Cromwell Everson
Encyclopedia
Cromwell Everson was primarily known as a composer during his lifetime. He was brought up as an Afrikaner
Afrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...

 by his mother, Maria De Wit and father, Robert Everson. He continued this tradition and all his children were brought up as Afrikaners.

Everson wrote the first Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, and most of his other vocal works were in Afrikaans. His works consist of five sonatas, a trio, an opera, a set of inventions, four song-cycles, a piano suite, miscellaneous movements for the piano and guitar and an incomplete symphony and string quartet.

During Everson's career in Worcester, Western Cape
Worcester, Western Cape
Worcester is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is located 120 km north-east of Cape Town on the N1 highway north to Johannesburg....

 he also gave music lessons to the famous musician David Kramer
David Kramer
David Kramer is a South African singer, songwriter, playwright and director, most notable for his musicals about the Cape Coloured communities, and for his early opposition to apartheid.-Early life:...

.

For his Afrikaans opera Everson received in 2007 a posthumous acknowledgement from the ATKV (Afrikaans Language- and Cultural society).

Education

  • 1945, Matric, Central High School, Beaufort West
  • 1950, Bachelor of Music, Stellenbosch University
    Stellenbosch University
    Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape....

  • 1974, Doctor of Music, University of Cape Town
    University of Cape Town
    The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...



Opera

  • Klutaimnestra (eng:Clytemnestra
    Clytemnestra
    Clytemnestra or Clytaemnestra , in ancient Greek legend, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon – said by Euripides to be her second husband – and the Trojan princess...

    ) (Libretto, Cromwell Everson), Afrikaans
    Afrikaans
    Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

     opera in four acts (1967). First performance 7 November 1967, Biesenbach Hall, Worcester
    Worcester, Western Cape
    Worcester is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is located 120 km north-east of Cape Town on the N1 highway north to Johannesburg....

  • Rat a Plan (Libretto, unannotated), incomplete chamber opera (1952).

Song Cycles

  • Vier Liefdesliedjies ("four love songs") for soprano and piano (1949). First performance on 9 June 1955 in the Stellenbosch Conservatory of Music. First radio broadcast performance on 11 January 1960 (Switzerland).
    1. Nagliedjie (N. P. van Wyk Louw
      N. P. van Wyk Louw
      Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw , almost universally known as N.P. van Wyk Louw, was an Afrikaans-language poet, playwright, and scholar. He is the older brother of Afrikaans-language poet W.E.G. Louw.One of the Dertigers, or "Writers of the Thirties," N.P...

      )
    2. Net altyd jy (N. P. van Wyk Louw)
    3. Nooit Nog (W. E. G. Louw
      W. E. G. Louw
      William Ewart Gladstone van Wyk Louw, who published as W.E.G. Louw, was an Afrikaans-language poet. He is the younger brother of the poet N.P...

      )
    4. Dennebosse (N. P. van Wyk Louw).
  • Kontraste (D. J. Opperman
    D. J. Opperman
    Diederik Johannes Opperman was one of the best-known Afrikaans poets of the twentieth century.He was born on 29 September 1914 in Dundee in Natal, where he grew up. He went to school in the towns of Estcourt and Vryheid, and afterwards received an M.A. degree from the University of Natal...

    ) (1951)
  • Water en Woestyn (1955) re-titled Die Dobbelsteen (1984). First performance on 26 August 1956 in the Stellenbosch Conservatory of Music.
    1. By alle skone dinge (N. P. van Wyk Louw)
    2. Drie Bome (Uys Krige
      Uys Krige
      Mattheus Uys Krige was a South African writer of novels, short stories, poems and plays in both Afrikaans and English. He was born in Bontebokskloof in the Cape Province and educated at the University of Stellenbosch.From 1931 to 1935 he lived in France and Spain, acquiring fluency in both...

      )
    3. Die Karnaval sal eindig (I. Rousseau)
    4. Boer (D. J. Opperman)
    5. Hael (D. J. Opperman)
    6. Wat kan ek jou gee? (N. P. van Wyk Louw)
    7. Nagrit (I. Rousseau)

  • Three Brontë Songs (1987)

Solo Songs

  • Maria (W. E. G. Louw
    W. E. G. Louw
    William Ewart Gladstone van Wyk Louw, who published as W.E.G. Louw, was an Afrikaans-language poet. He is the younger brother of the poet N.P...

    ) for soprano and piano (1949)
  • Nagstorm oor die see (D. J. Opperman
    D. J. Opperman
    Diederik Johannes Opperman was one of the best-known Afrikaans poets of the twentieth century.He was born on 29 September 1914 in Dundee in Natal, where he grew up. He went to school in the towns of Estcourt and Vryheid, and afterwards received an M.A. degree from the University of Natal...

    ) for dramatic soprano and piano (1950)
  • Die Vreemde Dae (Elisabeth Eybers
    Elisabeth Eybers
    Elisabeth Françoise Eybers , was a South African poet. Her poetry was mainly in Afrikaans, although she has translated some of her own work into English....

    ) for soprano and piano (1949)

Orchestral

  • Symphony, an incomplete work (1953)
  • Danza Senzule for chamber orchestra (1961)

Chamber Music

  • String Quartet (first movement), an incomplete work (1949)
  • Trio for Viola, Violoncello and Piano (1963)

First complete performance 8 April 1978, SABC Concert Studio Seapoint, Cape Town. First radio broadcast performance 20 July 1971 (SABC).
  • String Quartet, an incomplete work (1970)

Solo Works

  • Suite for Piano (1951)
  • Prelude and Fuga for piano solo (1953–1954)
  • Sonata - Variation I for piano solo (1953)
  • Sonata - Variation II for piano solo (1956)
  • Sonata for violin and piano (1954). Dedicated to famous violinist Maria Neuss. First performance and live broadcast (SABC) 22 August 1954, Hidding Hall, Cape Town.
  • Three Eliegies for piano solo (1970)
  • Variations for piano (1978)
  • Etude for piano solo (1981)
  • Guitar Sonata (1984). Dedicated to David Hewitt
  • Cantús Tristitae, for solo guitar (1984). First performance 11 Augustus 1985, Jubilee Hall, Durban. First radio broadcast performance 5 July 1988 (SABC).
  • Sonato for solo flute (1987). Dedicated to Esmé Venter.
  • Sonato for violin solo (1985 rev. 1987). Dedicated to Marike Urban-Grimm.
  • Wedding March for organ solo (1987). Dedicated to Ludwig en Retha Everson.


Electro-Acoustical Works

  • Son Staan Stil, an electronic music composition (1971)
  • Seven Inventions, a computer music composition (1988)

External links

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