Hendrik Hofmeyr is one of South Africa’s best known and most prolific composers. Since winning the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition in 1997 with a one-movement violin concerto entitled Raptus, he has composed concertos for flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone and cello respectively, and double concertos for two pianos, for flute and violin and for flute and harp. His oeuvre consist of works for stage, orchestra, chamber formations, choirs, voice and piano and have been performed in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Hofmeyr studied musicology at the University of Cape Town from where he earned his BMus and MMus. Further studies in piano, conducting and composition in Italy followed.

He earned his DMus by publication at the University of Cape Town in 1999. Among his honours are First Prize in the South African Opera competition (1987, for The Fall of the House of Usher) and the Nederburg Prize for Opera (1988, for the production of this same work). He also obtained First Prize in the Cinema – La Colonna Sonora competition in Trento (1988, for Immagini da ‘Il cielo sopra Berlino’).

Your latest work - a concerto for recorder with orchestra - composed especially for the South African recorder virtuoso Stefan Temmingh, will be premiered in Cape Town on 17 February with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. Tell us more about the collaboration.

HH: Stefan and I met up in 2012 and discussed the kinds of music we liked. For the rest, I was given a completely free hand to write as I pleased. Stefan plays a vast array of recorders, but I selected three of these for the concerto, including the double-bass (the biggest of all) and the small sopranino.  I’ve since added a fourth recorder, the alto, which I probably should have done from the outset, as I believe it is Stefan’s favourite.

The work is scored for a small orchestra. Why not full orchestra?

HH: The recorder is far less powerful than the instruments of the modern symphony orchestra. Most modern recorder concerti use only a string orchestra, as the sound of the strings competes less directly with that of the recorder. The use of woodwind and brass instruments tends to be highly problematic in terms of balance and separation of texture. I’ve added a harpsichord to the strings as was the custom in the Baroque concerto, but the aim was certainly not to achieve a neo-Baroque sound.

The list of the works that you have composed to date is very long and varied. What is on your wish list of works that you would still like to compose?

HH: I would love to write more symphonic works and operas, but there is very little demand for such works in our country.

Most of your works are commissioned. Do you ever just sit down in a moment of inspiration and compose for your own pleasure?

HH: I do – when I get time! But for me a commission is a great spur to creativity; once you start working, ideas seem to flow quite readily. And occasionally themes jotted down in ‘moments of inspiration’ come in quite handy! Writing for a specific artist or group of performers is also inspiring in itself – one tries to capture something of the performer’s personality and strengths in the work.

How do you go about when you start working on a composition?

HH: The best thing is to jump right in. I usually start with what I want to convey with the music. From that various musical ideas tend to develop fairly spontaneously – I’m not sure whether one would call that inspiration or not.

Do you have a strict regime, allocating a certain time of the day for composing, or is it more a case of getting an idea at 2am in the morning and then fervently scribbling away in the middle of the night?

HH: I have a fairly strict regime, and I find that ideas come as you work. Waiting for ‘inspiration’ before starting to work is, I think, a luxury reserved for the amateur.

You spent 10 years studying in Italy during self-imposed exile as a conscientious objector. Do you think the time you spent there shaped you differently as a composer, as opposed to having stayed in South Africa?

HH: Definitely. The Italians have a very different outlook on music and on life to what we are accustomed to in South Africa.  Experiencing that was sometimes exhilarating, and sometimes traumatic, but it certainly broadened my creative horizons.

Why did you decide to return to the country?

HH: I always wanted to come back. When the democratic process was on track, I applied for a post in Stellenbosch, and was lucky enough to be appointed.

When did you compose your first work and looking back, what do you think about it now?

HH: I composed my first piece at 13. It was a little waltz for the piano, which unfortunately bore a marked resemblance to the Eno jingle of the time.

You started your music career as a serious student of the piano. When did you have the “eureka moment” in terms of realising that you wanted to change course to composing?

HH: I’ve always wanted to write music, and, since I first started, I’ve never really stopped. I love the piano, and hope to always play it, but I don’t think I have the makings of a concert pianist. If nothing else, the lifestyle would put me right off! At school I had a wonderful music teacher, Sarie Jacobs, and she first convinced me that a career in composition might be a possibility.

You are Professor and Head of Composition and Theory at the SA College of Music. Is there a great interest in composition studies?

HH: There certainly is. Not only are there a number of very talented students in the composition classes, but the concerts given by composition students are also very well attended. This is especially encouraging at a time when new classical music is so much under threat.

The question is often asked as to whether there is still anything original in terms of creativity. We are all influenced by everything that we experience and it sometimes seems that everything “has been done”.  Please comment.

HH: I think originality is nothing more, or less, than being true to yourself. We are all unique, and when we express ourselves truly, what we have to say is individual and inimitable.

Is it possible for a composer to truly get away from his big muse, as music is inevitably compared to previous music?

HH: I don’t think it is possible (or even desirable) to escape the influence of previous composers. What interests me in a new musical work is how it engages with what has come before it: what it accepts, what it rejects, what it develops – the dialogue between a shared past and an individual present.

Who in your books were/are truly unique composers?

HH: Composers who have found a unique voice within a musical tradition – and who knew how to write a good tune. To name just a few: Dowland, Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Szymanowski, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Britten, Arnold van Wyk, Raautavara.

As a young composer, who were your role models?

HH: Bach, Fauré, Schoenberg, Britten.

Do you think there is a distinctly South African style, or a unique sound that emerges from South African works?

HH: Not really, and I hope there never will be. Nationalism is one of the greatest evils invented by man. Long live individual expression!

What do you do in your free time?

HH: I love boogie-boarding, reading and crashing in front of the TV.

Hendrik Hofmeyr’s latest work can be heard on 17 February 2013, performed by Stefan Temmingh (recorder) and the Cape Philhamonic Orchestra at the Hugo Lambrechts Auditorium at 15h30. The concert forms part of the Cape Town International Summer Music Festival.

Published 03.02.2012
Interview by Christien Coetzee Klingler

Photo of Hendrik Hofmeyr by Nina Maritz