Creativity in Art Music Composition

Abstract

This thesis investigates what it means to call art music composition creative. Research into the concept of creativity has taken place mostly in science-based disciplines and is reviewed for its relevance. Discussions on what may constitute the foundations of creativity in music are conducted. Musical creativity is not bounded by normativity, consistency, truth-boundedness, optimization or effability for its recognition and is largely aesthetic. Current research methods are mainly explanatory, objective and analytic, and necessarily fall short in understanding musical creativity. It thereby undermines the validity of these methods when used to justify one’s understanding. The undermining invariably takes place by disrupting logical and reasonable expectations. The significance of this research is that it attempts to find and describe essences of the subject matter, the effect of which actually disrupts grounds for finding essences in the first place. It no longer seeks to explain creativity in musical composition. This thesis argues that creativity in art music composition is better understood through philosophical phenomenology than through analysis, where evidence as experience and description naturally includes aesthetic considerations. What composers say is made potentially helpful to understand their musical creativity. They are approached using an interview technique where problem solving, truth-boundedness, optimization and reasonable causality are set aside as essential precepts. Responses are interpreted intuitively to reveal essences present. Trains of thought that reveal essential properties in interview content are intuited. They show that communication is a prominent essence to motivation for being creative. Perceptual attitudes and experiences are often provoked by disruption to sonic expectation. Creativity in art music composition then becomes a generic initial step in the way it communicates and inspires through playing with musical expectation.