Some Reflections of Borrowing in Acousmatic Music

This article begins with an outline of the Manovich general definition of borrowing followed by an introduction to the theme of borrowing in music, particularly within the context of acousmatic music. Two scenarios proposed by Navas in his taxonomy of borrowing are used to further the discussion in relation to material sampling and cultural citation. With reference to material sampling, some examples of remix, appropriation and quoting/sampling taking place within acousmatic music are highlighted. With regards to cultural citation, two levels of reference will be considered: cultural citation from sound arts, that is, intertextuality, and cultural citation from other media, that is, intermediality. The article closes with some reflections a posteriori about my own composition, Variation of Evan Parker’s Saxophone Solos, and how this relates to wider notions of musical borrowing.