markus heuger's
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Beabliography

Abstract and Summary 0104

Heinonen, Yrjö (1995), Elämyksestä ideaksi — ideasta musiikiksi. Sävellysprosessin yleinen malli ja sen soveltaminen Beatles-yhtyeen laulunteko-ja äänitysprosessiin. [From experience to an idea — from an idea to music. A general model of the compositional process and its application to the songwriting and recording process of the Beatles.] Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskykä, 1995 (Jyväskylä Studies in the Arts, 48 — Ph.D. Dissertation).

Abstract: Heinonen's thesis is based on three previously-published studies and the summary below. A general model of the compositional process is outlined and it is applied to the songwriting and recording process of the Beatles. The model is based both on a cognitive theory of human action and a psycho-analytic theory of the processes which underly human behaviour. The model consists of two descriptions. The first is a stage-by-stage description of a typical compositional process, comprising at the most general level the following stages: precomposition, composition proper, and revision. The second description consists at the most general level of the following contextual factors: culture and historical situation (communal factors), personality traits and life situation (individual factors), and compositional task plus compositional conditions (compositional factors). The function of the contextual factors is to explain the deviations found in the individual compositional processes, as compared with the typical one. Both descriptions are considered to be inseparable parts of the model. The applied section of the study begins with summaries of the previously-published studies:

Study I: Heinonen, Yrjö (1992), "Abstraktiset ja konkreettiset mallit The Beatles-yhtyeen musiikissa." [Abstract and concrete models in the music of the Beatles.] In: Etnomusikologian vuosikirja, 1991-1992, 4, 5-55. [Summary]
Study II: Heinonen, Yrjö (1994), "Ideastä äänitteeksi. "Tyypillisen" Lennon-McCartney — sävelmän "tyypillinen" kirjoitus-ja äänitysprosessi" [From idea to album. "Typical" writing and recording process of a "typical" Lennon-McCartney song].|In: E. Pekkilä (ed.), Etnomusikologian vuosikirja, 1994, 6, 147-187. [Summary]
Study III: Heinonen, Yrjö (1995), "Michelle, ma belle — lauluntekeminen psyykkisten ristiriitojen sovittajana."In": Jaakko Erkkilä and Yrjö Heinonen (eds.), Teoksessa Avaa mielesi musiikille! Kohti tutki muspohjaista musiikkiterapiaa. Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopiston musiikkitieteen lai, 1995. [Summary]

In the first study, Heinonen explores to what degree certain models of the Lennon-McCartney ballad 'Michelle' were "only" stylistic, and to what degree it is reasonable to assume a direct influence between a certain model and 'Michelle'. In study II the typical writing and recording process of a typical Lennon-McCartney song was described, and certain contextual factors were also examined. In study III the genesis of 'Michelle' was described using the stage-by-stage description outlined in study II. Further, the autobiographical background of 'Michelle', as well as of certain other McCartney songs was examined. The summaries are followed by a brief review of the cultural and musico-historical context in which the Beatles were founded, in which they functioned and which they influenced. The applied section of the study ends with a brief review of the personalities of Lennon and McCartney, as well as of some normative and non-normative processes and events (life-span, group processes, losing loved ones, meeting influential persons) and their influence on the songwriting and recording process. In conclusion it may be stated that the general model of the compositional process — including both the stage-by-stage description and the contextual factors — works quite well as a frame of reference when applied to the songwriting and recording process of the Beatles.

Summary: The thesis is based on three previously-published studies, referred to in the text by their Roman numerals, and on this summary. A general model of the compositional process is outlined in the theoretical part of the study. This model is applied to the songwriting and recording process of the Beatles in the applied part of the study. The general model of the compositional process consists of a description of the stages of a typical compostional process and a description of typical contextual factors influenting the process. At the most general level three stages are distinguished: precomposition, composition (proper), and revision. In a wide sense the precompositional stage covers the whole learning process (enculturation), but in a narrower sense it means only the preparational activities concerning a new composition. The compositional stage proper comprises an initial phase (ideation, experimentation), an actualizing phase (outlining and shaping), and a terminal phase (evaluating and revising). The revision stage is divided into the corrections made to a composition after its premiere or publication (narrow sense) and the influence of a certain compositional process on the later stylistical development of the composer (wider sense).

Regarding the compositional context both communal and individual factors are distinguished and examined at three levels: the structural level, the level of change, and the specifically musical level. Culture represents communal factors at the structural level, while historical process represents them at the level of change. The personality traits of the composer represent individual factors at the structural level, while the normative life-span and more unexpected life-situations represent them at the level of change. At the specifically musical level two clusters of factors are differentiated: compositional task and compositional conditions. The compositional task is determined by the structural features of the composition to be composed, the most important factor being its complexity. The compositional conditions are such factors as the familiarity of the task, the amount of time the composer is allowed to spend on it, the musicians available and so forth. Both the factors representing the structural level and the level of change are assumed to influence the compositional process only through the specifically musical level.

The first section of the applied part of the thesis consists of summaries of the previously-published studes. The second section deals with the contextual factors with respect to the songwriting and recording process of the Beatles. Firstly, the cultural and musico-historical context in which the Beatles was founded, in which it functioned and which it influenced, is reviewed. The aim of this review is to show how certain questions examined in studies I and II are connected with the communal contextual factors of the general model of the compositional process. The rest of the applied part of the study deals on the one hand with the personality structures of Lennon and McCartney, on the other with the normative and non-normative factors having influence on the songwriting and recording process. The function of this chapter is to show how certain questions examined in studies II and III are connected with the individual factors (and with the interaction of the communal and individual factors) of the general model of compositional process.

As a general conclusion it may be stated that the general model of the compositional process outlined in the theoretical part of the study — including both the stage-description and the contextual factors — serves quite well as a frame of reference when applied to the songwriting and recording processes of the Beatles.