Comparative Sketch Studies and the "Hidden Concepts" of the creative process in music

Faced to a more and more digitalized world the interest in artists manuscripts is still growing. Sometimes it is the mystic rising of an idea and its often unexpected development, sometimes it is a surprising simple reason that can be seen as the basis of a complex structure, and sometimes it is just the material or ,aisthetic‘ dimension of a manuscript that leads a creative process.

The particular interest in musical manuscripts is mainly connected to the discovery of Beethoven's sketch-books. From the mid of the nineteenth century scholars started to investigate these documents from different perspectives. More or less intended they elaborated specific questions and new scholarly approaches. With a growing amount of studies concerning Beethoven, Mozart, and other composers manuscripts this research development became an inherent part of musicology. After the scholarly discourse shifted to the United States in the 1960th a new scientific field called sketch studies has been occurred, including new methodological and theoretical approaches. In todays sketch studies one can observe a new impulse from French literary studies under the topic of critique génétique. A so called genetic criticism emerges in musicological sketch studies and open up a wide horizon for scholarly approaches.

These differentiated investigations on composers manuscripts evolve an amount of research questions and methods. It is obvious that this tradition of investigating sketches has elaborated different methodological approaches and it is needed to have a look at these works to reflect the methodological consequences and their scholarly value. A comparative view on sketch studies over the history of more than 150 years can evaluate particular approaches, and initiate a theoretical discourse about investigating sketches. A reflecting view on methodology in musical sketch studies can finally draw different models of the creative process in music based on investigating composers manuscripts.

My presentation will outline the main methodological key aspects in the history of musical sketch studies. It starts with the first investigations of sketches by G. Nottebohm and P. Spitta in the nineteenth century, followed by investigations concerning the physiology of script and paper by L. Schiedermair, P. Mies, J. Schmidt-Görg etc., and goes until the first Gesamtausgaben of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven in the first half of the twentieth century. The first half of the development of sketch studies was affected by chronological interest. In connection with this interest in assigning a detailed history of the origin of a musical work or œvre one can see different methodological “proofs“ of the compositional process. Ranging from physiological aspects of the paper or complete miscellany to graphological assumptions of the individual hand-script it seems that scholars had a teleologic model in mind when they tried to reconstruct the creative process. They pointed on a more often ’mystical‘ first idea, a logically continuative development, and a final authorized version. A so called ’historical model’ of the creative process in music is still alive in todays research particular in critical editions. In the 1960th/70th the scholarly discourse was relocated in musicological institutions in the United States. Within the 1970th and 80th American musicologist pushed further the methodological criteria of investigating composers manuscripts (e.g. L. Loockwood, A.Tyson, J. Kerman etc.), and discussed their analytical value (J. Kerman, D. P. Johnson, C. Schachter etc.). The focussed discussion about the philological facture, the chronological as well as analytical value of sketches in musicological contexts has shown sharp distinctions in the developed methodological and theoretical concepts. Based on these discussions and new self-conception the field of sketch studies became a regular part of todays musicology. This development with a delay of a decade has an initial resonance in the European particular in the German musicology. Investigations for example by U. Konrad (1992) have shown a differentiated use off and view on sketches in music history and music analysis contexts. Furthermore in the first decade of the twenty first century there can be observed some new paradigmatic shifts concerning the understanding of the creative process in music. One the one hand psychology based models of the musical creation are presented (C. Bullerjahn, N. Cook, E. Clarke etc.) integrating empirical methods and new technological measuring. Sketches are still discussed in these contexts but the focus is on the action and the cognitive structures of the artist’s behaviour. These concepts generate the basis of a so called ,psychological model‘ of the creative process that follows in general a teleologic structure but includes feedback circuits and reflexive situations of choice and decision. This model open up a more action orientated understanding of the process, as well as cognitive structures of explorative or creative action in artistic contexts. The last decade finally educed an auspicious approach in sketch studies that tries to adopt the facilities provided by critique génétique. Faced to the artist’s artefacts genetic criticism asks for the genesis of a structure. This approach focusses on the genesis of tiny aspects of one notation or a musical idea by asking for the conditions for and the participants of the process, comparing different possible ways including detours or alternatives, and finally including all possible actants independently from their medial constitution. Thus we can draw an approach that seems to have a concept of the creative process in music that is a ,non-teleologic’ one. A model that brings points of decision, interaction between different participants (human or non human like the notation material, listening situation etc.), or the individual constitution to light.

My paper will present an overview of the historical development of sketch studies, a choice of investigations to analyse their methodological techniques, and the different models of the creative process in music hidden in the background of these approaches. A comparative investigation of sketch based studies in music can help to elaborate a theory of sketch studies. A theory that capture the relation between sources, methods, scholarly interest, and epistemic outcome. Furthermore such a concept can be the basis for advanced approaches take into account medial peculiarity, empiric set-ups, or an more action orientated concept of the creative process.