"Their death shall in no wise have been in vain" : Gideon Fagan's studies at the Royal College of Music in London, 1922-1926

Abstract

Die Suid-Afrikaanse komponis Gideon Fagan (1904-1980) het tussen 1922 en 1926 aan die Royal College of Music (RCM) in Londen studeer. So het Fagan sy ouer broer Johannes (1898-1920) nagevolg wat in 1920 selfmoord gepleeg terwyl hy ’n student aan die RCM was. Wanneer sy broer se tragiese dood in ag geneem word, kan afgelei word dat die begin van die 17-jarige Gideon se studie emosioneel ’n uiters moeilike ervaring was. Gideon Fagan het in ’n bekende komponis ontwikkel en was die eerste Suid-Afrikaansgebore dirigent wat internasionale erkenning verwerf het. Die dood van sy broer Johannes was nie tevergeefs nie: Dit vind neerslag in die hersiening van werke van Johannes en in die toonsetting van die lied Klein Sonneskyn.

The South African composer Gideon Fagan (1904-1980) studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London between 1922 and 1926. Fagan followed in the footsteps of his elder brother Johannes (1898-1920) who had committed suicide in 1920 while a student at the RCM. Considering his brother’s tragic death, beginning his studies must have been emotionally extremely difficult for the 17-year-old Gideon. Gideon Fagan became a well-known composer and the first South African born conductor who gained international recognition. The death of his brother Johannes was not in vain: It is reflected in Gideon’s revision of some of Johannes’s works and in the setting of the song Klein Sonneskyn.