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Indeterminacy As Social Practice In Contemporary Art Music, Lauren V. Coons

Music ETDs

This work examines the social practice element of contemporary indeterminate music. Through historical and critical research, and analysis of some contemporary indeterminate works, I provide a view of indeterminacy as a subversive experimental music practice that challenges both the forms of alienation present in Western art-music culture and the concepts and power structures that have contributed to them. I compare and contrast indeterminacy with other terms and concepts related to “open works,” specifically aleatory, chance, and improvisation. A discussion of various philosophical viewpoints regarding the concept of the musical “work” and the role of the composer reveal ways in which …