Page 94 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

Orchestrating different forms of knowledge 83

process and the wealth of experience that these composers have acquired is a
basic confidence in their own mastery. This phenomenon is well-known in
expertise research and the psychology of work: “When things are proceeding
normally, experts don’t solve problems and don’t make decisions; they do
what normally works.” (Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1986: 30f.) Thus, as Christof
Dienz says:

I mean, to some extent it’s true that you develop patterns or sleights of
hand over the years. You have aids, tools or work processes that become
a bit of a habit, and then they’re always more or less the same. And you
know that, if you use them, you get results. That’sdefinitely an area
where routine or experience makes it sort of easier to compose pieces.
Precisely because you have processes that help you get results.

This fundamental self-confidence not only comes into play in familiar tasks,
but also when composers face new challenges, which always require an
increased level of attention and effort. For Marko Ciciliani, “The difficulties
are always new, or at least they feel new each time. I think what changes is
perhaps a certain confidence, whereas 15 years ago I would have panicked:
‘I’ll never finish the piece’!”
Professional knowledge that results from being experienced is a practical
knowledge of the conditions and peculiarities of work processes. Composers
pay attention to such aspects, meaning that their experiential knowledge
shows through in their daily practice. It is a “personal knowledge” (Polanyi
1958) of the aspects that promote or else hinder their productivity. Judit
Varga’s insight into what is meaningful for her own work methods therefore
does not necessarily hold true for other composers:

Something I do a lot when I’m completely stuck is force myself to write
or improvise something – no matter what – just before I go to sleep. But
not much. I stop before lots of negative feelings come up; maybe half an
hour. I don’t try to judge how bad it is either. It doesn’t matter, I’ll let it
stand. Then I go to bed. And usually I’m already awake and writing at 6
the next morning.

Occasionally, Judit Varga has to protect her emerging work from self-doubt
and self-criticism. Mastery is based on an implicit structure of skilfulness and
self-confidence, which is why too much self-examination and hyper-reflexivity
can have a negative impact on the creative process. A centipede that thinks
about every movement of its legs and how to coordinate them while walking
will never move from the spot. Judith Unterpertinger similarly remarks: “On
the one hand, I notice that when you read a lot, you know a lot more, but on the
other hand you become more critical. So knowledge can also block you.”
There is a “dangerous practice of thinking” (Boreham 1994) that must be
selectively avoided. Clearly, competent persons do not function entirely