Southern African connections among students who studied at the Royal College of Music in London between 1883 and 1899

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