Peter James Leonard Klatzow (14 July 1945 – 29 December 2021) was a South African composer and pianist. He was the director of the College of Music and was an emeritus professor in composition at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

Life and career

Klatzow's earliest musical training (at about age five years) was at the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convent of Saint Imelda in

Brakpan Brakpan is a mining town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. History The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water and was probably referred to as the "brakpan," and it was nea ...

. After completing his schooling at St. Martin's School, Rosettenville,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

he briefly taught music and

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

at the

Waterford Kamhlaba Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa (WKUWCSA), one of 18 international schools and colleges in the UWC educational movement, is located in Mbabane, Eswatini.. Waterford was the first school in southern Africa open to ch ...

School in Swaziland. Klatzow moved to London in 1964 to study for a year at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

after being awarded a composition scholarship from the South African Music Rights Organisation composition scholarship which allowed him to go to the (RCM) in London to study. His professors included

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about m ...

(orchestration),

Kathleen Long Kathleen (Ida) Long CBE (7 July 189620 March 1968) was an English pianist and teacher. Life and career Long was born in Brentford, a suburb of London in the UK. McVeagh, Diana"Long, Kathleen"''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed ...

(piano), and

Bernard Stevens Bernard (George) Stevens (2 March 1916 – 6 January 1983) was a British composer. Life Born in London, Stevens studied English and Music at St John's College, Cambridge with E. J. Dent and Cyril Rootham, then at the Royal College of Music ...

(composition). He won several prizes for composition while at the school. He later studied in Italy and then with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

in Paris. He returned to South Africa in 1966, where he worked for the

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

as a music producer. In 1973 he was appointed to the

South African College of Music The South African College of Music, abbreviated as SACM, is a department of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town. It is located on the University's Lower Campus in Rondebosch, Cape Town. Study opportunities The South African ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

where he later became professor in composition and director. Klatzow died in Cape Town on 29 December 2021, at the age of 76.

Works

Klatzow has composed choral works, including liturgical pieces, orchestral works, and ballet music.

Music

* ''Still-life with Moonbeams'' (1974) Symphonic Poem * ''Dances of Earth and Fire'': Marimba Solo (1988) * ''Chamber concerto for 7'' (1979) * ''Inyanga'': marimba solo (2007) * ''Hamlet: The Ballet'' (1991) * ''Ach, Bach: for Organ'' (1987) * ''Six Concert Etudes for Marimba'' * ''Music for 3 Paintings by Irma Stern'' * ''Mass'' * ''Two Songs from the /Xam'' * ''Sonata for cello and piano'' * ''Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis''

Recordings

* '' Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints'', Op. 211 (1990) (

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...

, Peter Klatzow, Frank Nuyts) * ''A Programme of Piano Music from South Africa'' (Arnold Van Wyk, Peter Klatzow, Roelof Temmingh, David Kosviner, Jill Richards) * ''Towards the light'' – a selection of choral works recorded in Oxford by the Commotio choir, under the direction of Matthew Berry.

Books

Awards

* Joint winner of the 1977 International Composers' Competition * Twice winner of the Helgard Steyn award: in 1994 for ''From the Poets'' and again in 2014 for ''Lightscapes'' * Doctor of Music awarded by

UCT The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university stat ...

in 1999 *Huberte Rupert Music Prize by the

Academy of Science of South Africa The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is the national science academy in South Africa. It was started in 1996, and encompasses all fields of scientific work. Its legal foundation is the ''Academy of Science of South Africa Act'', Act 67 ...

for his lifetime work in 2011

References

Citations

Sources

* * *

External links

* *
"Makoemazaan" for piano solo
performed by

Gintaras Januševičius Gintaras Januševičius (born 16 January 1985) is a Lithuanian pianist, music educator, event producer, radio presenter, and philanthropist. He is renowned for narrative recitals and original interpretations; particularly that of Rachmaninoff, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klatzow, Peter 1945 births 2021 deaths Afrikaner people South African composers South African male composers 20th-century composers 20th-century South African musicians 20th-century male musicians 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century composers 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century South African musicians 21st-century male musicians People from Springs, Gauteng Alumni of the Royal College of Music Recipients of the Molteno medal