Improvised Endings in a (Musical) Ethics Lab

The way a piece of music ends plays a key role in its interpretation, contributing to the meaning of the work as a whole. But without a score or pre-agreed structure to guide them, how do experimental improvisors create — or find — the ‘right’ place to end? And what can this tell us about collective processes of sense-making?

This article documents a multi-perspectival investigation of endings in experimental improvised music. ‘(Musical) Ethics Lab 7’ was an artistic research workshop in collaboration with the Splitter Orchester and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra that culminated in a performance at the ORF musikprotokoll festival in October 2024. Combining interviews with practitioners, philosophical reflection, and artistic interventions, the Lab explored themes of musical sense-making, which were presented in a concert happening, as well as expressed in the short film essay ‘Improvised Endings’, produced during the Lab. This exposition takes themes from the film as departure points for ‘chapters’ that share some of the philosophical and musical background of the Lab, and situate the film in the broader context of the research process.