« Can musical gesture be theorized? A study of composers’ writings and music criticism in the second half of 20th-century »

     Communication dispensée par Anne-Sylvie BARTHEL-CALVET (membre du GREAM) dans le cadre du workshop « Die Musik der Gesten », à Humboldt-Universität de Berlin (Allemagne), le 1er avril 2016 de 10h00 à 10h45.

     As a complex and polysemous concept used nowadays in abounding  - and sometimes clichéd – ways in composition, performance and musicology, ‘musical gesture’ is reliant on several factors, involving the historical conditions of its emergence at the end of the fifties, the crossings and potential influences of several disciplinary perspectives (from humanities and cultural studies to human-computer interaction), and even ‘ideological’ point of views of composers concerning this ubiquitous notion in current discourse on musical creation and performance.

     Considering the multiple meanings of this word, this paper aims at examining the unfolding of its theorization on compositional standpoint. It will turn the spotlight on landmarks like the first attempts in gesture theorization by composers Schnebel and Berio, related to their own compositional practice, the moment then where gesture became a genuine catchword especially in the french review Musique en Jeu and in the debates of the Tel Quel group, and, as a critical turning point, the construing of gesture in music technology. Questioning theoretical texts and composers pamphlets will involve opening up a dialogue with their cultural and intellectual background and bringing to light the connections between different disciplinary approaches around gesture notion. From this study of gesture related to its context in an historical overview, it will be possible to highlight the red fades of its evolution, even in its contradictory aspects.