From Introduction: An investigation into aspects of musical education in Grahamstown cannot be isolated from the prevailing economic and social influences and must be seen within that setting. By the 1830's Grahamstown had developed from the frontier military post of 1812, to a settlement with an increasing population, aware of the importance of general education in raising standards and whose attention was concentrated in commerce, allied with agriculture, being a wool centre and a halting-place for traders conveying merchandise northwards, by ox-wagon and later also the chief centre of the ostrich industry. This development had gone on despite a succession of Frontier Wars, the last in 1878. A military presence was felt throughout the years of the nineteenth century and into the early years of the next, although from the late 1850's the chief military posts were in King William's Town and not in Grahamstown. The 1860's witnessed the important discovery of diamonds in South Africa, the first of which was identified by the famous Grahamstonian, Dr William G. Atherstone. This discovery, together with the discovery of gold to the north in the 1880's and the new railway line in that direction side-tracking Grahamstown, plus a slump in the ostrich industry, resulted in the economic decline of the town, but it then directed its energy and enterprise in another direction, education. The many small schools, which had sprung up during earlier decades, were superseded by newly established larger ones, initially for boys, but the 1870's in South Africa saw a revolution in the education of girls (similar to that of the 1850's in England), an occurrence which had an important bearing upon the founding of high schools for girls and Grahamstown was no exception in this respect. In South Africa, tertiary education for women was introduced soon after 1900 (as had occurred in England in the 1870's) and Grahamstown again kept apace. The years of the twentieth century brought about numerous advances in communication (motor cars, roads, aeroplanes, the radio and telephone), the invention of the gramophone, the appearance of "talkies" to replace silent films, the development of electricity as a source of power, great changes from peace to war, worldwide and financial stringency. In addition droughts plagued the farming community. All these influenced life in Grahamstown and education in general. The age of many scholastic institutions in Grahamstown became such, that they were receiving the sons and daughters and also grandsons and granddaughters of former pupils. This continuity played an important part in establishing traditions. Aspects of musical education during more than a century will be examined, firstly, in connection with each individual school and tertiary institution and secondly, by means of a survey. The newspapers, "Graham's Town Journal" and "Grocott's Penny Mail" - later "Grocott's Daily Mail", will be referred to as "IJournal" and "Grocott's", respectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:2664 |
| Date | January 1986 |
| Creators | Sparrow, Marion Janet |
| Publisher | Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Music |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | 290 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Sparrow, Marion Janet |
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