ONLINE FIRST
published on July 27, 2023
Tristan McKay
https://doi.org/10.5840/ajs202372489
Conceptual Palettes as Sites of Creative Negotiation in Leah Asher¡¯s TRAPPIST-1
In this paper, I consider the creation and performance of Leah Asher¡¯s TRAPPIST-1 (2017), a solo piano work in graphic notation that I commissioned and premiered. Musical works that utilize open notations often have a complex relationship to the work-concept and, in turn, an elusive ontology. I consider the role of conceptual palettes as significant sites in the creative process where ontological boundaries are delineated. I analyze four sites in the creation of TRAPPIST-1¡ªfrom project proposal to premiere performance¡ªwhere conceptual palettes play a dynamic role in narrowing, restricting, and guiding the identity of the work. Using Jakobson¡¯s notion of the poetic function and Harkness¡¯s concept of qualic transitivity, I show that conceptual palettes facilitate performance as highly cu?rated acts of translation not just of open notations but also of intangible concepts.