Page 24 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

1 The topography of composing work

The term “topography” usually refers to the representation of a terrain’s
physical limits (land/water) and height differences. Topographical maps pro-
vide a geographical orientation; in this chapter, we will be using “topography”
metaphorically to set out the web of practices, material constellations and
professional relations within which creative processes of composition take
place (see Figure 1.1). All those who are directly or indirectly involved in the
composition process – from the original idea to the premiere – are part of this
web. To be more specific, we can describe them mainly as peers, and subsume
other composers and musicians within that group. Composers share with
peers musical knowledge and a perspective of composing that is both artistic
and practical. A group of non-peers – which includes clients, listeners, technical
staff, editors and others – can then be differentiated from the peers. If we take
into account that a composition does not come into being in a vacuum, we
appreciate that organisations and objects must also be assigned significance in
the composition process. It is therefore logical to declare both material objects
(writing implements, musical instruments, computers, technical apparatuses)
and immaterial objects (systems of notation, discursive objects, algorithms) to be
relevant aspects of the composition process, along with resources, institutional
circumstances and other conditions. Topography thus consists of four clusters
woven into a web of relations, which shapes the process of artistic creation as
much as the composition, in ways that are both manifest and latent.
We will be using a number of sociological concepts to help disentangle and
analyse this web of relations. These concepts include Herbert Blumer’s (1986:
16–20) “joint action”, which refers to the social division of labour, social
coordination, and the interconnection of different actions. Wider forms of
social action – we might call them fields of practice – are generated when
actions by different participants with different positions, motives, abilities and
knowledge are interlinked. In our case, these participants are musicians, but
also instrument makers, music managers, event organisers, music journalists,
music publishing houses, booking agencies, recording studios, production
agencies, licensing societies, funding organisations, etc.
Closely referencing Blumer, Howard S. Becker (1982/2008) developed his
concept of “art worlds”– a prominent concept in the sociology of art – to