Qualitative, Pragmatic and Hermeneutic Inquiries in Electroacoustic Compositions: Selected Case Studies

The music composers of today have to define their composition techniques anew within their every composition project. Instead of resorting to existing forms and techniques, a composer sees an empty canvas ahead of them every time they start a new project: among other things, they need to find an answer to the question how to define the overall form of the composition, as well as a working system of selecting the rhythms and pitch material? When talking about musical works based on complex forms that may also include an electronic real-time system, discussing the analytical basis preceding the actual compositional stage is inevitable. I argue that music analysis and composing go hand in hand: in order to build up a musical system that works in a coherent manner, a thorough pre-structuring phase must be conducted. This chapter highlights this issue through practice-based, qualitatively discussed case studies from the composer’s perspective.