The contemporarya cousticg uitarh asd evelopedfr om its origins in the 'Spanish' guitar to become a global instrument and the musical voice of a wide range of styles. The very 'acousticity' of the instrumentp ositionsi t as a binary oppositet o the electric guitar ano as a signifier for the organic and the natural world, artistry and maturity,e clecticisma ndt he esoteric.I n this concept-rootedsu bmissiont,h e acoustica nd guitaristicn atureo f the instrumentis consideredin relationt o a range of social, cultural and artistic concerns, and composition is used primarily to test a thesis, wherein a portfolio of original compositions, presented as recordings and understooda s phonogramsc, ommentu pona ndr eflect uponm odeso f performativity: instrument specific performance, introspection, virtuosity, mediation by technology and performance subjectivities.

In 1986, the guitarist Roy Brewer expressed a thought in the minds of many guitarists when he wrote in his book A Guitarists Notebook that 'the guitar is an instrument searching for an identity'. This dissertation examines the guitar music of Stephen Dodgson, an English composer born in London in 1924, and who has been a prolific composer of music that includes the guitar since the early 1950s. It examines Dodgson's guitar music to determine the extent to which it reveals the guitar's identity, or helps to provide it with one; the extent to which his writing provides guitarists with a vantage point from which they are able to get a more inclusive, less isolated view of art music, and see the wider musical world in perspective; and in what ways his compositions have helped to integrate the guitar into the ambit of art music. There is little literature on Dodgson's work, including his writing for the guitar, other than a small number of magazine articles and a handful of essays by Dodgson himself. Therefore an ancillary aim of this dissertation is to conduct a survey of Dodgson's guitar music, and to discover the essential characteristics of his musical language, coupled with a demonstration of how his guitar works have been representative of his musical language throughout his career as a composer. It examines his background, and in what sense it prepares him as an innovative guitar composer; the reason he writes for the guitar, and how he regards and uses it; his works for solo guitar; what he has contributed to teaching materials for guitarists; his approach to the guitar in combination with other instruments, in the context of concertos, massed guitar groups and other ensembles; and how he combines the guitar with the voice. The dissertation draws from the articles and essays, from the results of a series of interviews with the composer and guitarists with whom he has collaborated, and from detailed scrutiny of selected scores.

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van die verhandeling is om vas te stel in hoe 'n mate vyftien geselekteerde studies van Fernando Sor uit die Yepes- en Segovia-uitgawes van mekaar verskil deur die studies te vergelyk. Albei uitgawes is ook met die faksimilee-uitgawe vergelyk om die korrektheid van die Yepes- en Segoviauitgawes te bepaal. Seide Yepes en Segovia het heelwat veranderings aangebring. Die kenmerkendste van hierdie verskille word nie net uitgewys nie, maar daar word ook na moontlike redes gekyk waarom sulke verskille in die twee uitgawes aangebring is. Die gevolgtrekking is dat Yepes en Segovia duidelike redes gehad het waarom hulle verskil het van die faksimilee-uitgawe. Yepes en Segovia het verskillende tegniese benaderings wat bydra tot die uniekheid van die twee uitgawes wat vir die kitaarspeler 'n rykdom van moontlikhede bied in die uitvoering van hierdie studies. / The aim of the dissertation is to determine the differences between the Yepes and Segovia editions by comparing selected studies. In order to determine the correctness of the Yepes and Segovia editions both are compared to the facsimile edition as well. Yepes and Segovia both introduced a number of changes. The most typical of these are indicated and possible reasons for their inclusion in the two editions are discussed. The conclusion is that Yepes as well as Segovia had very definite reasons for including alterations to the facsimile edition in their own editions. Both have in their own editions an individual and highly personal approach which leaves us with the unique gifts of the two editions, and the guitar student with a variety of possibilities in the performance of these studies. / Department of Musicology / M.Mus. (Department of Musicology)

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van die verhandeling is om vas te stel in hoe 'n mate vyftien geselekteerde studies van Fernando Sor uit die Yepes- en Segovia-uitgawes van mekaar verskil deur die studies te vergelyk. Albei uitgawes is ook met die faksimilee-uitgawe vergelyk om die korrektheid van die Yepes- en Segoviauitgawes te bepaal. Seide Yepes en Segovia het heelwat veranderings aangebring. Die kenmerkendste van hierdie verskille word nie net uitgewys nie, maar daar word ook na moontlike redes gekyk waarom sulke verskille in die twee uitgawes aangebring is. Die gevolgtrekking is dat Yepes en Segovia duidelike redes gehad het waarom hulle verskil het van die faksimilee-uitgawe. Yepes en Segovia het verskillende tegniese benaderings wat bydra tot die uniekheid van die twee uitgawes wat vir die kitaarspeler 'n rykdom van moontlikhede bied in die uitvoering van hierdie studies. / The aim of the dissertation is to determine the differences between the Yepes and Segovia editions by comparing selected studies. In order to determine the correctness of the Yepes and Segovia editions both are compared to the facsimile edition as well. Yepes and Segovia both introduced a number of changes. The most typical of these are indicated and possible reasons for their inclusion in the two editions are discussed. The conclusion is that Yepes as well as Segovia had very definite reasons for including alterations to the facsimile edition in their own editions. Both have in their own editions an individual and highly personal approach which leaves us with the unique gifts of the two editions, and the guitar student with a variety of possibilities in the performance of these studies. / Department of Musicology / M.Mus. (Department of Musicology)