Examining the musical ‘Sprachvermögen’ in Hendrik Hofmeyr’s operatic monodrama Saartjie

Abstract This interpretivist article investigates how the concept of musical Sprachvermögen (literally meaning ‘speaking ability’, or more accurate in this context the ability to communicate via music), as conceptualised by Wagner, is portrayed in Hendrik Hofmeyr’s operatic monodrama Saartjie, Opus 121 (2009). It further explores how musical, non-verbal communicational elements such as Sprachvermögen create context and assist in a deeper understanding of a musical text. Adopting a post-structuralist point of view, a text is assumed here not only to include what is printed or written down, but also context and the multitude of aspects experienced by an observer. Following a close reading of Saartjie, it is concluded that the work’s music and libretto are not only fundamentally inseparable, but bound together through the Sprachvermögen of the musical text. The music’s Sprachvermögen emphasises Saartjie’s emotional state and the spatial context in the opera, which lends further credence to the character’s portrayal on stage.