Page 140 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

Musicological perspectives on composing 129

reflections on them. Other works precede the aesthetic attitude, meaning that
it is both shaped and confirmed by works (or else betrayed and changed by
them). In addition, many composers reflect on their aesthetic positions in
texts – often to convey understanding and justify their work. They also
always act within a network of extremely varied, case specific components: for
example, if the commission comes from an ensemble, it will be immediately
associated with a certain idea of the kind of music the ensemble already has
in its repertoire. Similar factors are at play when the commission is made by
an institution or festival. This creates shared aesthetic conventions, which can,
of course, be modified to a certain extent or even breached. In the latter case,
conflictual situations or resistance may arise. Based on these shared conven-
tions, we can identify different areas within contemporary music, which are
characterised by specific aesthetic orientations.
The three composers portrayed in the case studies above work under quite
different conditions. Joanna Wozny emphatically sees herself as aligned with
the tradition of New Music – a tradition shaped by such names as Luigi
Nono, Helmut Lachenmann and Gérard Grisey around the conviction that
composers should use the most advanced musical material possible. Given
her aesthetic position and the works that materialise from it, Wozny can
count on various ensembles of international renown, such as the Klang-
forum Wien, the Ensemble Intercontemporain from Paris, the Ensemble
Modern from Frankfurt or the Ensemble Aventure from Freiburg (which pre-
miered her piece “some remains”). Their competences are proven: for
instance, various playing techniques and sound production methods that have
emerged from the New Music tradition. These can be considered shared
knowledge that is constitutive for the composing process. Wozny does not
necessarily need to know the specific competences of each musician in the
various ensembles for this.
Marko Ciciliani’s starting-point is very different: he “sometimes has the
feeling of being caught between two stools”. He has largely distanced himself
from his training as an instrumental composer by including elaborate electronic
resources in his compositions, but he does not necessarily see himself as a
“real academic electronic composer” either because he frequently uses tradi-
tional instruments. And while he considers some of what he has produced
recently as belonging to media art, he does not feel himself to be anchored in
that milieu as much as, say, the “Ars Electronica people”. Ultimately, he does
not fully identify with the improvisation scene either. In contrast to Joanna
Wozny’s situation, there are hardly any ensembles standing by who are practised
in the unusual combination of Ciciliani’s compositional components (com-
mitment to tonality, electronic sounds, improvisational practices, visual
materials and elements of pop culture). Equally, the pieces that this combination
produces do not fit into the programmes of many leading festivals of New
Music, such as Wien Modern, Musica Viva in Munich or Donaueschingen.
In 2005 Ciciliani thus founded his own ensemble, Bakin Zub, in which he is
active as a musician and for which he has composed a large number of works.