Collaboration as compositional process : a transdisciplinary perspective

• Main Author: Styles, Luke
• Published: City, University of London 2016
• Subjects: 780.9; M Music
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.705015

The aim of this research is to investigate the process of creating four non-vocal and two operatic works. In order to meet this aim, collaboration and transdisciplinarity were identified as common features in each of the works. Collaboration occurred with musicians and artists from other disciplines. The theory of transdisciplinarity has been applied to understand how my music might combine with the various elements within a work to form an autonomous synthesis. Collaboration and transdisciplinarity are contextualised in respect to my works and the works of other selected 20th and 21st century composers. How I perceive opera and its dramatic source is examined in works by composers from the 18th to 20th centuries. I created all of the compositions for the theatre and therefore certain aspects of acting techniques also form part of this research, particularly the ideas of Artaud, Brook and Stanislavsky. A series of six case studies reveals the nature of collaboration and working relationships in each creative process. They also consider where the works could be seen from a transdisciplinary perspective. I interrogate my compositional process and its products through practice-based research, to these ends. Results reveal different forms of collaboration with instrumentalists, non-musician performers and directors. Collaboration in workshops is seen to enable the connection between elements in the works to take place towards a sense of transdisciplinarity. This research has enabled me to reflect on and analyse my creative process, provide a context from which I may look back at my previous work and indicate how I may wish to continue making work in the future.