Cognitive constraints on compositional systems

In this article I explore the relationship between composing and listening. I begin with a problematic story, draw some general conclusions, introduce relevant concepts from Lerdahl and Jackendoff (1983) and related work, propose some cognitive constraints on compositional systems, discuss “pitch space”, and explain why serial (or 12-tone) organizations are cognitively opaque. Most of these topics deserve fuller treatment than is given in these pages. My concern here is just to lay out a basic, if wide-ranging, argument. I am not interested in passing judgement on the composers and compositions that are mentioned, particularly not on the remarkable work by Boulez that I use as a representative example. The thrust of my argument is psychological rather than aesthetic. But since aesthetic issues inevitably impinge on the discussion, I treat them briefly at the end.