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Go To Hell : Towards a Gesture-Based Compositional Practice

Östersjö, Stefan LU (2016) In Contemporary Music Review 35(4-5). p.475-499
Abstract

This paper discusses musical gesture from an understanding of musical perception as embodied and enactive, also drawing specifically on Denis Smalley’s [(2007). Space-form and the acousmatic image. Organised Sound, 12(1), 35–58] analysis of performed space. I will provide examples of how choreographies (performed by musicians, with and without their instruments), new music (for Vietnamese and Western instruments), installations, and video art have all been drawn from analysis of gesture in Östersjö’s performance of the guitar composition Toccata Orpheus by Rolf Riehm [1990. Toccata Orpheus. Munich: Ricordi]. In Riehm’s piece, the bodily action of the performer is treated as an intentional compositional parameter and the notated... (More)

This paper discusses musical gesture from an understanding of musical perception as embodied and enactive, also drawing specifically on Denis Smalley’s [(2007). Space-form and the acousmatic image. Organised Sound, 12(1), 35–58] analysis of performed space. I will provide examples of how choreographies (performed by musicians, with and without their instruments), new music (for Vietnamese and Western instruments), installations, and video art have all been drawn from analysis of gesture in Östersjö’s performance of the guitar composition Toccata Orpheus by Rolf Riehm [1990. Toccata Orpheus. Munich: Ricordi]. In Riehm’s piece, the bodily action of the performer is treated as an intentional compositional parameter and the notated structure thus generates a specific choreography in performance. In Go To Hell, this approach is taken further towards the development of a gesture-based compositional practice, where composition is understood, not as the organisation of sound objects, but as the structuring of gestural-sonic objects [Godøy, R. I. (2006). Gestural-sonorous objects: Embodied extensions of schaeffer’s conceptual apparatus. Organised Sound, 11(2), 149–157; Östersjö, S. (2008). SHUT UP ‘N’ PLAY! Negotiating the musical work (PhD thesis). Lund University, Malmö].

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Embodied Cognition, Musical Gesture, Performer’s Analysis, Transcription
in
Contemporary Music Review
volume
35
issue
4-5
pages
25 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85009247746
ISSN
0749-4467
DOI
10.1080/07494467.2016.1257625
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8478b4b0-0a29-4e12-98de-90d577931b87
date added to LUP
2018-10-04 20:38:10
date last changed
2022-02-15 04:57:15
@article{8478b4b0-0a29-4e12-98de-90d577931b87,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper discusses musical gesture from an understanding of musical perception as embodied and enactive, also drawing specifically on Denis Smalley’s [(2007). Space-form and the acousmatic image. Organised Sound, 12(1), 35–58] analysis of performed space. I will provide examples of how choreographies (performed by musicians, with and without their instruments), new music (for Vietnamese and Western instruments), installations, and video art have all been drawn from analysis of gesture in Östersjö’s performance of the guitar composition Toccata Orpheus by Rolf Riehm [1990. Toccata Orpheus. Munich: Ricordi]. In Riehm’s piece, the bodily action of the performer is treated as an intentional compositional parameter and the notated structure thus generates a specific choreography in performance. In Go To Hell, this approach is taken further towards the development of a gesture-based compositional practice, where composition is understood, not as the organisation of sound objects, but as the structuring of gestural-sonic objects [Godøy, R. I. (2006). Gestural-sonorous objects: Embodied extensions of schaeffer’s conceptual apparatus. Organised Sound, 11(2), 149–157; Östersjö, S. (2008). SHUT UP ‘N’ PLAY! Negotiating the musical work (PhD thesis). Lund University, Malmö].</p>}},
  author       = {{Östersjö, Stefan}},
  issn         = {{0749-4467}},
  keywords     = {{Embodied Cognition; Musical Gesture; Performer’s Analysis; Transcription}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{4-5}},
  pages        = {{475--499}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Contemporary Music Review}},
  title        = {{Go To Hell : Towards a Gesture-Based Compositional Practice}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07494467.2016.1257625}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/07494467.2016.1257625}},
  volume       = {{35}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}