An art music composer may be inspired to write a piece after hearing a performance by a performer/improviser from a different culture or musical genre, such as a classical Indian musician/s, jazz musician/s or rock/pop musician/s. There may be an educational phase of the collaboration so that the composer can become better acquainted with the performer/improviser, the instrument and the subtleties of the musical tradition (see collaborative model 5.3.1.1. or refer to I. Whalley’s 2005 Journal article, "Traditional New Zealand Mäori Instruments, Composition and Digital Technology: Some Recent
Collaborations and Processes”).248 The composer may confront issues such as limitations of the performer’s/improviser’s traditional western notation reading ability, notational issues (in traditional western music notation),
language/communication problems and the potential need for translators, reliance on modern technology for communication, lack of face to face rehearsals, transportation of instruments for performances, funding, and the subtleties of non-western instruments. The performer/improviser may be credited as a co-composer. For a detailed account of this type of collaboration refer to Paul Humphrey’s journal article, “The Flowering of Gending Agbekor:
246 Diana Young, Patrick Nunn, and Artem Vassiliev, "Composing for Hyperbow: A Collaboration
between Mit and the Royal Academy of Music" (paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2006 conference on New interfaces for musical expression, 2006).
247 McNutt, "Performing Electroacoustic Music: A Wider View of Interactivity." 248
I. Whalley, "Traditional New Zealand Mäori Instruments, Composition and Digital Technology: Some Recent Collaborations and Processes," Organised Sound 10, no. 1 (2005).
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A Musical Collaboration with I Dewa Putu Berata.”249 This collaborative model is similar to other models listed above with the additional complication of cross- cultural relationships.
On closer inspection of these collaborative paradigms one can see that a question arises as to the role of the performer and whether they might undertake a compositional role. The issue of who should receive credit in a creative collaboration is very grey territory in art music composition. Further questions regarding crediting, include consideration of when does a performer change from a collaborator/editor to a co-composer? When a performer suggests the alteration of several sections in a work, should they be credited in the overall composition of the work? It may be a polite gesture on the composer’s behalf to credit their collaborator in the preface to the published score but, there is no rule or common practice that stipulates this as a requirement.
When popular artists collaborate to write a song it is not unusual for several people to be credited – these musicians may compose together or send each other compositional sketches with the understanding that each member can add or adjust existing sketch material.250 Often this is displayed as music by X, Y, Z and lyrics by A, B, C. In his book,Constraint, Collaboration and Creativity in Popular Songwriting Teams, Joe Bennett writes:
“The process of creating popular song differs significantly from that for the majority of instrumental art music in two important respects: firstly, it is a partly
249 Humphreys, "The Flowering of Gending Agbekor: A Musical Collaboration with I Dewa Putu Berata." 250 Joe Bennett, "Constraint, Collaboration and Creativity in Popular Songwriting Teams," Journal of
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literary act, songs having lyrics; secondly, it is extremely common for the composition to be co-written. Historically, around half of US and UK ‘hits’ are written by collaborative teams, most commonly comprising two individuals. At the time of writing (late 2010), current industry practice in the UK is for the majority of pop singles to be written collaboratively, with very few
contemporaneous top 10 hits being written by individuals.251
This sense of a collective composition is generally uncommon to the art music world, especially in published notated compositions, as there has always been a very strong sense of creator (composer) and interpreter (performer). Again Britten’s and Bream’s collaboration which resulted in the Nocturnal is a great example of the clear cut roles that a performer and composer may assume during and after the collaborative process.
In new music composition there can be instances during the collaborative process where a performer may play a phrase, melodic idea or harmony, as part of their warm up, which captures the composers attention and thus becomes part of the
compositional fabric (refer to section 6.5 of this thesis.)252 Does this mean that the performer unintentionally composed part of that section of the work? It leads one to ponder; if a performer is improvising and a composer notates a portion of the
improvisation and incorporates it in the formal structure of their composition, who is to be credited with that section of the composition? Very often during collaborative sessions, a performer will play through sketches provided by the composer, as well as improvise on these sketches in order to show the composer different tones, timbres and
251 Ibid. 139. 252
Lentz, "Ingwe from ‘Mysterium’ (“Caeli Enarrant...” Vii) for Solo Electric Guitar (2003–2009) Performed by Zane Banks."
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extended techniques.253 If the composer then alters their sketches to incorporate elements of the performer’s improvisation, should the performer be credited as a co- composer? This is something that composers and performers should consider, especially when having one’s name listed as a co-composer with the relevant collecting agencies ensures royalty payments. Improvisation is not regarded with the same compositional reverence in the art music world as it is in the jazz254, rock and non-Western music communities.255 Although improvisation in rock and jazz is highly respected, and performers have become famous for certain improvisations, such as Mile Davis’ 1955 improvisation over Ray Henderson’s and Mort Dixon’s Bye Bye Blackbird (1926), unless the performer has written the song which they are improvising over, in most circumstances, the performers (improvisers) will not receive any royalty payments for their improvisation.
It is understandable that composers may feel a performer’s suggestions of several note alterations throughout a composition do not require crediting. However, what if the performer had a more influential role on the composer’s choice of notes, chords and orchestration? One of the most famous composer/performer collaborative partnerships of the nineteenth century was that of Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) and Joseph Joachim (1831–1907). The two had a close friendship which lasted from 1853– 1897, and although Brahms did not always employ every suggestion which Joachim made, he still highly valued his comments and critique256: “Brahms relied upon and
253
Michael Hooper, "The Start of Performance, or, Does Collaboration Matter? ," Tempo 66, no. 261 (2012): 29.
254 Lewis Porter, "John Coltrane's "a Love Supreme": Jazz Improviation as Composition," Journal of the
American Musicological Society 38, no. 3 (1985): 620–21.
255 R Keith Sawyer, "Improvised Conversations: Music, Collaboration, and Development," Psychology of
Music 27, no. 2 (1999): 193.
256 Holde et al., "Suppressed Passages in the Brahms-Joachim Correspondence Published for the First
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deeply trusted Joachim not only for his violinistic opinions but also for his questions about form and orchestration.”257
Exactly how many suggestions Brahms acted on we may never know but it is clear that Joachim did have an impact on the final outcome of Brahms’s violin compositions.258
This represents a very close form of collaboration which is often supported by an enduring friendship. Brahms’ D Major, Violin Concerto Opus 77 is dedicated to Joachim, and the International Music Company edition includes a cadenza written by Joachim – which can be purchased separately – however, Joachim is not listed as a co-composer or even a collaborator on the score of the work.259
It is fair to say that it would take, at the very least, several artistic collaborations and a deep mutual respect between a composer and performer before the composer would consider granting the performer the right to make alterations to their
composition. One would hope that the composer would seriously consider any
suggestions that a performer made regarding the work, and in the event that a passage is completely impossible to execute, that they work closely together to find a solution that is as faithful to the composers’ artistic vision as possible. Artistic collaborations can be lengthy and time consuming projects which require great commitment from both the composer and performer. Most often, successful collaborative projects are born out of a composer and a performer who have both been brought together by a common artistic vision.260 It is hoped that the collaborative partnership and final result will be of benefit to all parties involved, as well as the art music community. One of the most essential
257
I-Chun. Hsieh, "Performance of the Violin Concerto and Sonata by Johannes Brahms with an Analysis of Joseph Joachim’s Influence on the Violin Concerto." (University of Maryland, 1997), 17.
258 B. Schwarz, "Joseph Joachim and the Genesis of Brahms's Violin Concerto," The Musical Quarterly
69, no. 4 (1983): 513–24.
259
Johannes Brahms, "Violin Concerto in D Major Opus 77," ed. Zino Francescatti (New York: International Music Company, 1971).
260
Sam Hayden and Luke Windsor, "Collaboration and the Composer: Case Studies from the End of the 2oth Century," Tempo 61, no. 240 (2007): 38.
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ingredients for a successful collaboration between the composer and performer is perhaps the most obvious one: compatible personalities.261 If the composer and
performer share a similar artistic and musical vision, then the collaborative process can be exhilarating and greatly rewarding however, this does not ensure that the resulting composition will be received well by audiences. Alternatively, even if the collaborative process is a gruelling and laborious task and there is constant friction between
participants it does not necessarily mean that the resulting composition will be a failure.262
261
N. Perlove and S. Cherrier, "Transmission, Interpretation, Collaboration-a Performer's Perspective on the Language of Contemporary Music: An Interview with Sophie Cherrier," Perspectives of New Music (1998): 52.
262
Hayden and Windsor, "Collaboration and the Composer: Case Studies from the End of the 2oth Century," 38–39.
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6 Chapter 6: Georges Lentz’s Ingwe: My Experience as a
Collaborator and Performer
People probably are in general very surprised that someone like me would write for electric guitar because they don’t see me as someone who has interacted much in the past with popular music263 – Georges Lentz