The Performer-Composer: A Practice in Interrelation

Thomas Aurlund Lossius

A simultaneous role of performer and composer is crucial in a vast number of artistic praxises. In this artistic research project, I explore creative possibilities the performing composer role offers. I also discuss how my performing composer praxis has inspired my interpretation of compositions by others. The project is situated in my own artistic praxis and has an auto-hermeneutical approach. My primary method has been to compose music for myself and to perform it. This has led me to create compositions which are more improvisational, orally conveyed and open to diverse interpretations. I have also performed with a more co-creative, personally engaged and holistically oriented mindset. I have further experimented in performing compositions by others while imagining myself to be the composer. This has offered an alternative interpretative approach that resound deeply with me on an aesthetic level. Finally, I have reflected on how a performing composer discourse can unsettle the hierarchical language of composition and interpretation. The project builds on a broader movement in artistic research and musicology, problematising the apparent dichotomy between composers and performers [Leech-Wilkinson, 2016; Cornish, 2015; Cook, 2013], and investigating the role of the performing composer or composing performer [Spears, 2022; Beaugeais, 2020; Groth, 2017]. The project constitutes my master thesis in performing music at the University of Bergen with specialisation in jazz .

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Cort Piil - Leaving Home (2022)

Listen

Tracks:

1: Sitting by the Harbour (Andri Schärli)

2: Leaving Home (Andri Schärli)

3: Paintings of My Past (Andri Schärli)

4: Running into Yourself (Andri Schärli)

5: The Sphinx (Andri Schärli)

6: Snowfall in Piedmont (Andri Schärli)

7: These Things I Ask Myself (Andri Schärli)

8: The Bird That Learnt to Fly (Andri Schärli)

Personell:

Andri Schärli (Saxophone, compositions)

Soohyun April Jang (Violin)

Peter Dybvig Søreide (Guitar)

Thomas Aurlund Lossius (Double Bass)

Amund Nordstrøm (Drums)

Recorded and mixed by Steffen Peters in Duper Studios

Mastered by Karl Klaseye at Øra Studio

Released by AMP Music & Recordings

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Thomas Aurlund Lossius - The Performer-Composer: A Practice in Interrelation - 2023