The experts I spoke to make clear that there is a small minority who try to enforce the term South African Art Music i.e. “cultural gatekeepers”. It seems that this term is being forced upon South African composers and musicians to some extent. Most identify with the term, but in the sense that they were born in the country and are South African, not by particular musical characteristics. I first encountered this term in my undergraduate studies and later in my postgraduate studies. From my own experience, I think the term “South African Art music” is valid as a descriptor of the work of composers of South African descent or operating in the country, but I also think it is an imposed agenda of South Africa’s academia.
"What's a musicologist? I'll tell you. Our cook, Pasha, prepared the scrambled eggs for us and we are eating them. Now imagine a person who did not cook the eggs and does not eat them, but talks about them: that is a musicologist." - Dmitri Shostakovich (Fanning, D. 1995)
I had a conversation with a South African composer who said the following:
“That's really good because academics, as we know, are very sheltered and very enclosed in, in that tiny little academic world that they think is the universe and really, it's not.” (Anonymous, 2024)
I think the way South African academia looks at the term is too literal and I don't think their ideas coincide with that of the composers who are creating this music. Nor the musicians interpreting this music. I hope through more artistic experimentation and research, a more inclusive definition of the term can come into being. There is not enough experimentation. Experimentation leads to growth. I hope that in the future there is more research that investigates this genre from the perspective of collaborative relationships.
From this research, I have gained valuable insights into the collaborative and artistic process between composer and performer. This has allowed me to explore first-hand the process of working with South African composers, the learning and workshopping of the compositions as well as the final performance. This project showed me the value and importance of collaborating and receiving feedback from composers as seen in the final artistic results. The results clearly showed the benefits of receiving feedback as well as an example of how no collaboration can lead to misinterpretation and difficulties in the interpretation and execution of the final performance as was the case with Phambili: ingoma ya ngomso by Karl Lobi. I also realised the power of working with the composer in the rehearsals showed in the performances in general. The pieces that were made with an extensive level of collaboration as well as workshopped with the composer were the most successful at the final performance. Through working with SA composers, I was able to understand the artistic and thematic processes, and nuances in style which gave me an insider-perspective into the creation of SA art music (as suggested by Stacey 2024).
My findings in the case studies showed that three out of four composers agreed that their music was an example of South African art music. Their arguments overlapped, stating that their geography and citizenship were what made their work South African Art Music. A common theme was found in all four collaborations: rhythm. Each of the works utilised rhythm in such a way that it formed the basis of the work.
Limitations of the research
A limitation of this research was that all of these collaborations were done online across borders. I think the process would have been more in-depth (and easier), if we were in the same country - or even city. Setting up meetings, Wi-Fi issues and load-shedding made this difficult to coordinate. If I could have worked with Seung-Ree in the initial stages of collaboration with the composers, I think that this would have also been very beneficial to the process and created more clarity for the composers who could hear the full realisation of their work and not just the saxophone part.
The time we had to prepare for the concert was very limited. More time would have allowed for better preparation as well as more confidence in the performance of the works.
Funding posed a huge issue for this project. I would have liked to commission more works, but unfortunately, this was not possible owing to financial strain. As Stacey (2024) stated:
“If composing is financially and professionally hard in other countries, it is particularly difficult to sustain in SA [South Africa].
Future considerations
We were not able to get completely accurate recordings of the final performance, therefore I am planning to record an album that features South African saxophone compositions in the future. These works will be recorded for this endeavour.
The South African Saxophone Catalogue can be further expanded to include other African countries. There can potentially be a project to record more of the works in the catalogue and do more research on these existing works.
Researching more performer-composer collaborations between South African composers and saxophonists could be greatly beneficial in unearthing more about South African Art music and the untapped potential of much of the undiscovered repertoire I catalogued, to further investigate the sound worlds in South African Art Music through collaborative practice.
The collaborations in this project were on a short-term basis, researching long-term collaborations could create new scope and scale for this type of research.
To end my exposition, I will leave the reader with several questions (instead of answers) that were proposed to me by Dr Kevin Volans. I have not yet been able to answer them myself, but I know they will haunt me for a long time: [In response to my question: Do you consider South African Art Music to have any distinguishing characteristics?]
“Does such a school really exist? How do you define this? Who is included and who is excluded? Does 'South African' refer to nationality, ethnicity or residency or something else – like 'roots'? [e.g. would you include myself – an Irishman for most of my life?]. Where does 'Art Music' begin and end? [What is your definition of Art Music – does this include Princess Magogo kaDinizulu? Would this include semi-improvised music? Would this include composed jazz – like the large works of Mingus, say?] If there is a claim that this school exists, and you can define it: Who benefits from calling themselves part of this school? Is this a label favoured by white composers?] Do all composers from the country consider themselves part of this 'school'? Or are there 'drop-outs'? How do they benefit? Why do they use this label? What relevance does such a label have in the world today?”
- Dr Kevin Volans (2024)
To be answered in another research exposition in the future, perhaps...
In this concluding section, I will revisit the research question: Using collaborative practice and the saxophone as a medium, how can one explore “South African Art Music”? I will begin by giving a small overview of what was discovered and discussed in this research as well as ending this with a final reflection. Overall, I decided to explore South African Art Music in three ways: 1) Through existing literature 2) through the testimony of South African composers 3) from my own reflections when engaging in performer-composer collaboration with South African composers. Existing literature made me realise the dearth in research conducted on exploring South African Art Music from the performer’s perspective as well as artistic research in the genre.
From the testimony collected from in this research, I discovered that South African Art music is a complicated term, one that many composers are sceptical of (or sometimes disavow). Several overlapping themes were uncovered in these conversations: nationalism, eurocentrism, implications of apartheid, diversity, “cultural gatekeepers” and the idea that the term is a dangerous one. From this testimony, I created a summary discussing the parameters of what dictates the term South African Art Music:
South African Art Music is considered to be dangerous as it restricts the creativity of the composer, forces the music into boundaries, and creates exclusion as well as supporting nationalistic tendencies. Diversity is a unique and special trait of this music, but it also creates complications that parallel the sheer diversity of South Africa’s culture. This makes it almost impossible to define this music in any singular way.
