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One-Hit Wonders in Classical Music: Evidence and (Partial) Explanations for an Early Career Peak

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10400410802059952

1532-6934

Aaron Kozbelt,

Aesthetic Perception and Analysis

Abstract How can the creativity of "one-hit wonders" be explained? Anecdotes suggest one-hit wonders may peak early in their careers, but no quantitative investigation has specifically focused on this group. Here, objective recording count criteria were used to define samples of 89 one-hit and 89 "multi-hit" classical composers. One-hit composers peaked reliably earlier than their multi-hit counterparts, and this effect was greater between the most prototypical one-hit versus multi-hit composers. Lifespan, historical year, age at expertise acquisition onset, and overall hit popularity did not explain the effect. However, compared to multi-hit composers, one-hit composers' hits tended to be easily elaborated, small-scale works like songs, which intrinsically peaked earlier than other genres. The pattern of career landmarks across five musical genres, using a sample of 394 composers, supported this interpretation. However, this is only a partial explanation, because one-hit composers began their musical careers significantly later than their multi-hit counterparts. Finally, one-hit composers' operas were more highlight-dominated than those of multi-hit composers. Overall, the results suggest that chance factors play larger roles in the success of one-hit composers than multi-hit composers. Notes Note. N = 178. Results of individual chi-square tests computed on each column are shown at the bottom. ∗p < .05. Note. For choral, instrumental, opera, orchestral, and vocal genres, n = 95, 232, 133, 242, and 123, respectively. Total N = 825. Correlations are between standardized residual hit age after controlling for lifespan and year, and eminence, operationalized by ln-transformed total CD counts for each composer. ∗∗p < .01 ∗∗∗p < .001. Note. Composers are listed in descending order of the extent to which their output is dominated by one work. Ranking is based on the average z score of 1-to-all and ln-transformed 1-to-2 ratios; see text for details. Opera titles are given in italics. Note. Composers are listed in descending order of the extent to which their output is not dominated by one work. Ranking is based on the average z score of 1-to-all and 1-to-2 ratios, both ln-transformed; see text for details. Opera titles are given in italics.