Browsing by Author "Oosthuizen, Magdalena Johanna"

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    Arnold van Wyk as liedkomponis : ’n ontsluiting van die liedere in die Arnold van Wyk-versameling by die Universiteit Stellenbosch
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Oosthuizen, Magdalena Johanna; Ludemann, Winfried; Muller, S. J. V. Z.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Music.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study an investigation into Arnold van Wyk’s song oeuvre — including the published and unpublished (completed and incomplete) songs — is done on the basis of the available composition sketches in the Arnold van Wyk Collection at Stellenbosch University. Firstly, Van Wyk as composer of art song in South Africa was put in perspective against the broader cultural context, especially in relation to Afrikaans poets who were his contemporaries. An overall view is also provided of possible influences that other composers had on his work. This provides an holistic picture of Van Wyk as composer of the art song. In his Juvenilia a surprisingly large amount of his music language is present, though not yet mature. Four prominent periods characterise the discussion of Van Wyk’s song oeuvre. In addition to these periods the study provides a summary that clearly shows his development as an art song composer as well as the musical devices which, in the course of time, became characteristic as part of his style in song writing. Owing to the fact that the setting to music of each song’s vocal part is analysed in close relationship to the source text, the complete text have been provided, with Afrikaans verbatim translations for the Latin and Old Dutch poems. Even though the composer sometimes only sets a couple of stanzas of the text, the complete poem is provided to properly orientate the reader. This allows the complete picture of each song to be taken into account. The relationship between each text and its setting to music of the song’s vocal part is analysed. This also applies to the illustrative meaning of where in the vocal range each text lies (the range as well as tessiture of the vocal part) and the illustrative use of intervals and other melodic devices such as melismas, setting to rhythmic patterns, etc. The accompaniment is investigated, regarding the relationship to and illustrative of the text, complementary to and in support of the vocal part as well as to which extent it supports the song’s formal design. Only the most prominent characteristics of Van Wyk’s highly complex harmonic usage are pointed out. An important aspect of this study is the investigation from a vocal technical point of view into how Van Wyk merged the writing of a vocal melody with his knowledge of the human voice, for instance in Van liefde en verlatenheid as well as in the Petronius songs. Where available, the history of how a song evolved is recorded in great detail, to illustrate the inception of a specific musical idea as well as its development and finalisation, but moreover, to allow the sketches to reveal how tedious (and sometimes even laid-back) the composition process took place most of the time. Van Wyk’s method and tempo of composing can be clearly deduced from the compositional sketches. These conclusions are confirmed and illustrated by his fairly regular dating of his work, and by information such as an address and/or some diary information that he occasionally added. Particulars like these are often included in this study, to shed light on the compositional process as well as on the composer as a human being. To avoid scanning numerous examples of notes, the C1 tot c3 way of spelling the notes is used.