The modes of music information in a compositional process: a case study

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JD-10-2017-0141
Published date10 September 2018
Date10 September 2018
Pages987-1007
AuthorUlla Pohjannoro,Antti Mikael Rousi
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet
The modes of music information
in a compositional process:
a case study
Ulla Pohjannoro
Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, and
Antti Mikael Rousi
Faculty of Communication Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate an actual compositional process that entails a
diversity of music information modes and describe the way these modes contribute to the creative aspirations
of a composer.
Design/methodology/approach The music information typology proposed by Rousi, Savolainen and
Vakkari is used as a point of departure for defining the different modes of music-related information.
First, relevant music information modes are identified from the composer-informants verbal description of a
compositional process. Then, their proportions and dynamics are examined.
Findings The findings suggest that the music information typology may be applied within the context of
musical composition, that is, all of its five modes of music information could be identified from the composers
verbal description of the compositional process. However, two additional significant information modes were
identified: shaping music as the third mode of enactive representations and genuine iconic representations.
Research limitations/implications The purpose of this case study is not to claim that the results
regarding the significance of individual music information modes apply to all compositional processes within
diverse genres of music.
Originality/value This study introduces a new mode of music information indicative of the artistic
capacity of expressiveness: shaping musical structures as the third mode of enactive representations was the
means whereby the composer made musical structures work for himself and hence created performative
power in his music.
Keywords Case studies, Music, Music information, Information representations, Musical semiotics,
Musical composition
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
For centuries the act of professional music composing has been held as pinnacle of creative
music behaviour within the Western cultural sphere. Moreover, knowledge production
in, through, and with art(Borgdorff, 2011, p. 44) has been under an intensive debate in
the recently emerged discipline of artistic research. However, little is known regarding the
information substance of the act of musical composition. In his work on musical semiotics,
Tarasti (1994) examines the different systems of description relevant to musical
communication. According to Tarasti (1994, p. 4), musical knowing transpires within
diverse sign systems of which some are inherently non-conceptual, such as gestural
language of music making and aural experiences of music. It is not self-evident how these
modes of music information should be defined when examining the information
substance of professional music composing. Studying the information substance of
musical composition could help to understand the complex creativity behind this
quintessential music behaviour. Prior to the present article, studies focussing on information
substance of musical composition have been scarce (see, however, Zembylas and
Niederauer, 2018).
The present article examines the modes of music information reflected in contemporary
classical music composers verbal description of a compositional process. We define
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 74 No. 5, 2018
pp. 987-1007
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-10-2017-0141
Received 9 October 2017
Revised 9 March 2018
Accepted 11 March 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
987
Modes of
music
information
information in its broadest sense as various kinds of entities that are being learnt in a social
context and are conveyed or represented by a particular arrangement or sequence of
different kinds of things, which again may be objects, actions, events, or thoughts. The aim
of the article is to demonstrate an actual compositional process that entails a diversity of
the pivotal music information modes and describe the way these modes contribute to the
creative aspirations of a composer. To this end, an explorative case study was conducted by
drawing on the music information typology proposed by Rousi et al. (2016) in order to
examine the roles of music information of different kinds in one compositional process by a
composer. The typology identified five modes of music information: music making as the
first mode of enactive representations; music listening as the second mode of enactive
representations; iconic representations of music; technological models of music as the first
mode of symbolic representations; and ideological models of music as the second mode of
symbolic representations. Once relevant music information modes have been identified from
the composer-informants verbal description of a compositional process, their proportions
and dynamics are examined. The informant of the study was an academically trained
Finnish composer engaging in modernistic aesthetics within the Western art music
tradition. The data of the case study consist of interviews and manuscripts that were
employed to track one compositional process of a professional composer in the studies of
Pohjannoro (2008, 2014, 2016). These studies also enable the process approach of the present
article by providing a framework for the review of the compositional process as comprising
of three stages.
The findings of the present article suggest that the above typology is fairly specific for
the needs of examining a real-life compositional process in that all five modes of information
could be identified from the composers verbal description as relevant constituents of the
compositional process. The findings revealed, however, that the typology is not sufficient
within this context as two additional modes of music-related information relevant to musical
composition were identified from the empirical data. In the composers verbal description,
the enactive modes were reflected not merely as the corporeality of playing an instrument
and as mental representations of musical sounds but also as inventing and shaping musical
passages, which proved to be the pivotal form of information in the compositional process.
Moreover, the reflections of the iconic mode may comprise visual perceptions and drawings.
The reflections of the symbolic modes may comprise not only the verbal manifestations of
musical tradition, such as analytical texts of aesthetics and music history, but also as the
whole notational work of creating several manuscript versions and the final notated score of
the piece.
The rest of this article is structured as follows. First, the problem of what constitutes as
music information is discussed and the music information typology developed by
Rousi et al. (2016) is introduced. Second, a literature review of related studies is presented
and the research design of our investigation is specified. What follows is the findings section
where both the specificity and sufficiency of the above music information typology are
examined. Additional modes of music information are presented and proportions of
identified information modes within the compositional process are also examined in the
findings section. The concluding section presents a revised music information typology
for musical composition and discusses the findings and their significance.
Music information typology
In their works on musicology and musical semiotics, Bengtsson (1977) and Tarasti (1994)
examine the different systems of description relevant to musical communication. According
to Bengtsson (1977), the concept of tone may refer to a notated tone, a measurable frequency
or an aural experience. Tarasti (1994, p. 4) adds also the gestural language (i.e. performing
music with instruments), which is needed to transform a notated tone into both a
988
JD
74,5

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