South African organ music. In search of cultural identity by Gerrit Jordaan

Articles

Gerrit Jordaan South African organ music. In search of cultural identity
Het ORGEL 108 (2012), nr. 4, 26-37 [summary]

Organ Music from Africa has in general received little attention so far. South Africa has a considerable repertoire of organ Music for liturgical and concert use. New works are being composed constantly. In dit artikel worden opvattingen besproken over het het complexe thema van het zoeken naar culturele identiteit in het Zuid-Afrika van na de apartheid. Ook worden een aantal opvattingen over het belang en de mogelijke ‘verkoopbaarheid’ van dit repertoire besproken. Van zes recente orgelwerken van de Zuid-Afrikaanse componisten Temmingh, Volans, Coulter, Reddy en Ndodana en Grové worden textuur en structuur besproken. Daarmee wordt geprobeerd de uniciteit van het gehele Zuid-Afrikaanse orgelrepertoire te beschrijven.
(Engelse tekst: Organ music in Africa in general received little attention. South Africa has a notable repertoire of organ music for church and concert use. New works are also constantly added to this repertoire. In this article views on the complex issue of the search for cultural identity search in post-apartheid South Africa is examined. Some views on the interest and possible marketability of this repertoire are also expressed. Six recent organ works by South African composers Temmingh, Volans, Coulter, Reddy, Ndodana and Grové were selected and the texture and structure of these works are discussed in an attempt to discribe its uniqueness within the general organ repertoire.)

Gerrit Jordaan is Researcher at Noordwes Universiteit (NWU) in Potchefstroom (South-Africa)

John Reid Coulter

Surendan Reddy

Kevin Volans