Page 40 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

The topography of composing work 29

schedule, and organisational issues concerning rehearsals or preparing for the
performance are already taken into account. This is what Bernhard Gander
describes:

Usually you have to deliver the score first and the sheet music later. I
always finish very early. In one case, the premiere was set for late
September and I had finished the piece by the previous December. So the
score was ready by April or May. Then the conductor received it. That
way they can already schedule their rehearsals. And I write them a short
text about the content of the piece because they also want to propose the
piece to other venues. Each time, it’s an ongoing exchange.

It is also important for composers to be familiar with the working pro-
cesses and conditions of ensembles because it enables them to gauge what
can and cannot be expected from musicians in terms of commitment and
initiative in handling the finished score. Such local and contextual knowl-
edge can have an impact on the kind of notation used. One composer told
us that he paid close attention to the orchestra or ensemble that he was
cooperating with when writing the score:

They [a large orchestra] have little time to rehearse. Their motto is: Just
play what’s on the sheet. Every note is clearly described. There’s no need
to discuss much, they don’t need to do much soundwise – of course they
do overall, but that’s the conductor’s job and there’s no changing it.
Whereas in the XY pieces, the way the flautist plays that long note so that
harmonics develop, so that the note changes more and more from hissing
and breath into sound, that is written down. But there’s still room for
manoeuvre in the way it’s done. And skill comes into play here. Some
musicians can do it incredibly well. Others can’t do the breathed start of
the sound. […] And it takes an unbelievable amount of time to motivate
the musicians to try it anyway. And then suddenly, somehow, it works.

In the score, the composer tries to formulate clearly what the notation system
he or she uses will afford. This is a pragmatic approach, which does not have
to deprecate large orchestras. But where the musicians’ working processes and
conditions allow it, they will be expected to show initiative and contribute
creatively – the score will be prepared in such a way that they can participate.
Here, composers do not see themselves as the artist-as-solo-creator, but rather
include the performing musicians in the interpretation of the score. In return, they
expect the musicians not to behave purely as reproducers, but to take the time to
enter into the material and develop their own ideas about how the composi-
tion might be realised as sounds. In his discussion of authors, Jérôme Meizoz
(2007: 42) introduces the concept of “instance plurielle”, which can be trans-
posed to composition processes. Meizoz suggests that a literary work is
the result of a creative process in which several people participate – and a