ABSTRACT

Every composer, by notating an idea – whether in the form of a traditional, graphic or a text score – declares an intention; even if a composer states that he or she does not have a specific reason for writing a piece, nevertheless the writing of the piece expresses the intention to create a work. Submitting something to the world, whether it has a ‘message’ or not, constitutes the artistic will to articulate a work. Importantly for what follows in this chapter, this is clear even if one is not able to pinpoint easily the (sonic) identity of a work or perceive it as a personal manifestation of the composer. It is also true that even if one chooses not to see a composition as a composer’s personal articulation, that intention still exists.1 Whether one believes in such a post-modernist point of view or not, it is not difficult to see that there are a multiplicity of ways in which art is perceived. All these points underline the fact that a single clear reaction to one composition is unlikely.