Page 69 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

58 The processuality of composing

We aim to show that composition processes are goal-directed but not goal-
driven. The final gestalt of the piece is not known beforehand – except that it
must be a finished composition that corresponds to the specific contractual
agreements – but only emerges during the creative process. The composed
piece thus represents the result of focused work, whose progress we view as
neither linear nor rational. Drawing on Karin Knorr-Cetina’s (1981: 113)
laboratory studies, we might say that the working process “is dominated by
what could be the case, and what should or might be done”. Composers seek
ideas, but do not always know what exactly they are looking for. They may
keep an open mind and try out sounds that leave potential for unpredictability
and association. Such openness, curiosity and willingness to experiment are
the result of a historical cultural process as well as the musical tradition of
western contemporary art music. They are not primary characteristics of
individual psychology. They manifest themselves in composing practices,
without excluding or eliminating the effectiveness of other habitual thought
patterns or routines.
If we consider the concept of process in terms of an “ontology of becom-
ing” (Pickering 2008: 12), we notice that it contains the idea of duration. The
composition process consists of a temporal interconnection of action and is
therefore not an event. After all, compositions do not simply fall into the
composer’s lap, however many ideas he or she might have. At first sight it
might seem self-evident to view process and event as opposites. On closer
inspection, the relationship between process and event is more complicated. A
process has a duration whose beginning and end may be vague. An event, on
the other hand, is a one-off occurrence that can largely be dated and identi-
fied precisely. And yet in any composition process there can be events that
shape the process. While open-mindedly trying out instruments and sounds,
composers can make discoveries that trigger a rethinking of the composition
process. These seminal events during the course of the creative process can
be described using such metaphors as “forking paths” (Becker, Faulkner &
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 2006: 5) or “turning points” (Schwarz 2014: 13f.).
Prominent events emphasise the non-linearity of creative processes and their
openness in terms of results.
And yet this should not shift the analysis of composition process too far
towards singular events. An event – be it a new idea, a meeting with a per-
forming musician or a rhythmic sound heard by chance at the cinema – is
interpreted as a “forking path” or “turning point” only in retrospect. That
does not automatically discount the interpretation, but it must be justified by
the overall picture of the composition process. Processuality cannot be frag-
mented into innumerable events since that would dissolve the connection
between composition activities. “Process” and “event” are thus different con-
cepts, but not mutually exclusive.
This brings us to a further characteristic of composition processes: they are
dynamic and incremental. Incremental (Latin incrementare, make bigger)
because their complexity – meaning the extent of their internal interactions