The Role of the Composer (Part I)

Abstract

C. Technical Aspects of the Role of the Composer. 1) Nature of the Compositional Process. Nettl has pointed out that the ideas of pre-literate peoples range (where composition is concerned) between the conceptions of craft and inspiration (Nettl 1956:19). In the West the craft concept prevailed preRomantic times. The idea of inspiration has been with us since then (Hauser 1957:III, 83). A number of modern American composers conceive the compositional to be a mixture of the two, i.e., the more or less mysterious inspiration and the mostly conscious craft. This is how one American composer described his work: See, there are two kinds of creativity. One is having this slender thing-the seed, the germ, the thing which you can't look for. It has to come to you. The other is an intellectual creativity which requires intense concentration and sustained hours and hours or work. If you don't have both of them you can't put over (Nash 1954:182). Composers in process show a wide range of feeling states. For example, one of Rasmussen's Eskimo informants says: All songs come to man when he is alone the great solitude. They come to him the wake of tears, of tears that spring from the deep recesses of the heart, or they come to him suddenly accompnaied by joy and laughter (Quoted by Radin 1955:6). On the other hand, an American composer who spoke about the of composition said: There's a feeling of normal excitement with it (Nash 1954:182). The data at hand suggest that the greater the affect which accompanies composition the more likely is the idea of inspiration to prevail. The association of these two factors may prove to be a key to the local view of music, e.g., whether is a form of affective expression, and this turn may prove to be an important introduction to the psychology of a people. In the western world the composition of serious music has tended to be a solitary act. The image of the solitary composer undoubtedly received considerable impetus from the individualist-subjectivist values of the Romantic period, but the advent of written musical notation and the specialization of labor the musical also were contributing factors. The result: the modern composer has his solitude, but the musical lies ruins about him. This situation stands stark contrast to that of the Chopi composer mentioned above (Tracey 1948:4-6). In those pre-literate societies where the composer as a specialist begins to be recognizable (as Chopi) composition is much more of a collective enterprise. This tends to reinforce the community of musical experience within the musical and make hang together. In this way the Folk condition may be retained despite considerable social differentiation. Solitude under such conditions might lead to the destruction of all that.' The art of composition differs from some of the other creative arts that usually requires performance and technical apparatus if is to be 187

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