DEBATES - Cadernos do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música

Thematic dossier: ARRANGEMENT

ARRANGEMENT: History, Technique, Pedagogy, and Contemporary Transformations

The act of arranging music is a creative process that operates across a wide spectrum, ranging from informal exchanges among musicians in small ensembles to complex, meticulously prescribed structures for larger groups. In certain contexts, the arrangement becomes so intrinsically linked to the composition that, for the listener, it becomes indistinguishable what is the composer’s original creation and what is the arranger’s intervention. Thus, what might seem like the function of “dressing up” the music can take on broader dimensions, merging the acts of composing and arranging for the benefit of the resulting work. Depending on the degree of freedom granted, the arranger can intervene various structural parameters of the piece, such as instrumentation, genre, form, reharmonization, the creation of an introduction and interlude sections, coda, choice of tonality, modulations, and musical structure, including sections left open for improvisation. The arranger plays a decisive role in defining the final outcome of the musical work.

We invite researchers to submit scientific articles that explore the subject arrangement from a technical, conceptual, or historical perspectives, with a focus on Brazilian production.

Among the suggested subtopics, the following serve as examples:

• Historical relationship between arrangers and composers;
• Musical/biographical survey of iconic arrangers and their legacies;
• Possible definitions of what characterizes a Brazilian school of arrangement;
• Critical analyses of the arranger’s influence on the final result, with optional use of case studies;
• Creative freedom vs. commercial restrictions;

• Suitability of the arrangement to the musical genre used, with its idiosyncrasies;

• The arranger in the recording studio: challenges, limitations, alternatives, and solutions during the arrangement process and its realization;
• Diachronic process of arrangement from the early 20th century to the present day: trajectory, main schools, trends, and transformations;
• Review, survey, and analysis of national and/or foreign instructional manuals;
• Survey of arrangement pedagogy in Brazilian universities: implementation, development, and current status;
• The relationship between arrangement and current technologies: expanding the concept of the arranger beyond the traditional role of formally writing music, the arranger as a sound manipulator; new creative possibilities using computer programs with pre-fabricated sounds (samples), e.g., in audiovisual soundtracks and language research;
• Survey and analysis of arrangement archives from specific institutions and/or arrangers;
• Investigation of the role of the arrangement and arranger in today’s music industry: transformations in the early 21st century; arrangement in the digital age; new tools; new languages;
• From manuscript to digital: analyzing the use of music notation softwares and its impact on the creative process of arranging;
• Pros and cons of using Artificial Intelligence as a tool in arranging; ethical and aesthetic considerations.

In addition to these suggestions, authors are welcome to submit texts that go beyond these directions as long as they are relevant to the dossier’s theme.

Dossier organized by:
David Ganc – Guest Editor

Submission Deadline: August 9th, 2025.

ATTENTION: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO AUGUST 31, 2025

Submissions for the dossier must be made through the OJS System and formatted according to the author guidelines (see the Submissions tab).

Submissions in Portuguese, Spanish, and English will be accepted.