Page 70 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

The processuality of composing 59

and variables – increases over the course of the creative process. Dynamic
because the nature of the variables changes over the course of the creative
process. Activity Y has an impact on subsequent activity Z, and changes the
way in which one perceives preceding activity X. Processuality as a temporal
interconnection therefore also denotes a dynamic interdependence between
individual activities.
Complexity is, then, one of the defining features of creative processes.
Composition processes consist of myriad attempts, intuitive and emotion-
based decisions, thoughts, and small piecemeal processing steps, making them
particular and non-repeatable. “The difficulties are always new, or at least
they feel new each time”, Marco Ciciliani observes. The way composers deal
with this intrinsic complexity varies. We can distinguish two work-mode
ideals. Some composers design a synoptic plan at the beginning of the work
process, to which they will adhere more or less strictly. It thus determines
their subsequent work steps to a certain extent. Other composers pursue a
more heuristic approach, where the composition only develops gradually
during the writing process (see Donin & Féron 2012: 19). Fritz Böhle (2009)
likewise distinguishes between exploratory actions and those carried out
according to a plan, insisting, however, on the limits of the planned approach.
Complex work actions always rely on exploratory, corporeal and sensory
knowledge that is guided by experience.
The relatively long duration of composition processes in art music and their
complex and incremental character cause problems for our empirical study. It
is clearly impossible to document a work process lasting several months
without omissions. We thus asked the case-study composers to keep a work
diary to note down their activities. These work diaries were begun at the start
of the composition process and ended with the finished composition. It was
left to the composers to decide on the form of their diaries. Karlheinz Essl
and Katharina Klement kept a written diary; Marko Ciciliani and Joanna
Wozny made spoken recordings and submitted additional written notes.
These diaries give us an insight into the composers’ daily routines, when they
worked on particular parts of the composition, and what activities they
engaged in. Once we received these documentary materials, however, it was
obvious that it is impossible for composers to verbalise all work steps, ideas
and sensations. Even when they tried to set out their working processes to the
best of their knowledge and belief, they instinctively resorted to narrative
patterns that convey a specific image of the creative process. Furthermore,
they could only communicate what they were conscious of. Missing from the
diaries, therefore, are activities that escaped their attention at the time. This has
resulted in an additional empirical and interpretative difficulty. Since the core of
our analysis consists of the composers’ personal reports and descriptions –
alongside sketches, sound recordings and videos – many of the more peripheral
and discreet activities leave hardly any traces. Examples of these are compo-
sers re-reading their own musical marks (Notate) to consider how to continue
the writing process, or listening to partial recordings of their own composition