Page 28 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

The topography of composing work 17

of individually motorised components that can absorb, reflect or scatter sound
depending on their adjustment. Technical equipment of this kind is, of course,
rare and costly. But aesthetic sound modifications are not tied to specific
concert halls. Special software for analysing and synthesising sound develop-
ment along with purposefully arranged loudspeakers enable an orchestra’s
overall sound to be recorded in real time, broken down (e.g. by instrument or
group of instruments) and distributed over the loudspeakers in such a way as
to create an artificial and continuously changeable sound space within the
concert hall. Thus, for the listeners, a violin might appear to play above their
heads at one point, then move from left to right, and shortly afterwards
sound as if it was 50 meters away – whilst the violinist on stage does not
move from the spot. It must be emphasised, however, that such software is
not used as a matter of course in our field of analysis, art music.
The performance space tends to be important especially for those compo-
sers who will also be performing their own work. As Karlheinz Essl points
out, he does not need any special software to get to know the physical space.
For Essl, it is crucial to be undisturbed in the space, “so I can get a detailed
impression of the acoustics of the space. I have to adjust my ear to the new
circumstances. I can’t say, oh, I’ll just start to play, and then I suddenly notice
how different it sounds, and get irritated.” This sensitivity to the potential
particularities of performance spaces derives from a realisation based on
experience: each room has different acoustics, which can only be accessed
bodily, kinaesthetically and in situ. Being able to grasp the particular acoustic
characteristics of a space is a form of sensory and situational knowledge that
has an effect on subsequent actions. For the performance of “Herbecks
Versprechen” (see also Chapters 2 and 4), the positioning and fine-tuning of
the loudspeakers was crucial to Karlheinz Essl, so that listeners “have the
impression of being ‘inside’ the sound and surrounded by the sound”. Here,
adjusting to the acoustics of a space has a twofold meaning: on the one hand,
getting to know how tones sound in the room with a view to composing the
oeuvre; on the other, as a performer, adjusting to how one hears the piece and
how the acoustic characteristics of the space impede one’s own perception.
This too is a sign of professional mastery: to anticipate all aspects that might
interfere with the performance (see Polanyi 1958: 188).

1.1.2 Resources of time

Work officially starts once a commission has been accepted. The beginning of
the actual process of creation, however, is not so easy to determine. Many
ideas arise out of previous compositions and situations, or are inseparably
interwoven with the extensive cultural and musical experience of individual
composers. Nevertheless, the commission lays down a deadline for delivery,
which imposes a temporal structure on the work process. How work time is
organised differs from individual to individual, depending on other profes-
sional commitments (often in music teaching) and family obligations.