How passage of time judgements can influence a composer’s decision-making in their music

Description

Music is an “art of time”. Therefore, for composers while they are writing, decisions of how their music will fill the time are some of the most crucial that they will make.
“Passage of time judgements” are a common criterion individuals may use to assess aesthetic works such as music or film. These are made based on how adequately a stimulus or stimuli hold one’s attention. For instance, time seems to fly while watching an entertaining movie, compared to crawling while waiting for a flight or doctor’s appointment. I propose that composers use similar judgements to resolve decisions such as for how much time should certain musical material be prolonged.
Existing research has shown that various factors can influence passage of time judgements for an individual. This includes one’s experiences, such as listening habits and degrees of musical training. The quantity and distribution of repeated listening to the same material may also play a role. Finally, some authors note that the nature of time is partly a social construct. Different cultures may therefore have different conceptions of time, and this may be reflected in how music is
produced and received. In this presentation, I will discuss these various factors and how they have influenced my compositional choices through reflections on writing my piece The Queen: Suite for Solo Cello (2025). I will also share the perspective of two other composers and their writing processes, including responses from interviews I have conducted

Period	7 May 2025
Event title	PGR Conference
Event type	Conference
Location	ManchesterShow on map