Composer (from lat. Compositor - compiler) - a composer of musical works. The term is used primarily in relation to authors who are aware of the composition as a kind of professional activity, and in many cases as a means of subsistence. The profession of a composer presupposes the presence of creative talent and requires special training in composition technique, musical-theoretical and musical-historical disciplines. In the standard case, the composer writes his compositions in a particular musical notation , which is then interpreted by the musician-performer.
Brief
Historical Review
The verb componere and its derivatives (including the compositor ) are found in many medieval treatises, starting from Hookbald of Saint-Amans and his school (IX-X centuries). In the 11th century, Guido Aretinsky, in his “Microscientist” (c. 1025 ), understood by composition ( componentenda ) to be mainly the skillful compilation of chorales . John de Groqueio (“On Music”, c. 1300 ) referred this concept to polyphonic music (“musica composita”, that is, complex, composite music) and used the word “compositor”.
In the last third of the 15th century, John Tinktoris (“Key to Musical Terms”, 1474 ) singled out a creative moment in the term compositor (the composer “wrote some new cantus ”). In the “Book on the Art of Counterpoint” ( 1477 ) Tinktoris clearly distinguished between counterpoint notated - “res facta” (equivalent to “cantus compositus” in the “Key”) and improvised (“super librum cantare”, lit. sing over the book), thus separating the new composition from improvisation according to the style template. The concept of the composer's profession was finally established in the 16th century, although the term for this concept has not yet been fully stabilized. For example, Heinrich Glarean in Dodekahord (1539) calls professional polyphonic music composers “symphonets” ( lat. Symphonetae ).
Notes
Literature
- Yevlakhov O. A. Problems of education of the composer. M., 1958.
- Musical Encyclopedia. M., 1974. T. 2. St. 892.
Links
- Database of composers of the XX - early XXI centuries. (Ircam, Paris)