Implications of indeterminacy in Leo Brouwer’s solo guitar work

Abstract

The present article aims to investigate the implications of indeterminacy in Leo Brouwer's solo guitar works, thus contributing to enrich the performer’s musical discourse by presenting new analytical perspectives on the composer's work. The works analyzed in this article — La Espiral Eterna (1973), Parabola (1973) and Tarantos (1974) — present characteristics that Jonathan Kramer associates with post-modern music, among which indeterminacy stands out. The concept of indeterminacy in respect to performance, formulated by John Cage, guided the analysis of the compositions, through which elements were identified whose determination is purposely delegated to the performer, as well as elements whose indeterminacy stems from the limitations of musical notation. The analysis of the works showed that the indeterminacy of their elements is partial and that each work presents different degrees of indeterminacy. The investigation about the meaning of these indeterminacies in Leo Brouwer's work was also based on Jonathan Kramer's formulations about post-modern listening — which proposes that the meaning of a composition is constructed from the interaction between the musical text, the performer and the listener — and about the perception of time in music — understood as the main form through which the listener constructs musical meaning. It is concluded that the different types of indeterminacy allow the performer to inscribe his own meaning in the work, actively participating in the listener’s construction of meaning.