Music as Collective Invention: A Social Network Analysis of Composers

Abstract

Composers generally write music alone, and we commonly understand the great figures of classical music as singular geniuses. Even where composers' social networks and friendships are of contextual interest, it is arguable that their association with other musicians arises because they choose to socialize with similar others. However, it is also possible that creative work, even for artists as solitary as composers, depends significantly on interaction and collaboration. Certain periods and places are considered hotspots of creativity where new musical ideas are shared and movements arise. In this paper we consider the case of British classical composition, both as an example of a music network, and to contribute to debates in music history.

Socio-material network analysis: A mixed method study of five European artistic collectives

“…With this in mind, I focus my empirical inquiry on artistic collectives. Creatives have been the subject of network analysis before (Basov et al, 2016;Comunian, 2011;Crossley, 2009;De Nooy, 1999McAndrew and Everett, 2015). Although the relation between the social and the material is clearly not limited to small groups of visual artists sharing spaces which I analyze, such a setting allows a close ethnographic examination of how social structure molds materiality within a reasonable 5 amount of resources.…”

Sons para lá do palco. Estratégias para a gestão de carreiras DIY na cena musical independente portuguesa

“…Se por um lado é mais fácil fazer música, tal não significa necessariamente que seja mais fácil viver dela. Remetendo-nos para a dimensão relacional e coletiva da música (Guerra, 2015;Crossley & Bottero, 2015;Crossley, McAndrew, & Widdop, 2014;Mcandrew & Everett, 2015), uma quarta estratégia essencial à construção e manutenção de uma carreira na música é a promoção de redes, de relações e de contactos (23%). É, assim, salientada a importância de estar associado a núcleos de artistas e de conhecer as pessoas certas, aquelas que podem gerar oportunidades.…”

SOCIO-MATERIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS: A Mixed Method Study of Five European Artistic Collectives. Social Networks

“…With this in mind, I focus my empirical inquiry on artistic collectives. Creatives have been the subject of network analysis before (Basov et al, 2016;Comunian, 2011;Crossley, 2009;De Nooy, 1999McAndrew and Everett, 2015). Although the relation between the social and the material is clearly not limited to small groups of visual artists sharing spaces which I analyze, such a setting allows a close ethnographic examination of how social structure molds materiality within a reasonable amount of resources.…”