Stefans Grové (23 July 1922 – 29 May 2014) was a South African composer. Before his death the following assessment was made of him: "He is regarded by many as Africa's greatest living composer, possesses one of the most distinctive compositional voices of our time".
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Early life

In Bethlehem, Orange Free State, where Grové was born, his mother worked as a music teacher and his father as a school principal. Grové's musical education began at school and his first compositional efforts date from that time. He eventually trained as a pianist and organist, with the guidance from his mother's brother, D.J. Roode. As a student he remained an avid reader of musical scores (often without the assistance of accompanying soundtracks) which not only informed his own development as a composer but may also have developed his talent for sight-reading at the piano.

Life and works

In 1942 Grové moved to

Klerksdorp Klerksdorp () is located in the North West Province, South Africa. Klerksdorp, the largest city in the North West Province, is located southeast of Mahikeng, the provincial capital. Klerksdorp was also the first capital of the then Transvaal Repu ...

where he worked as a teacher church organist for two years. Thereafter he relocated to study 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 ...

first with

William Henry Bell William Henry Bell, known largely by his initials, W H Bell (20 August 1873 – 13 April 1946), was an English composer, conductor and lecturer. Biography Bell was born in St Albans and was a chorister at St Albans Cathedral. He studied organ ...

and then with

Erik Chisholm Erik William Chisholm (4 January 1904 – 8 June 1965) was a Scottish composer, pianist, organist and conductor sometimes known as "Scotland's forgotten composer". According to his biographer, Chisholm "was the first composer to absorb Celtic ...

. Compositions from this time include a ballet suite for orchestra (1944), the ''String quartet in D major'' (1945), and a czardas for violin and piano (1946?). As the first South African recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, Grové had the opportunity of going to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

where he completed his master's degree. His teachers there included

Thurston Dart Robert Thurston ("Bob") Dart (3 September 1921 – 6 March 1971), was an English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player. Along with Nigel Fortune, Oliver Neighbour and Stanley Sadie he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post ...

and

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

. Works that Grové composed under their guidance won him the G. Arthur Knight Prize and the New York Bohemian Prize. These were awarded for the ''Pianoforte trio'' and the ''Sonata for pianoforte and cello'' respectively. Grové attended

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

's composition class at the

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

Summer School and studied the flute at the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New En ...

. After these studies, beginning in 1956, Grové taught at the

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

for two years, and then at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

for a further eight. While working at the Bard College, Grové also took up a post as choirmaster for the Franklin Street Presbyterian Church, where he pursued an interest in the performance of early music—most notably the cantatas of J.S. Bach. A similar venture was undertaken with a group that Grové founded in 1962, the Pro Musica Rara. While abroad, Grové evidently had a viable platform for the performance of his music. Thus, his ''Elegy for strings'' was performed in the Washington Gallery in 1952; the ''Three inventions'' for the piano was featured at the Salzburg

ISCM The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

Festival of 1953; the ''Sonata for flute and piano'' was played at

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

in 1954; the ''Harp quintet'' at Guildhall, London, in 1954; the ''Partita for orchestra'' in Brussels, in 1964; the ''First Symphony'' was led by Max Rudolph with the Cincinnati Orchestra in 1966; the ''Violin Concerto'' was performed that same year in Baltimore, Gabriel Banat being the soloist; and the ''Sinfonia concertante'' was recorded in 1973 by the Radio Orchestra of South-West Australia.

Afrocentrism

Grové returned to South Africa for a sabbatical in 1960 when he lectured at both the

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to c ...

as well as 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 ...

. He returned to South Africa permanently in 1972 and, the following year, was appointed as a lecturer at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

. Grové was one of the first white South African composers to incorporate elements of black African music into his own style, "venturing far beyond mere ''couleur locale'' to forge a unique creative synthesis of the indigenous and the "Western"." Grové's 'African' stylistic phase was result of a Damascus moment when he overheard a song sung by an African streetworker. The melody haunted him and inspired the ''Sonata on African Motives'' for violin and pianoforte (1984). Some other works composed in Grové's afrocentric style are: the ''Dance Rhapsody'' (1986), ''Liedere en danse van Afrika'' (1990), ''7 Boesman-liedere'' for soprano and string quartet (1990), ''Gesang van die Afrika-geeste'' (1993), ''Nonyana, the Ceremonial Dancer'' for piano (1994), ''Afrika Hymnus I'' for organ (1995), and ''Afrika Hymnus II'' for organ (1996). Remembering the African element in Grové's mature style, one can trace his development "from Debussy and Ravel through to Bartok and the neo-classicism of Hindemith, with passing passions for Messiaen and a more lasting fascination for Bach and early counterpoint". He undoubtedly had a better exposure to European and American avant-garde than his contemporaries and that difference can be noticed in the quality of his music. His work, ''Glimpses. Five Miniatures for Piano'' (2004) was performed at the

World Music Days in Hong Kong in November 2007. He died in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, aged 91.

Writing

Apart from his work as a composer, Grové was also a fine writer whose essays and short fiction has received praise from no less a figure than André P. Brink. He was also active as a music critic, most notably for the newspapers ''Rapport'' and ''Beeld''.

Legacy

He forms part of a triumvirate of white Afrikaans composers who are considered as "founding fathers of South African art music". The other two composers in this category are

Arnold van Wyk Arnoldus Christiaan Vlok van Wyk (26 April 1916 – 27 March 1983) was a South African art music composer, one of the first notable generation of such composers along with Hubert du Plessis and Stefans Grové. Despite the strict laws impose ...

and

Hubert du Plessis Hubert du Plessis OMSG (7 June 1922 – 12 March 2011) was a South African composer, pianist, and professor of music whose career spanned several decades. Along with Arnold van Wyk and Stefans Grové, du Plessis was one of the foremost South A ...

. Beyond that, and arguably more significantly, Grové has managed to shape a "hybrid style" for himself, beginning a new creative phase in a time when it must have amounted to a radical move on his part: he was a white composer—working in a country that was still functioning at the height of P.W. Botha's

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

administration—whose new style was rejecting any notions of ''apartheid'' (separateness) by fusing white South African (Western) and black South African (African) musical languages. Unlike van Wyk and du Plessis, he was "prepared to consider and eventually to develop consistently a ''rapprochement'' between his Western art and his physical, African space".

Works

Opera: Die bose wind (Stefans Grové), opera in three acts, 1983 Ballet: Ballet suite, 1944 Alice in Wonderland, based on Lewis Carroll, Baltimore 1960 Waratha, 1977 Pinocchio, ballet for children, 3 acts, 1988 Incidental Music: Uit die dagboek van ’n soldaat (N.P. van Wyk Louw), 1963 Orchestral works: Elegy, for string orchestra, 1948 Overture, 1953 Konsertante simfonie, for chamber orchestra, 1955 Symphony 1962 Partita, 1962 Kettingrye (Chain Rows), 1978 Vladimir’s Round Table. Study in the Russian Style, 1982 Statement for future elaboration, 1983 Dance Rhapsody: Cosmopolitan City, 1985 Concertato Overture: Five Salutations on Two Zulu Themes, 1986 Overture Itubi – a Festive Dance, 1992 Invocation from the Hills and Dances in the Plains, 1994 Figures in the Mist (2012) Concertos: Simfonia concertante, 1955 Concerto for violin and orchestra, 1959 Daarstelling, for flute, harpsichord and strings, 1972 Concerto Grosso, for violin, cello, piano and string orchestra, 1974 Maya, concerto grosso for violin, piano and string orchestra, 1978 Suite Concertato. Homage to Bach, Handel and Scarlatti, for harpsichord and string orchestra, 1985 Raka: Symphonic Poem in the Form of a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, after N. P. van Wyk Louw’s Raka, 1995-6 Concertino for piano, trumpet, marimba, flute and strings, 2003 Brass or Wind Ensemble: Tower Music for brass ensemble, 1954 Suite Juventuti, for winds and percussion, 1986 Chamber Music: String Quartet in D Major, 1946 Czardas, for violin and piano, 1945 String Trio, 1947 Sonata for clarinet and piano, 1949 Duo for violin and cello, 1950 Duo for viola and cello, 1950 (arr. of the Duo for violin and cello) Trio, for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, 1951 Trio for violin, cello and piano, 1951 Serenade, for flute, oboe, viola, clarinet and harp, 1952 Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, 1952 Sonata for cello and piano, 1953 Quintet for harp and string quartet, 1954 Divertimento, for recorder trio, 1953 Sonatina for two recorders, 1955 Metamorfose. Humoristiese variasies op ‘Baba Black Sheep’, for recorder trio, 1955 Sonata for flute and piano, 1955 String quartet, 1955 Divertimento, for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon, 1955 Two Movements for string quartet, 1958 Sonatine, for recorders, 1960 Three pieces for harp, 1974 The night of 3 April, for flute and harpsichord, 1975 Portret van ’n meisie, for clarinet and guitar, 1975 For a winter’s day, phantasy for bassoon and piano, 1977 Scaramouche, for bassoon solo, 1978 Tribal Dance, for bassoon and piano, 1981 Conversation for three, for oboe/cor anglais, clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, 1978 Cyclops, for double bass and piano, 1980 Symphonia quattuor cordis, for violin solo, 1981 Herderslied, for oboe and piano, 1981 Aubade, for trumpet and piano, 1981 Koraal, for flute and piano, 1981 Chloe, for oboe and piano, 1981 Fanfare, for trumpet and piano, 1981 Bose kabouter, for clarinet and piano, 1981 Mirror on the Wall, for clarinet and piano, 1981 Swaaiende takke, for flute and piano, 1981 Hartseerlied, for clarinet and piano, 1981 Kronkelsleepsels in die sand, for clarinet and piano, 1981 Akwarel tweekeer besigtig, for double bass and piano, 1983 Concerto senza orchestra, for six cellos, 1984 Gesprek vir drie, for oboe/cor anglais, clarinet/bass clarinet and percussion (Orff instruments, glock, 3 bongos, cassa roulante), undated Quintet for harp, flute, clarinet, violin and viola, 1986 Sextet for Cellos, 1986 Sonata on African Motives, for violin and piano, 1984 Pan and the Nightingale, for flute solo, 198? City Serenade, for flute, clarinet, viola, cello and harp, 1985 Trio, for violin, horn and piano, 1988 Jeux de timbres, for harp, celeste and percussion (timpani, claves, gong, crotales, tamt, marimba), 1992 String Quartet: Song of the African Spirits, 1993 Sonata for Viola and Piano, 1994 Soul Bird, for flute, cello and piano, 1998 Portrait of a Clarinet Dancer, for clarinet solo, 1999 Organ Works: Ritual, a fantasy for organ with four manuals, 1969 Chorale Prelude on Psalm 42, 1974 Rhapsodic Toccata, 1974 Afrika Hymnus I, 1991-3 Afrika Hymnus II, 1997 'Piano Music:' Four Piano Pieces, 1945 Six mood pictures, pre-1947 Three Inventions, 1951 Three piano pieces, 1965 Toccata and Rhapsody, 1965 An experience in musical styles, for piano / harpsichord, ca 1970 Four piano pieces, 1975 Seven graded piano pieces for the youth, 1975 Sad Song Cock Fighting Night Music from a Far-Eastern Country, 1981 Bondige tokkate, 1981 Die klokke, for piano duet, 1981 Windklokkies in die nag, for piano duet, 1984 Wals van die Olifantjie, for piano duet, 1981 Songs and Dances of Africa, 1991-2 Blue Dream Valley, 1992 Jewish Folksongs, 1993 Nonyana, the Ceremonial Dancer, 1994 Images from Africa, 1998-9 Masks for two pianos, 1999 'Cadenzas:' Cadenzas for Mozart’s Piano Concerto in E Flat, K 482 'Choral Works:' 2 Carols from Musica Britannica, 1974 Kaapse draaie (D. J. Opperman), for choir (SATB), guitar, piano, marimba, flute, clarinet and xylophone, 1974 Garden (Louis Eksteen), for female chorus (SSA), flute and viola, 1974 Landloper (Louis Eksteen), for female chorus (SSA), 1975 Lied van die Transvaal (F. J. Pretorius), for double choir (SATB), pianoforte duet, two trumpets and three timpani, 1975 Symphony, for three-part choir and orchestra, 1975 (unfinished) Music for Easter, for Choir, organ, flute, strings and Orff instruments, 1977 Advent Music for choir, recorder and Orff instruments, 1977 Gesange 133 & 135, by H.L. Hassler, arr. Stefans Grové, 1983 Himmelskönig sei willkommen, for chorus (SATB), 2 trumpets and organ, 1982 Omnis caterva fidelium, for children’s chorus (SSA) and piano, 1985 Concerto burlesco: Gaudeamus igitur: Grepe uit die lewe van ’n eerstejaar (Stefans Grové), for narrator, chorus (SATB) and orchestra, 1992 Psalm 150 in Southern Sotho, for double choir (SATB / SATB), strings and percussion, 1996 Psalm 138, for children’s chorus (SA), chorus (SATB), African drums (two players), marimba and string orchestra, 2002 Solo Vocal Music: Drie liedere, before 1945: 1. Dis al, (J. F. E. Celliers); 2. Berusting (Toon van den Heever); 3. Weeklag (Anon.) Cantata profana (Stefans Grové), for two voices, flute, oboe, harpsichord and cello, 1959 Psalm 74, for mezzo-soprano, flute and harp, 1974 Three Japanese Songs, for mezzo-soprano and guitar, 1974 Five songs (Anon.: Old Chinese poems), for mezzo-soprano and guitar, 1975 Psalm 54, for mezzo-soprano, flute and harp, 1974 Light over Judea (Louis Eksteen), for mezzo-soprano and a melody instrument, 1975 Fulgebunt justi, for mezzo-soprano, alto flute and guitar, 1975 Vyf liedere op tekste van Ingrid Jonker, for soprano and piano, 1981 Bid (Petra Muller), for soprano and piano, 1988 Halfpad (Petra Muller), for soprano and piano, 1988 Daar waar jy woon (Petra Muller), for soprano and piano, 1988 7 Boesman-liedere, for soprano, string quartet and piano, 1990 Zulu Horizons (Benedict Vilakazi), four songs for voice and orchestra, 1992

References

External links

Documentation Centre for Music (DOMUS)

Stellenbosch University Digital Collections (SUNDigital)