Abstract
Among improvisers and composers today there is a resurgence of interest in experimental music (EM) practices that welcome contingency; engaging with unforeseen circumstances as an essential component of the music-making process, and a means to sonic discovery. I propose the Experimental Composition Improvisation Continua (ECIC) as a model with which to better understand these experimental musical works. The historical Experimental Music movement of the 1950s and 60s is briefly revisited, and the jazz tradition included as an essential protagonist; both being important historical movements leading to the formulation of ideas around contingent musical practices. The ECIC model is outlined as providing a means to observe the interactions and continua between composition and improvisation on the one hand and more or less experimentally conceived music on the other. This model is applied as an investigative and comparative tool to three distinctive works in order to illuminate the presence or otherwise of various experimental interactions within them. The works are: “Spiral Staircase” – a composition by written by Satoko Fujii in late 2007, John Cage’s 4′33″, and a performance of “My Favorite Things” by the John Coltrane Quartet. Further possible applications of the ECIC are suggested in the conclusion.
Highlights
Among improvising musicians today, and composers who are writing for improvisers, there is a burgeoning interest in experimental music (EM) practices that transcend idiom and musical tradition (Beins et al, 2011; Cox and Warner, 2013; Gottschalk, 2016)
As outlined Experimental Composition Improvisation Continua (ECIC) considerations can be useful when determining the sources of contingency and indeterminism: whether this is due to the environment in which the work is performed, or due to the compositional or improvisational style, or performer action and interaction
Applying the model helps to answer questions such as is contingency and chance the main focus of a musical work, or is it a by-product of the events that enable it (Spence, 2018)? Is indeterminism caused by physical action due to laws of physics, or is it psychologically activated; or a combination of both? The ECIC model can be of assistance when comparing a composer’s stated aims or compositional approach or process, with the actual or perceived sounds of their work
Summary
Composers who are writing for improvisers, there is a burgeoning interest in experimental music (EM) practices that transcend idiom and musical tradition (Beins et al, 2011; Cox and Warner, 2013; Gottschalk, 2016). I am referring to music making that actively engages with unforeseen circumstances and outcomes as an essential component of the work (Nyman, 1999, 1–30).. This article investigates the active commonalities and convergences in experimental compositional and improvisational work across stylistic delineations. Connections are highlighted between the action of chance and indeterminism in improvisation, and its associated relationships with composition and a model introduced as an investigative tool. The ECIC model offered in this article is a qualitative tool with which to investigate and compare experimental, compositional, and improvisational work – both historical and contemporary – beyond genre, and to identify the contribution of elements within this work to unforeseen outcomes.. The model can be used to compare the musical actions and outcomes of composers, performers, and the musical environment, both within a work and across works. I acknowledge the well-documented debt that EM owes to jazz music as highlighted in the writings of Lewis (1996, 2009), Radano (2009), Kim (2012), and others
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