Virtual Works – Actual Things

Beyond musical works: new perspectives on music ontology and performance

What are musical works? How are they constructed in our minds? Which material things allow us to speak about them in the first place? Does a specific way of conceiving musical works limit their performative potentials? Which alternative, more productive images of musical work can be devised?

Virtual Works – Actual Things addresses contemporary music ontological discourses, challenging dominant musicological accounts, questioning their authoritative foundation and moving towards dynamic perspectives devised by music practitioners and artist researchers. Specific attention is given to the relationship between the virtual multiplicities that enable the construction of an image of a musical work and the actual, concrete materials that make such a construction possible. With contributions by prominent scholars, this book is a wide-ranging and fascinating collection of essays, which will be of great interest for artistic research, contemporary musicology, music philosophy, performance studies and music pedagogy alike.

Ebook available in Open Access.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Contributors: David Davies (McGill University, Montreal), Andreas Dorschel (University of the Arts Graz), Lydia Goehr (Columbia University, New York), Kathy Kiloh (OCAD University, Toronto), Jake McNulty (Columbia University, New York), Gunnar Hindrichs (University of Basel), John Rink (University of Cambridge)

"Virtual Works – Actual Things" was written by David Davies, Andreas Dorschel, Lydia Goehr, Kathy Kiloh, Jake McNulty, Gunnar Hindrichs and John Rink.

"Virtual Works – Actual Things" was edited by Paulo de Assis.

Paulo de Assis is artist researcher (pianist, composer, music philosopher) and research fellow at the Orpheus Institute.

Yes, "Virtual Works – Actual Things" is part of the "Orpheus Institute Series" series.

Throughout the Orpheus Institute’s various activities there is a clear focus on the development of a new research discipline in the arts, one that addresses questions and topics that are at the heart of musical practice, building on the unique expertise and perspectives of musicians and in constant dialogue with more established research disciplines.

Within this context, the Orpheus Institute launched an international Research Centre in 2007 that acts as a stable constituent within an ever-growing field of enquiry. The Orpheus Research Centre is a place where musical artists can fruitfully conduct individual and collaborative research on issues that are of concern to all involved in artistic practice. It is important that at the centre of the international Orpheus Institute network is a place, a building, a community. As the concepts and methodologies of artistic research in music have evolved, work at Orpheus Institute has found new structures. Since 2012, research has been consolidated into a number of groups focused on specific areas, each led by a principal investigator of substantial international reputation as a practicing musician. The work of Orpheus Institute is disseminated through events, publications and musical performances, and through its active animation of discussion within the sector.

This series of peer-reviewed publications —launched in 2013— encompasses monographs by Research Fellows and associates of the Orpheus Institute, compilations of lectures, texts, and performances from seminars and study days, and edited volumes on topics arising from work at the institute. Research can be presented in digital media as well as printed texts. As a whole, the series is meant to enhance and advance discourse in the field of artistic research in music and to generate future work in this emerging and vital area of study.

Editorial board

William Brooks (Chair, Series Editor), Peter Dejans, Jonathan Impett, Kathleen Coessens, Paulo de Assis, Heike Vermeire, Ed Crooks, Laura Cull, Aurelie Daems

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editor William Brooks.
Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Yes, "Virtual Works – Actual Things" is published Open Access. It is available under a BY-NC-ND license.

Introduction Paulo de Assis
Virtual Works—Actual Things Paulo de Assis
Locating the Performable Musical Work in Practice: A Non-Platonist Interpretation of the “Classical Paradigm” David Davies
Towards a General Theory of Musical Works and Musical Listening Gunnar Hindrichs
The Work of the Performer John Rink
Music as Play: A Dialogue Andreas Dorschel
What Anyway Is a “Music Discomposed”? Reading Cavell through the Dark Glasses of Adorno Lydia Goehr
Three Responses to Lydia Goehr’s Essay “What Anyway Is a ‘Music Discomposed’?” Lydia Goehr Response 1 What Is a Music Dis-discomposed? Kathy Kiloh Response 2 Krenek, Cage, and Stockhausen in Cavell’s “Music Discomposed” Jake McNulty Response 3 Stanley Cavell’s “Music Discomposed” at 52 Paulo de Assis
Appendix The International Orpheus Academy for Music and Theory 2016: Concerts and Installations
Notes on Contributors
Index