Tanja Orning | Norwegian Academy of Music (original) (raw)
Papers by Tanja Orning
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 26, 2015
Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ense... more Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ensemble Studies", which tas created as part of the Research project Extended Composition at the Norwegian Music Academy, led by Professor Henrik Helstenius. The piece "Ensemble Studies" is an interdisciplinary collaboration between cellist and Composer Tanja Orning, Fiddle player and folk musician Helga Myhr, dancer Gry Kipperberg and dramaturg Camilla Eeg-Tverbakk. The text reflects on the collaborative process and how a new constallation of artists, working across different disciplines, develop a working vocabulary.
NMH Artistic Research
Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ensemble... more Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ensemble Studies", which tas created as part of the Research project Extended Composition at the Norwegian Music Academy, led by Professor Henrik Helstenius. The piece "Ensemble Studies" is an interdisciplinary collaboration between cellist and Composer Tanja Orning, Fiddle player and folk musician Helga Myhr, dancer Gry Kipperberg and dramaturg Camilla Eeg-Tverbakk. The text reflects on the collaborative process and how a new constallation of artists, working across different disciplines, develop a working vocabulary.
ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello... more ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika Fischer-Lichte’s concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used...
This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969... more This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika Fischer-Lichte's concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used in...
We have seen drastic changes in the music profession during the last 20 years, and consequently a... more We have seen drastic changes in the music profession during the last 20 years, and consequently an increase of new professional opportunities, roles and identities. We can see elements of a collective identity in classically trained musicians who from childhood have been introduced to centuries old, institutionalized traditions around the performers’ role and the work-concept. Respect for the composer and his work can lead to a fear of failure and a perfectionist value system that permeates the classical music. We have to question whether music education has become a ready-made prototype of certain trajectories, with a predictable outcome represented by more or less generic types of musicians who interchangeably are able play the same, limited canonized repertoire, in more or less the same way. Where is the resistance and obstacles, the detours and the unique and fearless individual choices? It is a paradox that within the traditional master-student model, the student is told how to...
This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). I... more This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika FischerLichte’s concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used in Pression...
Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education, 2017
The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to ma... more The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to major changes and challenges within key areas such as notation, idiomaticism, interpretation, the performer's role and the work concept. This new musical aesthetic, employing performative energy, instrumental practice and gestures as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music in performance. A fundamental question is how to understand music, not as a work written in a score but as a living object, as performance, sound, action and embodiment. To research this within music brings about new methodological challenges. In this article, the author discusses possible methods in approaching and investigating performance practice in music, specifically in contemporary cello music, guided by the research question: How can I relate and network the pluralism of methods in music research involving artistic practice?
Dissertation, originally submitted for the PhD degree to Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo 2014. T... more Dissertation, originally submitted for the PhD degree to Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo 2014. This version is an interactive version of the original, with slight changes in the foreword and incorporated links to streaming videos http://prosjekt.nmh.no/orning-polyphonic-performer/
ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo ... more ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. ...
Transformations of Musical Modernism, 2015
Music + Practice, Volume 3, 2017
FUTURE MUSICIANSHIP AND PRESENT EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES’: A RESPONSE TO EIGHT QUESTIONS ON THE FUTU... more FUTURE MUSICIANSHIP AND PRESENT EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES’: A RESPONSE TO EIGHT QUESTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF THE CONSERVATOIRE AS AN INSTITUTION
Music Performance Research, 2012
This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). I... more This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika Fischer-Lichte's concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used in Pression, which presents actions and gestures as musical material although their primary purpose is not to produce sound. I address some important ontological implications of the challenge presented by Pression to the notion of the work-concept. In short, I use Pression as a case study for the investigation of notational, embodied, gestural and liminal aspects of performance. Throughout the investigation, I draw on my own experience as a cellist who has performed the piece.
NOASP (Nordic open access scholarly publishing), 2017
The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to ma... more The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to major changes and challenges within key areas such as notation, idiomaticism, interpretation, the performer's role and the work concept. This new musical aesthetic, employing performative energy, instrumental practice and gestures as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music in performance. A fundamental question is how to understand music, not as a work written in a score but as a living object, as performance, sound, action and embodiment. To research this within music brings about new methodological challenges. In this article, the author discusses possible methods in approaching and investigating performance practice in music, specifically in contemporary cello music, guided by the research question: How can I relate and network the pluralism of methods in music research involving artistic practice? Sammendrag Det estetiske prosjektet i en rekke samtidsverk komponert etter krigen har ført til store endringer og utfordringer innenfor nøkkelområder som notasjon, idiomatikk, tolkning, utøverens rolle og verkbegrepet. Denne nye musikalske estetikken som utnytter utøverens energi, instrumentalpraksis og gester som komposisjonsmateriale, krever en analytisk tilnaerming som korresponderer med musikkens egenskaper og kravene fremføring av musikken stiller. Et grunnleggende spørsmål er hvordan vi forstår musikken, ikke som et verk nedskrevet i et partitur, men som et levende objekt, som fremføring, lyd, klang, handling og kroppsliggjøring. Å undersøke dette i musikk, fører til nye metodologiske utfordringer. I denne artikkelen diskuterer forfatteren mulige metoder for å naerme seg og undersøke fremføringspraksis i musikk, spesielt i samtidsmusikk for cello, ledet av forskningsspørsmålet: Hvordan kan jeg forholde meg til og nettverke metodepluralismen i musikkforskning som involverer kunstnerisk praksis? Nøkkelord: Kunstnerisk forskning; performancestudier; performative praksiser; metodologi; samtidsmusikk for cello PUBLISHED 2017-12-14
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 26, 2015
Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ense... more Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ensemble Studies", which tas created as part of the Research project Extended Composition at the Norwegian Music Academy, led by Professor Henrik Helstenius. The piece "Ensemble Studies" is an interdisciplinary collaboration between cellist and Composer Tanja Orning, Fiddle player and folk musician Helga Myhr, dancer Gry Kipperberg and dramaturg Camilla Eeg-Tverbakk. The text reflects on the collaborative process and how a new constallation of artists, working across different disciplines, develop a working vocabulary.
NMH Artistic Research
Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ensemble... more Reflection of my work as a Performing dramaturg in the composition "Ensemble Studies", which tas created as part of the Research project Extended Composition at the Norwegian Music Academy, led by Professor Henrik Helstenius. The piece "Ensemble Studies" is an interdisciplinary collaboration between cellist and Composer Tanja Orning, Fiddle player and folk musician Helga Myhr, dancer Gry Kipperberg and dramaturg Camilla Eeg-Tverbakk. The text reflects on the collaborative process and how a new constallation of artists, working across different disciplines, develop a working vocabulary.
ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello... more ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika Fischer-Lichte’s concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used...
This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969... more This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika Fischer-Lichte's concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used in...
We have seen drastic changes in the music profession during the last 20 years, and consequently a... more We have seen drastic changes in the music profession during the last 20 years, and consequently an increase of new professional opportunities, roles and identities. We can see elements of a collective identity in classically trained musicians who from childhood have been introduced to centuries old, institutionalized traditions around the performers’ role and the work-concept. Respect for the composer and his work can lead to a fear of failure and a perfectionist value system that permeates the classical music. We have to question whether music education has become a ready-made prototype of certain trajectories, with a predictable outcome represented by more or less generic types of musicians who interchangeably are able play the same, limited canonized repertoire, in more or less the same way. Where is the resistance and obstacles, the detours and the unique and fearless individual choices? It is a paradox that within the traditional master-student model, the student is told how to...
This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). I... more This article examines Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika FischerLichte’s concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used in Pression...
Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education, 2017
The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to ma... more The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to major changes and challenges within key areas such as notation, idiomaticism, interpretation, the performer's role and the work concept. This new musical aesthetic, employing performative energy, instrumental practice and gestures as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music in performance. A fundamental question is how to understand music, not as a work written in a score but as a living object, as performance, sound, action and embodiment. To research this within music brings about new methodological challenges. In this article, the author discusses possible methods in approaching and investigating performance practice in music, specifically in contemporary cello music, guided by the research question: How can I relate and network the pluralism of methods in music research involving artistic practice?
Dissertation, originally submitted for the PhD degree to Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo 2014. T... more Dissertation, originally submitted for the PhD degree to Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo 2014. This version is an interactive version of the original, with slight changes in the foreword and incorporated links to streaming videos http://prosjekt.nmh.no/orning-polyphonic-performer/
ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo ... more ABSTRACT: This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. ...
Transformations of Musical Modernism, 2015
Music + Practice, Volume 3, 2017
FUTURE MUSICIANSHIP AND PRESENT EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES’: A RESPONSE TO EIGHT QUESTIONS ON THE FUTU... more FUTURE MUSICIANSHIP AND PRESENT EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES’: A RESPONSE TO EIGHT QUESTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF THE CONSERVATOIRE AS AN INSTITUTION
Music Performance Research, 2012
This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). I... more This article examines Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work, Pression, for solo cello (1969). Its central question is how to understand Pression: not as a work (self-) contained in a score, but as a live object, as performance, action and embodiment. Pression is one of Lachenmann's first works introducing the concept of musique concrète instrumentale, music that emphasizes the way sound is produced rather than how it should be heard, thus reversing traditional hierarchies. This new musical aesthetic employing performative energy as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music. My analysis thus draws primarily upon perspectives from the field of performance studies using Erika Fischer-Lichte's concept autopoietic feedback loop to describe the relationship between performer and audience and perceptual multistability to describe that between performance and score. I discuss the prescriptive notation used in Pression, which presents actions and gestures as musical material although their primary purpose is not to produce sound. I address some important ontological implications of the challenge presented by Pression to the notion of the work-concept. In short, I use Pression as a case study for the investigation of notational, embodied, gestural and liminal aspects of performance. Throughout the investigation, I draw on my own experience as a cellist who has performed the piece.
NOASP (Nordic open access scholarly publishing), 2017
The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to ma... more The aesthetic project in a number of contemporary works composed after World War II has led to major changes and challenges within key areas such as notation, idiomaticism, interpretation, the performer's role and the work concept. This new musical aesthetic, employing performative energy, instrumental practice and gestures as compositional material requires an analytical approach that corresponds to the nature and demands of the music in performance. A fundamental question is how to understand music, not as a work written in a score but as a living object, as performance, sound, action and embodiment. To research this within music brings about new methodological challenges. In this article, the author discusses possible methods in approaching and investigating performance practice in music, specifically in contemporary cello music, guided by the research question: How can I relate and network the pluralism of methods in music research involving artistic practice? Sammendrag Det estetiske prosjektet i en rekke samtidsverk komponert etter krigen har ført til store endringer og utfordringer innenfor nøkkelområder som notasjon, idiomatikk, tolkning, utøverens rolle og verkbegrepet. Denne nye musikalske estetikken som utnytter utøverens energi, instrumentalpraksis og gester som komposisjonsmateriale, krever en analytisk tilnaerming som korresponderer med musikkens egenskaper og kravene fremføring av musikken stiller. Et grunnleggende spørsmål er hvordan vi forstår musikken, ikke som et verk nedskrevet i et partitur, men som et levende objekt, som fremføring, lyd, klang, handling og kroppsliggjøring. Å undersøke dette i musikk, fører til nye metodologiske utfordringer. I denne artikkelen diskuterer forfatteren mulige metoder for å naerme seg og undersøke fremføringspraksis i musikk, spesielt i samtidsmusikk for cello, ledet av forskningsspørsmålet: Hvordan kan jeg forholde meg til og nettverke metodepluralismen i musikkforskning som involverer kunstnerisk praksis? Nøkkelord: Kunstnerisk forskning; performancestudier; performative praksiser; metodologi; samtidsmusikk for cello PUBLISHED 2017-12-14