Knowledge-based cooperation between art music composers and musicians

Conclusion: the social, epistemic and motivational dimension of knowledge-based cooperation between composers and musicians

Composers rely on shared knowledge among different participants during the composition process and which gains relevance through various forms of cooperation concerning institutional, financial or, as discussed in this article, musical questions. Concerning the latter, cooperation between composers and musicians is almost unavoidable in the light of artistic and creative challenges. Such cooperation can be abstracted into a social as well as an epistemic dimension. While the social dimension concerns the collective effort of providing impulses and generating ideas in joint actions, the epistemic dimension is based on the transfer of knowledge in order to solve problems and expand the composers’ knowledge in a reciprocal way. Consequently one can also find a reciprocal motivational dimension. In order to produce a good performance, composers have to motivate musicians, convey their understanding of the composition and stimulate engagement. Simultaneously, composers have to be open to the expertise of the musicians, as their individual skills, peculiarities and interests can also be motivating for composers.

Taking these three dimensions into account clarifies the fact that the cooperation between composers and musicians is one of interdependencies in which all participants rely on and simultaneously benefit from one another. These interdependencies are not only important for the investigation of the interactions during a composition process. It also shows that the form of interaction affects the shape and the content of the composition itself. The composition process is informed by taking into consideration the performing musicians and the context in which the composition will be played. In this way, composing can be interpreted as a collective cooperation in which the participants are involved to varying degrees relative to their knowledge, experience and resources.

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* 1  

The author acknowledges the original research project “Tacit Knowing in Musical Composition Process” which is based at the Institute for Music Sociology at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and directed by Tasos Zembylas. The project has been generously funded by the Jubiläumsfonds der Stadt Wien (project number: J-2/12) as well as by the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (project number: P27211-G22) from November 2013 to November 2015. All empirical data and analysis result from the collaboration between the author and the members of the project team, Andreas Holzer, Annegret Huber, Rosa Reitsamer and Tasos Zembylas.

* 2  

In a following passage Schatzki criticises Becker for his concept of convention. Highlighting his own concept of art, understood as wide-ranging “bundles” linked to each other within “constellations”, Schatzki argues that interactions among the participants in an art world would not be as standardised as Becker suggested.

Martin Niederauer ( 2015): Knowledge-based cooperation between art music composers and musicians. In: p/art/icipate – Kultur aktiv gestalten # 06 , https://www.p-art-icipate.net/knowledge-based-cooperation-between-art-music-composers-and-musicians/

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Martin Niederauer

Dr. Martin Niederauer studierte Soziologie an der Universität Trier und der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. Seine Promotion folgte an der Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main über „Die Widerständigkeiten des Jazz – Sozialgeschichte und Improvisation unter den Imperativen der Kulturindustrie“. Seit November 2013 ist er wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter im Projekt „Tacit Knowing in Musical Composition Process“ am Institut für Musiksoziologie der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien.