Indeterminate notation and interpretation

Laying the foundations for an epistemology of practice in current indeterminate experimental works

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24215/18530494e057

Keywords:

interpretation, experimental music, semiotics, musical sign, technical reproduction

Abstract

This study examines the connection between the performance of experimental music and the context that frames it. Although a realization supposes a creative process that depends on the musician who carries it out, the elaboration occurs more in function of the references that the same context produces. It is then understood that this type of repertoire has a stabilized epistemology of practice, a system of signs circumscribed to the demands of a style referenced by discography that sustains a problematic mode of production for this type of work: the reflex act (Alvear, 2021). To address it, I will take as example one of the pages of singularidad #1 (2016), piece by Chilean composer Santiago Astaburuaga, which is examined through a device that intermingles the semiotic theory of Charles Peirce and three types of signs, icons, indexes, and symbols; Walter Benjamin's theory of technical reproduction; and the notion of technique elaborated by Ben Spatz. The objective is to show that understanding the epistemology of interpretation involves laying the foundations for a process of exploration, in accordance with the concept of indeterminacy, of the possibilities of an experimental work.

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Author Biography

Cristián Alvear, Universidad Católica de Chile

Cristián Alvear is a Chilean musician (Osorno, 1979) dedicated to the interpretation and research of experimental music. As a performer, his work has been published on international labels dedicated to the dissemination of experimental music in Europe, America and Asia. He has a Bachelor of Arts with a Mention in Interpretation (2008) and a Master's Degree in Interpretation (2018) from the University of Chile. He is currently a PhD candidate for the Doctorate in Arts program with a Mention in Music at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in which he investigates the interpretive processes in experimental works composed during the 21st century.

References

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Published

2023-12-15

How to Cite

Alvear, C. (2023). Indeterminate notation and interpretation: Laying the foundations for an epistemology of practice in current indeterminate experimental works. Epistemus. Journal of Studies in Music, Cognition & Culture, 11(2), 057. https://doi.org/10.24215/18530494e057

Issue

Section

Artículos originales de investigación