The concept of auteurism has been around for more than half a century, and has been used as a tool for studying both film, and the people behind these films. But in 1971, this concept was applied to the field of music by Dave Laing:
The musical equivalent of the metteur en scѐne is the performer who regards a song as an actor does a part - as something to be expressed, something to get across. The aim is to render the lyric faithfully. An obvious example of the genre is the "protest" singer, whose work subordinates music to message. The vocal style of the singer is determined almost entirely by the emotional connotations of the words. The approach of the rock auteur, however, is determined not by the unique features of the song but by his personal style, the ensemble of vocal effects that characterize the whole body of his work (Laing, 327).
[...] Using this as an example of how I will examine the different possible concepts that make up auteurism, it is evident that, even though there are not many articles in the textbooks about auteur music, I will (hopefully) be able to dissect each concept and see how it applies to auteurism and to the music of Roger Waters. In conclusion, for my final essay I will be answering the second question on the list provided. I will look at the idea of the auteur and auteurism in rock and roll music, specifically as it applies to the music of Roger Waters, both in his Pink Floyd days and his solo career. [...]
[...] [ ] The third and ultimate premise of the auteur theory is concerned with interior meaning, the ultimate glory of the cinema as an art. Interior meaning is extrapolated from the tension between a director's personality and his material. This conception of interior meaning comes close to what Astruc defines as mise-en-scѐne, but not quite. [ ] The three premises of the auteur theory may be visualized as three concentric circles, the outer circle as technique, the middle circle personal style, and the inner circle interior meaning. [...]
[...] When it comes to Roger Waters' possible status of an auteur, this idea of “recurring characteristics of style” certainly comes into play, and will be discussed in my essay, along with several examples. For instance, whether you are looking at Waters' music when he was in Pink Floyd, or his music as a solo artist, it is evident that he often created “concept albums,” rather than the more common type of album, which consists of mostly random assortments of songs thrown together. [...]
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