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:
- 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:
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:
- 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:
An analysis of oral literary music texts in isiXhosa
- Authors: Mpola, Mavis Noluthando
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Xhosa (African people) -- Music -- History , Xhosa (African people) -- Folklore , Composers, Black -- South Africa , Hymns, Xhosa , Folk literature, Xhosa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3632 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012909
- Description: This study examines the relationship between composed songs in isiXhosa and the field of oral literature. In traditional Xhosa cultural settings, poetry and music are forms of communal activity enjoyed by that society. Music and poetry perform a special social role in African society in general, providing a critique of socio-economic and political issues. The research analyses the relationship that exists between traditional poetry, izibongo, and composed songs. It demonstrates that in the same way that izibongo can be analysed in order to appreciate the aesthetic value of an oral literary form, the same can be said of composed isiXhosa music. The art of transmitting oral literature is performance. The traditional izibongo are recited before audiences in the same way. Songs (iingoma) stories (amabali) and traditional poetry (izibongo) all comprise oral literature that is transmitted by word of mouth. Opland (1992: 17) says about this type of literature: “Living as it does in the performance is usually appreciated by crowds of people as sounds uttered by the performer who is present before his/her audience.” Opland (ibid 125) again gives an account of who is both reciter of poems and singer of songs. He gives Mthamo’s testimony thus: “He is a singer… with a reputation of being a poet as well.” The musical texts that will be analysed in this thesis will range from those produced as early as 1917, when Benjamin Tyamzashe wrote his first song, Isithandwa sam (My beloved), up to those produced in 1990 when Makhaya Mjana was commissioned by Lovedale on its 150th anniversary to write Qingqa Lovedale (Stand up Lovedale). The song texts total fifty, by twenty-one composers. The texts will be analysed according to different themes, ranging from themes that are metaphoric, themes about events, themes that depict the culture of the amaXhosa, themes with a message of protest, themes demonstrating the relationship between religion and nature, themes that call for unity among the amaXhosa, and themes that depict the personal circumstances of composers and lullabies. The number of texts from each category will vary depending on the composers’ socio-cultural background when they composed the songs. Comparison will be made with some izibongo to show that composers and writers of izibongo are similar artists and, in the words of Mtuze in Izibongo Zomthonyama (1993) “bathwase ngethongo elinye” (They are spiritually gifted in the same way).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mpola, Mavis Noluthando
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Xhosa (African people) -- Music -- History , Xhosa (African people) -- Folklore , Composers, Black -- South Africa , Hymns, Xhosa , Folk literature, Xhosa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3632 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012909
- Description: This study examines the relationship between composed songs in isiXhosa and the field of oral literature. In traditional Xhosa cultural settings, poetry and music are forms of communal activity enjoyed by that society. Music and poetry perform a special social role in African society in general, providing a critique of socio-economic and political issues. The research analyses the relationship that exists between traditional poetry, izibongo, and composed songs. It demonstrates that in the same way that izibongo can be analysed in order to appreciate the aesthetic value of an oral literary form, the same can be said of composed isiXhosa music. The art of transmitting oral literature is performance. The traditional izibongo are recited before audiences in the same way. Songs (iingoma) stories (amabali) and traditional poetry (izibongo) all comprise oral literature that is transmitted by word of mouth. Opland (1992: 17) says about this type of literature: “Living as it does in the performance is usually appreciated by crowds of people as sounds uttered by the performer who is present before his/her audience.” Opland (ibid 125) again gives an account of who is both reciter of poems and singer of songs. He gives Mthamo’s testimony thus: “He is a singer… with a reputation of being a poet as well.” The musical texts that will be analysed in this thesis will range from those produced as early as 1917, when Benjamin Tyamzashe wrote his first song, Isithandwa sam (My beloved), up to those produced in 1990 when Makhaya Mjana was commissioned by Lovedale on its 150th anniversary to write Qingqa Lovedale (Stand up Lovedale). The song texts total fifty, by twenty-one composers. The texts will be analysed according to different themes, ranging from themes that are metaphoric, themes about events, themes that depict the culture of the amaXhosa, themes with a message of protest, themes demonstrating the relationship between religion and nature, themes that call for unity among the amaXhosa, and themes that depict the personal circumstances of composers and lullabies. The number of texts from each category will vary depending on the composers’ socio-cultural background when they composed the songs. Comparison will be made with some izibongo to show that composers and writers of izibongo are similar artists and, in the words of Mtuze in Izibongo Zomthonyama (1993) “bathwase ngethongo elinye” (They are spiritually gifted in the same way).
- Full Text:
Techniques of Xhosa music: a study based on the music of the Lumko district
- Authors: Dargie, David John
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Lumko district , Eastern Cape (South Africa) , Xhosa music , Musicology , AbaThembu , Ntsikana , Songs , Musical bows , Overtone singing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2630 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001975
- Description: Part 1.Thesis: Chapter 1: The people of the Lumko district (the villages of Ngqoko and Sikhwankqeni) are AbaThembu, mostly of the Gcina clan cluster. Their history has caused them to be linked with (now vanished) San peoples in special ways, which have undoubtedly influenced their music. Chapter 2: The music of these people is centred around their religious and social life. This affects the way they classify their songs; and song classifications (and the way songs are used) affect their performance, in particular, the dance styles associated with the song classes. Chapter 3: A variety of musical instruments is used in the Lumko district, the most important being the musical bows. Once again, the use of these bows gives an insight into the musical influences that have affected the people historically. The ways the bows work are described, as well as ways to play them. Chapter 4: Overtone singing, not previously documented anywhere in traditional African music, is practised in certain ways by these AmaGcina. These, and other vocal techniques, are described. Chapter 5: From the terminology and the methods of conceptualisation about music in the Lumko district, it is possible to gain an insight into a truly Xhosa technical understanding of Xhosa music. Once again a historical insight is gained, because so many of the important terms are KhoiSan words. Chapter 6: A Western technological (i. e. musicological) understanding of the music is also necessary in a study of this nature. This chapter applies musicological concepts to an examination of the relationship between speech and song, of the usages in melody and scale, harmony theory, rhythm, polyphony, song form, instrumental roles and methods of performance. Chapter 7: This is the conclusion of the thesis. It sums up what has been studied: musical techniques, principles, the importance of Ntsikana 's song as a basis for musical comparisons, and the import of the historical aspects of the study - a possible glimpse of the music of the San. PART 2. MUSIC TRANSCRIPTIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS. The transcriptions of 62 songs provide the material for this study. The songs were chosen to represent all the major song classes used in the Lumko district, and to represent all the important music techniques as well. The songs are in fifteen categories. Each song is accompanied by its technical details, and sufficient commentary to make the song transcription intelligible and meaningful. Certain key songs are chosen as type-songs or other special examples, and are used as the bases for discussion on song style characteristics, principles of performance, bow adaptation, and so on. A general Introduction to Part 2 describes and accounts for the method of transcription, and also attempts to make it possible for the score reader not only to analyse, but also to perform the songs. In a further attempt to bring the transcriptions to life, a video recording of certain key songs and techniques, and audio tapes with examples taken from all the songs, accompany this study
- Full Text:
- Authors: Dargie, David John
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Lumko district , Eastern Cape (South Africa) , Xhosa music , Musicology , AbaThembu , Ntsikana , Songs , Musical bows , Overtone singing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2630 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001975
- Description: Part 1.Thesis: Chapter 1: The people of the Lumko district (the villages of Ngqoko and Sikhwankqeni) are AbaThembu, mostly of the Gcina clan cluster. Their history has caused them to be linked with (now vanished) San peoples in special ways, which have undoubtedly influenced their music. Chapter 2: The music of these people is centred around their religious and social life. This affects the way they classify their songs; and song classifications (and the way songs are used) affect their performance, in particular, the dance styles associated with the song classes. Chapter 3: A variety of musical instruments is used in the Lumko district, the most important being the musical bows. Once again, the use of these bows gives an insight into the musical influences that have affected the people historically. The ways the bows work are described, as well as ways to play them. Chapter 4: Overtone singing, not previously documented anywhere in traditional African music, is practised in certain ways by these AmaGcina. These, and other vocal techniques, are described. Chapter 5: From the terminology and the methods of conceptualisation about music in the Lumko district, it is possible to gain an insight into a truly Xhosa technical understanding of Xhosa music. Once again a historical insight is gained, because so many of the important terms are KhoiSan words. Chapter 6: A Western technological (i. e. musicological) understanding of the music is also necessary in a study of this nature. This chapter applies musicological concepts to an examination of the relationship between speech and song, of the usages in melody and scale, harmony theory, rhythm, polyphony, song form, instrumental roles and methods of performance. Chapter 7: This is the conclusion of the thesis. It sums up what has been studied: musical techniques, principles, the importance of Ntsikana 's song as a basis for musical comparisons, and the import of the historical aspects of the study - a possible glimpse of the music of the San. PART 2. MUSIC TRANSCRIPTIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS. The transcriptions of 62 songs provide the material for this study. The songs were chosen to represent all the major song classes used in the Lumko district, and to represent all the important music techniques as well. The songs are in fifteen categories. Each song is accompanied by its technical details, and sufficient commentary to make the song transcription intelligible and meaningful. Certain key songs are chosen as type-songs or other special examples, and are used as the bases for discussion on song style characteristics, principles of performance, bow adaptation, and so on. A general Introduction to Part 2 describes and accounts for the method of transcription, and also attempts to make it possible for the score reader not only to analyse, but also to perform the songs. In a further attempt to bring the transcriptions to life, a video recording of certain key songs and techniques, and audio tapes with examples taken from all the songs, accompany this study
- Full Text:
The life and work of Benjamin Tyamzashe: a contemporary Xhosa composer
- Authors: Hansen, Deirdre Doris
- Date: 1968
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Hymns, Xhosa , Tyamzashe, Benjamin John Peter (1890-1978) , Composers, Black -- South Africa
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Book
- Identifier: vital:550 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020214
- Description: The present paper is a digest of the thesis submitted under the same title, by Miss Deirdre Hansen for the Degree of Master of Music of Rhodes University in 1968. This work includes a large number of musical illustrations, which illuminate in detail many aspects of the works of Benjamin Tyamzashe. The section containing these has been reduced to its essentials, but what is here given should enable the reader to understand the manner in which Tyamzashe's ability as a composer has developed, and to give him his rightful place among his contemporaries. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
- Full Text:
- Authors: Hansen, Deirdre Doris
- Date: 1968
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Hymns, Xhosa , Tyamzashe, Benjamin John Peter (1890-1978) , Composers, Black -- South Africa
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Book
- Identifier: vital:550 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020214
- Description: The present paper is a digest of the thesis submitted under the same title, by Miss Deirdre Hansen for the Degree of Master of Music of Rhodes University in 1968. This work includes a large number of musical illustrations, which illuminate in detail many aspects of the works of Benjamin Tyamzashe. The section containing these has been reduced to its essentials, but what is here given should enable the reader to understand the manner in which Tyamzashe's ability as a composer has developed, and to give him his rightful place among his contemporaries. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
- Full Text:
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