The examiner and the evangelist: authorities of music and empire, c.1894
The examiner and the evangelist: authorities of music and empire, c.1894
In the 1890s, two musicians travelled between Britain and South Africa. One was the first examiner to travel abroad to examine for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Franklin Taylor. At the same time as Taylor’s arrival in the Cape in 1894, a black South African composer, John Knox Bokwe, prepared to republish a tonic sol-fa hymnal containing many hymns that eventually became popular in Britain, to which Bokwe travelled multiple times. Although these narratives might appear to reflect highly divergent contexts for musical experience, the fluctuating constructions of imperial authority encountered in the careers of both these men link their stories together more deeply than their geographical and cultural disparities set them apart. The synchronous presentation of their stories in this article thus raises questions of how music emerged as a metaphor for constructions of imperial knowledge across shifting cultural boundaries.
317-350
Johnson-Williams, Erin
96cfc0a3-3282-4311-b72b-44018dc13400
Johnson-Williams, Erin
96cfc0a3-3282-4311-b72b-44018dc13400
Johnson-Williams, Erin
(2020)
The examiner and the evangelist: authorities of music and empire, c.1894.
Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 145 (2), .
(doi:10.1017/rma.2020.16).
Abstract
In the 1890s, two musicians travelled between Britain and South Africa. One was the first examiner to travel abroad to examine for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Franklin Taylor. At the same time as Taylor’s arrival in the Cape in 1894, a black South African composer, John Knox Bokwe, prepared to republish a tonic sol-fa hymnal containing many hymns that eventually became popular in Britain, to which Bokwe travelled multiple times. Although these narratives might appear to reflect highly divergent contexts for musical experience, the fluctuating constructions of imperial authority encountered in the careers of both these men link their stories together more deeply than their geographical and cultural disparities set them apart. The synchronous presentation of their stories in this article thus raises questions of how music emerged as a metaphor for constructions of imperial knowledge across shifting cultural boundaries.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 13 November 2020
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Local EPrints ID: 478650
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/478650
ISSN: 1471-6933
PURE UUID: f5a37be7-6c26-409f-adda-013bfda3dc80
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Date deposited: 06 Jul 2023 16:43
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:20
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Erin Johnson-Williams
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