GIPCA from 21 to 27 November 2010 in the Baxter Theatre in Rondebosch under the auspices of the University of Cape Town.http://www.nisc.co.za/journals?id=12gm201

Thematic physiognomy creates access to three divergent 20th-century compositions

In the absence of traditional structural coherence, functional tonal harmony and traditional operatic heroes, how does one make sense of three divergent 20thcentury compositions in which, respectively, these qualities do not feature? The object of this article is to show that the immediacy of thematic physiognomy can provide a conceptual framework to help understand this music, which is often regarded as complex and inaccessible. Melodies normally speak directly to the listener because they seem to represent the face of the music. Depending on a person's frame of mind, a particular face may communicate various messages. Although a melodic construct as a static image may signify a specific mood (Affekt), its potential to generate meaning increases dramatically when the lines and contours change in the course of a work. In this article melodic structures are investigated in their original rhythmical state. The article has two main parts, the first dealing with thinking and the second with doing. Firstly, my point of departure is a historical perspective on melody as a field of knowledge, showing the traditional neglect of melody in the study of music theory. In 1989 Carl Dahlhaus regarded the study of melody as the poorest discipline of traditional music theory (1989:66). Nevertheless, Igor Stravinsky, one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century, states that "melody must keep its place at the summit of the hierarchy of elements that make up music. Melody is the most essential of these elements, not because it is immediately perceptible, but because it is the dominant voice of the symphony - not only in the specific sense, but also figuratively speaking" (1947:40).Hoe kan drie uiteenlopende 20ste-eeuse komposisies verstaan en waardeer word wanneer tradisionele strukturele samehang, funksionele tonale harmonie en tradisionele operahelde respektiewelik ontbreek? Die doel van hierdie artikel is om aan te toon dat die direkte belewing van tematiese fisionomie 'n konseptuele raamwerk kan verskaf wat 'n mens help om hierdie musiek, wat dikwels as kompleks en ontoeganklik beskou word, beter te verstaan. Om hierdie doel te bereik, word die gestalte en kontoere van melodiese strukture in hulle oorspronklike ritmiese gestaltes ondersoek. Die eerste gedeelte van die artikel is 'n historiese perspektief op die melodieleer wat die tradisionele verwaarlosing van melodie in die studie van musiekteorie, asook musikale poëtiek, retoriek en estetiese aangeleenthede, betrek. In die tweede gedeelte word aangetoon hoe die direkte belewing van tematiese fisionomie die verstaan van die individuele werk in die geheel kan bevorder. 'n Hermeneutiese benadering neem die veranderende tematiese fisionomie in die loop van drie werke as uitgangspunt. Die komposisies wat in die demonstrasie gebruik word, is Charles Ives se Concord Sonata vir klavier (die eerste maal gepubliseer in 1920), Henri Dutilleux se sonate vir hobo en klavier (1947), en Benjamin Britten se opera Billy Budd (1951). In hierdie artikel word aangetoon dat melodiese strukture 'n betekenisvolle rol kan speel in die rehabilitasie van 'n musiekestetika wat nie met eksklusiewe teoretiese kennis en klasvooroordele geassosieer word nie. Deur by buitemusikale aangeleenthede en idees aan te sluit, is hierdie benadering 'n antwoord, al is dit op klein skaal, op die kritiek teen die tradisionele estetika, naamlik dat dit geneig is om die sosiaal-gesitueerde aard van kuns te ignoreer.http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news&cat=201&cause_id=127

Saartjie

No abstract available.http://www.mitpressjournals.org/hb201

Op Soek na 'n Hermeneutiese Venster

In a search for meaning below the surface of the music, music-rhetorical figures in Brahms's Minnelied are used as a kind of 'hermeneutic window'. A dualistic approach is followed in the empirical phase of the search, namely the identification of static synchronic rhetorical figures on a micro-level and of a diachronic view of the dynamic transformation of rhetorical figures on a macro-level. The results of this strategy lead to the disclosure of ambiguous musical meaning in the Minnelied. The relationship between congeneric and extrageneric meaning is explored, with technical knowledge viewed as the embodiment of congeneric meaning and connections between music and linguistics drawn upon to determine extrageneric meaning. Because rhetoric and music both aim at effective communication as well as the shaping of content, rhetoric serves well as an aid to the disclosure of musical meaning. (SA J Musicology: 1999/2000 19/20: 71-83