Composing in the community: Creative dialogues with the amateur music vernacular

Abstract

There is a tangible divide between community music making and contemporary repertoire in Britain today. One must ask why it is that so many composers seem unable (or unwilling) to produce vibrant, progressive, and artistically fulfilling music in amateur contexts. While there are numerous examples of good practice, this remains something of a niche field for the majority of twenty-first century composers. The goal of this research project is to find methods of negating barriers which might prevent composers from writing in amateur contexts, or likewise, amateurs from engaging with contemporary music. I ask to what extent the principles of amateur music making can underpin compositional technique, and explore how a composer can function as a force for expanding ideologies within community settings. These concerns are explored in a gallimaufry of contexts where varying degrees of collaboration blur the notion of an autonomous single author identity.
In responding to these research questions, I have created original music in scenarios where abstract, collaborative, and devised approaches have been employed respectively. These works highlight both areas of good practice, as well as common issues associated with composing for amateurs. Through this explorative work I have proposed a set of principles designed to alleviate such concerns and which a composer might employ when tasked with composing in community settings.

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