An overview of the choral music of Hannes Taljaard

Abstract

Between 1993 and 2020 Hannes Taljaard’s contribution to new music composed is admirable in both quantity and quality. His choral music amounts to about an eighth of his total creative output as composer. None of these works are published though some have been performed by choirs and singing ensembles. Most of these are arrangements of folk melodies, and as with composers such as Bartok and Kodály, most of the arrangements have been reworked to such an extent that it could be referred to as studies on folk melodies. The composer feels that he could reach the audience through the arrangements of melodies which are known to them. Furthermore, he wanted to contribute to the choral repertoire in South Africa’s strong choral tradition. From a work list provided by the composer, the choral genre was not his first engineered establishment as composer. Not only did instrumental music preceded this vocal genre, but lieder for solo voice also laid the path for his exploration of choral compositions. Reference to conversations with the composer presents the background, composing techniques and history of the works, while analytical examples of the works itself highlights different examples of Taljaard’s techniques of creating music for singing ensemble.