Abstract:
Until the establishment of the South African Conservatorium
of Music in Stellenbosch in 1905 and the South African
College of Music in Cape Town in 1910, there was no
institution on a bigger scale where a musician could receive
advanced classical music training in South Africa. Talented
students had to embark on a long voyage overseas and face
the difficulties of surviving in very foreign circumstances.
Often they were taught in South Africa by teachers who
had studied in Europe, and who certainly inspired them
to follow the same course, especially since South Africa’s
musical life, although surprisingly lively (as will be alluded
to later in this article), could not nearly approach that of the
main centres of Europe. Some students might have been the
most talented among their peers in South Africa, but were
confronted with very high standards in Europe
