Depth: Composing through Schenker

Abstract

This article provides an insight into a composer’s creative process through a reflective understanding of the self (the composer as creator) and the other (the composer as analyst). In (re)presenting musical meaning by deconstructing the Schenkerian process of musical analysis, Depth explores the notion of crafting and unfolding the musical content of a creative task from a reverse paradigm of designing the components as if they already belong to a musical whole - the only difference is that the piece is yet to exist. What then would an ensuing piece sound like if the Foreground, Middleground and Background constructs have been delineated? What would the score look like and how would it sound “different” each time it is played? Depth evolves from these inquisitive ploys, to which it is now the object of reflection.