Herbert Howells’s “Two Afrikaans songs” (1929)
| dc.contributor.author | Van der Mescht, Heinrich | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-09-13T06:18:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-09-13T06:18:15Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2001 | |
| dc.description.abstract | English: The English composer Herbert Howells (1892-1983) did not understand the Afrikaans language, but he did hear it spoken when he travelled in South Africa in 1921. In his letters from South Africa he made very negative comments on the sound of the language. In this article his “Two Afrikaans Songs” of 1929 (Eensaamheid and Vryheidsgees, on texts by Jan F E Celliers) are analysed in order to determine whether his settings in a language foreign to him are convincing. It is concluded that the songs reveal remarkable sensitivity to the Afrikaans texts. Howells probably consulted the Afrikaans-speaking South African mezzo-soprano Betsy de la Porte, who was a student at the Royal College of Music in London where he was teaching. The “Two Afrikaans Songs” are a surprising, extraordinary and invaluable contribution to the Afrikaans song repertoire. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | Afrikaans: Die Engelse komponis Herbert Howells (1892-1983) het nie Afrikaans verstaan nie, maar gehoor hoe dit gepraat word tydens sy Suid-Afrikaanse reis in 1921. In die briewe wat hy uit Suid-Afrika geskryf het, het hy baie negatiewe kommentaar gelewer op die klank van die taal. In hierdie artikel word sy “Two Afrikaans Songs” uit 1929 (Eensaamheid en Vryheidsgees, op tekste van Jan F E Celliers) ontleed om vas te stel of Howells se toonsettings in ’n taal wat vir hom vreemd was, oortuigend gedoen is. Die gevolgtrekking is dat die liedere ’n merkwaardige gevoeligheid vir die Afrikaanse tekste openbaar. Howells is heelwaarskynlik deur die Afrikaanssprekende Suid-Afrikaanse mezzo-sopraan Betsy de la Porte gehelp. Sy het op daardie stadium aan die Royal College of Music in Londen gestudeer, waar Howells ’n dosent was. Howells se twee Afrikaanse liedere is ’n verrassende, merkwaardige en onskatbare bydrae tot die repertoire van Afrikaanse liedere. | af |
| dc.description.version | Publisher's version | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Van der Mescht, H. (2001). Herbert Howell's "Two Afrikaans songs" (1929). Acta Academica, 33(3), 231-251. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.issn | 0587-2405 (print) | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2415-0479 (online) | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/6873 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Eensaamheid | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Vryheidsgees | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Howells, Herbert | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Sound of the language | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Foreign language | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Afrikaans language | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | De la Porte, Betsy | en_ZA |
| dc.title | Herbert Howells’s “Two Afrikaans songs” (1929) | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Article | en_ZA |