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The establishment of a musical tradition : meaning, value and social process in the South African history of Handel's Messiah.
(2008) Cockburn, Christopher.; Ballantine, Christopher John.
Handel's Messiah occupies a unique position in the musical life of South Africa. No item from the canon of 'classical' European choral music has been performed more often, over a longer period of time, and in a wider range of social contexts. This thesis seeks to answer two broad and interrelated questions: what were the social processes which brought this situation about; and how were perceptions of Messiah's meaning affected by its performance in social contexts markedly different from those of its origins? I concentrate on the two South African choral traditions for which Messiah has been central- those of the 'English' and 'African' communities - and on the period from the first documented performance of any item from Messiah until the emergence of a pattern of annual performances, which I take as a significant indicator of the historical moment at which the music could be regarded as firmly established in its new context. The history of Messiah's performance and reception in South Africa is traced using previous research on South African musical history and my own archival research and interviews. Following the broad outline of 'depth hermeneutics' proposed by John Thompson, I regard performances of Messiah as symbolic forms in structured contexts, and I interpret them through an analysis of relevant aspects of Jennens's libretto and Handel's music, of the discourse that surrounded the performances (where examples of this have survived), and of the social contexts and processes in which the performances were embedded. In examining the interactions of these different aspects, I draw on a variety of theoretical and methodological strands within musicology, cultural studies, and South African historical research. The cultural value accorded to Messiah emerges as a central theme. As a form of symbolic capital highly valued by dominant groups (the 'establishment') in the relevant South African contexts, it became an indicator of 'legitimate' identity and therefore of status. For both the English settlers and the emerging African elite (the primary agents in the establishment of Messiah in South Africa), it could represent the cultures in relation to which they defined themselves, towards which they aspired and within which they sought recognition: respectively, those of the metropole and of 'Western Christian civilization'. In political terms, this had the potential both to reinforce existing patterns of domination and to challenge them. Examples are given of the ways in which, at different moments in its South African history, Messiah was mobilized to support or to subvert an established political order, as a result of the specific meanings that it was understood to convey.
The influences of Christianity and commerce on the culture of popular gospel music in post-apartheid South Africa.
(2017) Malembe, Sipho Sikhonzi.; Cockburn, Christopher.
Gospel music is the biggest genre of popular music in South Africa. This popularity can be attributed to various elements that are an integral part of the diverse South African democratic society. As a developing country with a relatively young democracy of just above twenty years, the socio-economic status of South Africa directly impacts upon various spheres of the lives of her citizens. The unique demographics of this country in terms of its history, population groups, languages, religions, socio-political landscape, also play a remarkable role in the evolution of various sub-cultures that represent various groups of South African people, and consequently the overall culture of this ‘rainbow nation’. This study researches into popular Gospel music within two aspects of this broader culture of the South African society, namely: the Christian religion and commerce. Christian churches and the music industry, although generally perceived as unrelated or even opposed in the nature of their operations, both have a stake in Gospel music. It is this intersection that is the subject matter and the research problem of this study which investigates the involvement and intentions of these institutions regarding popular Gospel music. By studying and analyzing various activities and programs of these institutions, the current study seeks to show how the teachings, doctrines and operations of Christianity on one side, and the pursuit of profit on the other, influence the ‘culture’ of popular Gospel music. The scope of these activities and programs goes far back to the preliminary stage of conceiving the very initial idea of getting involved with Gospel music, and culminates in the consumption of resultant music products. This study analyses these activities, and others in-between. For the music industry, these include talent scouting, management, composition, arranging, performance, production and recording, promotion and marketing of Gospel music products. For Christian churches, the involvement with popular Gospel music is both direct, in the usage of Gospel music and artists in Christian church services, and indirect in providing a support base from which music styles, songs and lyrical contents are drawn. Moreover, Christian churches harbor and indoctrinate Christians, who are seemingly primary consumers of Gospel music. This harboring and indoctrination foster a particular belief system which influences how Christians interact with, and make meaning of, popular Gospel music. All these activities and programs of Christian churches and the music industry regarding popular Gospel music are regarded in this study as constituents of the culture of popular Gospel music. This study therefore investigates how these activities and programs of Christian churches and the music industry influence the ‘culture’ of Gospel music as a genre. Although this study is located within the timeline of post-apartheid South Africa, it takes into consideration the aftermath of colonialism and apartheid, as socio-political occurrences which have had a lasting effect on popular culture.
Towards a personal interpretation of Beethoven’s piano sonata in E major OP.109.
Warburton, Andrew.; Cockburn, Christopher.
This study analyses some of the intersections between the activities of an instinctive performing artist with those of a traditional musicologist. This is in line with a growing worldwide trend which views the examination of the process of preparation leading towards a performance as a form of research. The first chapter of this study reviews some of the literature on the approach I have adopted in preparing a performance of one of the great piano sonatas from Beethoven’s late period of composition, the Sonata in E major, Op.109. This work forms the centrepiece of the final examination recital presented as part of the requirements for the PhD degree in performance. The performance itself will thus be the culmination of the investigations presented in this study. Each of the central chapters of this study contains an analysis of various aspects of form and style in the Sonata, but the main focus is an analysis of the recorded performances of the work by eight eminent pianists. The interpretive issues raised by the various analyses are discussed, and the conclusions distilled into a preferred personal interpretation.

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