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NARRATIVES OF ORIGINALITY IN COMPETITIVE COMPOSITION OPPORTUNITIES FOR ‘EMERGING COMPOSERS’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2017

Neil Thomas Smith  and
Rachel Thwaites
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Abstract

This article investigates the tension between originality and success for ‘emerging composers’ involved in composition opportunities in the British contemporary classical music scene. It utilises survey responses from 47 new music composers to better understand their experiences of these very public signs of compositional success. Though the narrative of the original artist is still significant, conflicts arise between ‘uniqueness’ and the realities of the composition opportunity. Composers aspire to be original, but are aware that a number of other, more instrumental, factors play a crucial role in being chosen. Despite the continuing importance of opportunities to many composers’ development, there are areas that could be made more transparent to ensure they are benefitting an aesthetically diverse range of artists.

Type
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Information
Tempo , Volume 72 , Issue 283 , January 2018 , pp. 45 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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References

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10 For the purposes of our survey the opportunity was given the following definition: ‘A scheme devised and run by an organisation – be it an arts charity, administrative body, or ensemble – that sets out to provide ‘emerging’ composers with the means to develop their practice and/or expand their professional network. While this can at times take the form of a commission, it is not intended to cover regular orchestral/ensemble commissions for ‘professional’ composers. Usually, these schemes will contain a competitive element and, for the purposes of this study, the term ‘composition opportunity’ will not refer to non-competitive experiences gained within undergraduate courses at Higher Education institutions’.

11 Further results of this study are to be treated in our forthcoming article, ‘The Composition of Precarity: “Emerging' Composers” Experiences of Opportunity Culture in Contemporary Classical Music’.

12 Incorporated Society of Musicians, Composers (2016): An ISM Report. Available at: www.ism.org/composing.

13 Sound and Music, Sound and Music Commissioning Report (2014), available at www.soundandmusic.org/projects/sound-and-music-commissioning-report and Sound and Music Composer Commissioning Survey Report (2015), available at http://soundandmusic.org/sites/default/files/projects/files/Commissioning%20Report%202015_0.pdf.

14 We asked for composers who either self-defined as ‘emerging’ or who felt they had been an emerging composer within the last five years. Six of these composers chose not to provide demographic data. Therefore, of 41 composers, the majority were under the age of 35, with 28 falling into the 25–34 age bracket and four into the 18–24 age bracket. Seven were 35–44 and two were over the age of 55. Nearly 70% of the sample was male, with just over 30% female; no one selected any other gender category. Our sample was also predominantly white British, with 70% defining themselves as part of this ethnic category. Almost 83% live in the United Kingdom, and we had a clustering of people based in Scotland and in London, which may well be down to the nature of our networks. It was also a well-educated sample, with nearly 78% having either a Masters degree or a PhD. We supplemented this sample with email correspondence with four established composers, to provide some context to the current status of opportunity culture and their views on whether and in what ways it had changed over time.

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16 We develop this in ‘The Composition of Precarity’.

17 Though critics argue such innovation is rarely achieved, see Born, Rationalizing Culture, p. 319.

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20 Malcomson, ‘Composing Individuals’, p. 135.

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