Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Victor Adan; La espiral quebrada [Multiplexor III]. For amplified prepared flute. Used by permission of Victor Adan, © 2006.
Multiplexor is really two scores in one. The 1. To serve as a kind of “aerial map,” use-
main and most important score is, like a ful as an aid in understanding the overall
traditional score, an analytical separation structure of the piece during its study.
of the relevant musical parameters. The 2. To serve as an analogue, although
second score, located always above the very coarse and almost cartoonish, of the
first, is a graphical synthesis of the musical general sounds resulting from the execu-
parameters involved. It is not a substitute tion of the analytical score.
for the first, but rather an aid, a comple- I leave to the performer the task of dis-
ment. Thus, the analytical score should be covering the correspondences between the
followed with the greatest precision. This sounds produced and the various graphi-
second score is intended to fulfill two pur- cal icons.
poses:
012 | |A A| | 013
beth anderson kerry john andrews
Kerry John Andrews; The Weight (1995/7). For large ensemble. Used by permission of Kerry John Andrews, © 1997.
Kerry John Andrews; Versus (1997). For solo voice and piano. Used by permission of Kerry John Andrews, © 1997.
The Weight and Versus: As a visual artist I voice) and a more directly diagrammatic
became interested in listening to New mu- place in between (large ensemble, voices,
sic, finding that it liberated ways of internally and recorded sound), though I essentially
visualizing images. In the mid-1990s I start- consider all my works to be diagrams.
ed to compose music to understand what Versus was created as an image as well as
that process was doing and how it worked. a score for voice (which included a separate
Since then my work has explored the simi- traditionally notated piano part). I was in-
larities and differences between visual, au- trigued by Maurice Blanchot’s writing style
ral, and textual forms, what is inherent to where, as Foucault says, his “fictions are,
each specific medium and what is transfer- rather than the images themselves, their
able, or shared. transformation, displacement, and neutral
Beth Anderson; Tower of Power. For organ and quad tape. Used by permission of Beth Anderson, © 1973. The graphic scores that I have produced interstices.” Versus uses a line from Celui
have considered several lines of enquiry. qui ne m’accomagnait pas which, though a
They have looked at the ideas of linear sentence, seems to be a static thought be-
time, stasis, and a more visually based coming; words layered on top of each other,
field form. They have also explored the rather than a descriptive passage. It is this
idea of the sound object as an image of the tension between onward movement and
Tower of Power: Hold as many keys and piece are to be taped and played back in ex- whole sound piece. The stand-alone visual non-linear, multi-directional, layered "nar-
pedals down as possible, using only your act synchronization with the performance images I make have taken their form from ratives" and how that reflects on our sense
body, at as loud an amplitude as possible, through four speakers placed symmetri- music mixed with textual and visual forms. of time and place that underlies much of
using both your ears and your equipment cally around the church, taking into consid- These ideas have also been developed as my work.
to decide, for a minimum of five minutes, eration the origination of the organ sound. sound installations.
using yourself and your audience to decide, All should blend. Prepare your spirit, mind, My graphic scores have sometimes re-
changing timbres a minimum of five times, ears, body, family, but avoid any discussion lated to images, mostly digital prints. They
without letting any notes up, avoiding any of the sound. range from modified traditional scores
sharp contrasts, allowing your organ to dic- (for large ensemble, solo instrument, and
tate the possibilities. Four rehearsals of the recorded sound) to images with text (for
014 | |A A| | 015
steve antosca cecilia arditto
I like to think about music (I am talking
about written music) as an object that re-
generates itself every time it is evocated.
Different from other arts where the phys-
ical object previously exists, in music the
work of art “pops up” every single time mu-
sic is performed, following the recipes of a
5
5A score.
Pers
r ona 1 ~ joy
rs Music chooses a foreign language to
Dancing in Space
O express itself that is not sound waves but
Ÿ ~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
slowly, spaciously
slowly
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~~~ œ # œ
~~~ œ nœ œ # œ œ̄ # œ¯ œ
¯œ̄ œ̄ œ̄ œ̄ œœ̄ œœ̄ œœ̄
rather graphical signs. This synesthesia—
#œ œ œ #œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œœ œ œœ œœœ œ œœ œ œœœ
& œ œ
˙ (# œ ) j j j j œ œ œ
that is when one type of stimulation evokes
œ œ œ
F f œ
5 gliss.
" f 6
p f "
gliss.
the sensation of another—prints to musical
ƒ
5
Ÿ ~
~~~
~~
~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~
~~
~
~~ ~
~~~
~~~
~~
~
~~~
~~~
~~
~
~~ ~
~~
~
~~ ~
~~~
~~
~
very fast and steady
œœ thought an ambiguous feature, ambiguity
˙ ( # œ) œ œ œ œ
œœ œœœœ
pizz.
œœœœ œ œ œœœœ œ œ
œœ œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœ
understood as fragility and strength at the
&
œ œ œœ œœœœœœœœ œœ œ œ œœ
œœ
Ï œ œ œœ same time.
œœ
œ œ #œ ƒ We know that the history of Western
¥œ ¥œ
poco a poco cr
cresc.
œœœœœœ
"
P e = 132 (or faster) œ
œœœœœ œ
jeté
arcoœ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ # œ œ n œ. œ. œ. œ. œ.
arco
# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ ‰ œ œ œ ‰ HK œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ
5 5
>
3
# œ # œ œ
3 3
n œ œ œ œ n œ œ œ nœ œ #œ œ œ n œ œ
ord. arco
œ œ #œ # œ œ >
)
œœ œ
creating music from a different perspec-
œarco œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ # œœ œ œ œ œ # œ U
œ l. v.
3
>œ
Q
œ œ œ >œ >œ
œœ œœœœ >œ >œ # œ· ,
slow fast
@ œ œ œ J J J #RJ Jœ œ & harmonic gliss. # sic to be thought constantly in diverse and
œ œ œ 3 œœœœœœ
3
One Becomes Two was inspired by a pas- voice to a second voice, first making an ap- enduring spirit, each with its own unique
sage in C.G. Jung’s writings where he sym- pearance as a pedal tone, then as double performance characteristics. In the "Joy"
bolically describes the process of transfor- stops and eventually as multiple stops. Ul- section, sub-titled "Dancing in Space," in-
mation: timately this leads to the presentation of the determinacy is created by notating specific
dual paths on page 4 of the score. The vio- rhythms, gestures, and dynamics, but with
… when the bud unfolds and from the less- linist must choose to perform one of these no pitch material, only pitch gesture. This
er the greater emerges, then One becomes paths. Within those paths, each passage is created by simply notating the passage
Two and the greater figure, which one al- has a distinct set of non-determinate per- without staff lines; leaving the performer
ways was but which remained invisible, formance choices. to replicate the pitch gestures assures that
appears with the force of a revelation. These non-determinate techniques used the indeterminacy is guided by the emotion
in One Becomes Two provide an opportunity of the moment. In this way, no two perfor-
The metaphor of the bud opening into a for the performer to contribute to the out- mances of the piece will be the same.
flower has always fascinated me. Jung’s de- come of the piece by making some of the
piction of the process in relation to transfor- rhythmic and pitch choices in the compo-
mation and his incorporation of Nietzsche’s sition.
phrase "One becomes Two" is captivating. The element of indeterminacy continues
In One Becomes Two the expansion of in the piece when, at the end of this sec-
the bud into flower is represented by the tion, the performer must choose among
flowing of the melodic line from a single four personalities: joy, passion, duality and
016 | |A Cecilia Arditto; Música invisible—Libro tercero, #1, 2 and 3. For Bb trumpet / flügelhorn. Used by permission of Cecilia Arditto, © 2005. A| | 017
robert ashley kevin austin
Robert Ashley; Celestial Excursions: “Act II Asylum (Song #7—Before What?).” Opera: for solo voices, orchestra, and electronics.
Used by permission of Robert Ashley / Visibility Music Publishers, © 2002.
Celestial Excursions: Old people are spe- religion—life after death, immortality, etc.
cial because we have no future. The future is Mostly they are concerned with dignity. Liv-
what to eat for breakfast or where did I leave ing with dignity. And, like all of us, eventu-
my shoes. Everything else is in the past. Is ally dying with dignity.
this understandable? But they are still obliged, as human be-
So, sometimes old people break the ings, to make sounds. They are obliged to
rules, especially the rules of conversa- speak, whether or not anyone is listening. Kevin Austin; Oordah (page 1). For mixed choir, with optional slides. Used by permission of Kevin Austin, © 1985, 1991. Image quality reflects the era's technology.
tion and being together. They laugh a lot. "Act II (Asylum)" is a dialogue between
I mean real full laughter. Did you ever no- four guests at The Assisted Living Facility
tice that? They break the rules because, for and the counselor, who is trying to explain Oordah began as one of a group of text- in sound software. In some sections the for production, rather than a “picture” to be
one reason or another (illness, anger, dam- to them that the burden they feel, which sound compositions from the "concrete nature of the sonic outcome can be rath- realized.
age, enough of that, whatever), the rules might seem to be explained in words, is poem" from 1984 called "Sporas." The file er easily deduced from the score, but of-
no longer apply for them. They are alone. not to be relieved by finding the word of was created on a Mac Plus, in SuperPaint 1. ten the score will require that the conduc-
Sometimes they are sad. Sometimes they escape, and in fact will never be relieved. Many of the sound ideas and techniques tor and choir work out "on the spot" how to
are desperate. Mostly they are brave. Most- Occasionally the guests break into song to are borrowed from the tape studio tradition realize a graphic image, and the resulting
ly they have given up on the promises of relieve the tension. in which I developed, and these are today sound may have little direct relationship to
much more easily and precisely realized the score, except that the score was a "map"
018 | |A A| | 019
trevor baca dennis bathory–kitsz
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Sekka: The Japanese flutist Reiko Manabe and symbols. How to notate a shining as- tions for everything else. Read the breath 6&&7
asks for the piece in Darmstadt. It is August semblage? Four staves—pitches at top, at an instant, top to bottom; read the score 0.1"
/'&#/)8,&1>; !6%1")8'.%6!;
2006. Some weeks pass. Reiko is home breath at bottom, and two special staves in an evening, bottom up. Baptism. Reiko: ) ** ** ** ** ** **!"#** ** ** **$"%** ** ** **!"#** ** ** ** ** ** ** $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ +$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ #$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
%
between. (1) What of the pitches? There "Come to New Orleans." It's New Year's Eve.
( % %
% #
in San Diego; I am home in Austin, and * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * # +
writing starts. Snow. A shifting multiplic- are patterns. And the patterns filter. And The streets are cold and the fireworks are
1"#"6 .##"6
ity. Cut with the tongue—or with the lips, or beyond the filter, irreparable deletion. (2, bright. "But what type of snow?" she asks.
with the throat—the breath here stops and 3) And the two intervening staves? Small "Well, what does Japanese give us?" After
starts in frozen stillness. Bright / too-bright motions rising here and falling there, clos- the streets there are coffee and beignets. 6&&7
attacks affricate whispered s, whispered š, er here and farther there—the body of the And then 2007 starts. "What do you think -"!$.-$ 7.$)8!$-%'<!;
7.$)8,&1>;
whispered Ð with t, p, k. Not a poetics of the flute in space, moving carefully in Reiko's of Sekka?" Snow plus flower. But better
) %% , %% , , % ,, %% %% , , %% , , %% , %% ,, %% , %% ,
( %% %% %%% %% %% %% %% %% %% %% % - % -- %--%%--%--%-% -- %-%-
breath. Rather an enactment of the breath. hands. Pitches, in both cases, bend, and, maybe to read the other way 'round—Jap-
Where sibilants s, š, Ð swell and then go sometimes, glow. No (explicit) microtones. anese flowersnow. There are two hana and
away, labiodental and interlingual f, th Our ups and downs, motions towards and so we pick the bigger, lusher of the two.
force motion altogether differently. The away take care of that. Pizzicati and tongue Later, John translates. Sekka combines
rams likewise fall out of the notation as l'idéogramme japonais figurant la neige avec 6&&7
teeth in f, th try but fail to cut off the rush- 6&&7
#&'$?1 76*#/)8!%'<6"; !'.7
ing-on of breath. (If there is a normative (inescapable) consequences rather than un des deux idéogrammes figurant la fleur. % + + + #% ## &*$
breath then f, th are not it. Japanese fu with
two lips, no teeth is a different story.) But
our f, th here bite lips and tongues and cut
quiet rivulets in our sound. Shining white
(special) effects. (4) Breath below, and in Cette combinaison évoque une chute douce
three parts. Stops and continuants, attack et calme do flocons de neige, comme des pé-
and release. Dichotomous labels capture tales tombant du ciel. Two friends take the
nothing and letters carry uncomfortable breath apart. Bright white flashes and the
% + % % % + + % + %
% + ! #
#
sounds. An intense and sculpted whisper. meaning. Breath here ... no lyrics, no text. quiet of a still-falling snow.
Decidedly unvoiced. Because breath in So shapes instead. Triangle, square, semi- Dennis Báthory-Kitsz; Lunar Cascade in Serial Time. For tenor guitar. Used by permission of Dennis Báthory-Kitsz (Westleaf Edition), © 2007.
every instance precedes the voice. Signs circle for types of attack. Vertical staff posi-
020 | |B B| | 021
Dennis Báthory-Kitsz ed through these foggy lenses. picking up flecks of visual usefulness as it rolled switched streams to eavesdropping.) Music offers
It’s been said that one learns an artform by onward from the neumes of the first millennium itself through a collective meaning of sounds. A si-
To Anticipate the Forgetfulness of the copying the masters. But nascent composers to the serialists nine-hundred years later. Industrial multaneous, “love of my life,” “lice in the bed,” and
Future copy from foggy, published, secondary works, publishing captured the dustball at the end of the “minding your cat” make only a clatter of sound,
Reflections as Composer and Copyist editions where they study and integrate the shapes 19th century—even as composers began to adapt meaning obscured. But the simultaneity of C-G-C,
of the composer’s writing—the curves, architecture, symbols more diligently, recasting notation. F-D-E, A-B-G creates melodies and a chord pro-
phrasing, emphasis—that have been mutated by Some composers threw industrial notation over gression and an orchestration and a socio-artis-
I. editorial changes, technical adjustments, and an for mnemonic transmission, words alone, or oral tic implication. That microscopic module contains
For clarity and exactitude and imagination, the tra- engraver’s choices of balance and legibility. The tradition, while others advanced graphics, with ex- greater implication than a Danish prince’s lament
ditional notation system is broken. original recedes. Implications are forsaken. pressed notes withdrawing from the main task of over his being or nothingness.
The mass of published repertoire tells musi- As a student, I earned tuition and upkeep by compositional cohesion. Circles and spirals and
cians all is well because the marketplace follows copying arrangements and parts, as well as copy- modules and trajectories appeared. The expand- V.
the money, casting aside the new for the old, the ing scores to study. Then Cage’s Notations was ed musical vocabulary (chronicled in Notations As composer and copyist, I seek both authentici-
exceptional for the mundane. Notes and lines, published; the world—I believed—had changed. I and cataloged in Erhard Karkoschka’s Notation in ty and compromise, standing in defense of com-
please, and scrub the weird stuff. was wrong. New Music) replaced the tortured manipulations posers’ methods while finding the most effective
So there is a crisis in coding sonic expression. of exhausted 19th-century notation with an ele- route to successful performance.
Current notational advances have stagnated while III. gance and clarity. Composers create documents of musical and
the previous half-century’s advances were reject- Ambiguities intrigue and irritate composers and Examples: Binky Plays Marbles, LowBirds (menu sonic ideas, sufficient but incomplete maps of
ed. Inertial reluctance, regression of choice and performers differently. Composers, like writers, score), and Lunar Cascade in Serial Time: June. compositions and the instructions needed to
marketplace fundamentalism are at work. Com- weigh the mysteries and implications of gram- Each presents notational issues not addressed in render them into sound. Where assumptions
mon symbology is limited, compact and conser- mar and syntax. Performers, like actors, weigh the 19th-century notation. The Binky duet has sepa- are made through other documentation—jazz
vative; software in a mass marketplace is conser- revelations of sound and presentation. After two- rate, staggered time signatures and the double rhythms as recorded, Baroque ornaments as de-
vative, too. hundred years of shared notational practice, the bass has three sets of alternating actions to play. scribed or extrapolated, vibrato or portamento as
The collective effect leaves composers in nota- mysteries and the revelations have been pried The LowBirds performers have a menu score and handed down—instructions are absent.
tional twilight, picking up bits in the shadows and apart by commerce. individual menu parts whose contents are played Since assumptions belong to the composers’
asking themselves, Will this work? Traditions pressure composers and their copy- within the symbols. In Lunar Cascade, the per- own times and places, guidance may be sparse.
ists and publishers. Common accidentals, for former’s grasp of improvisation within a 75-year Techniques vanish into history, instruments go ob-
II. example, carry multiple implications and conflict- aleatoric tradition is anticipated. solete, mnemonic devices change. Notational am-
Music notation is reconfigurable for meaning, but ing meanings and playing techniques—wheth- biguity is unclouded by historical knowledge and
lacks embedded mechanisms for internal re-de- er identifying a note, showing its significance in IV. present history.
sign. It also differs from text. Because text is re- the melodic and harmonic scheme, being part Music notation engenders disagreement and So as historical knowledge—and repertoire—
cursive, it can tell about itself. Oh, and “a picture of a larger set of 12 or 19 or 43 or more sym- passion because it is so tightly bound to legibil- build up like silt behind a dam, composers antic-
is worth a thousand words” uses words as a mea- bols, or including implicit direction. Composers ity, meaning, and especially physicality. Save for ipate the forgetfulness of the future, and provide
sure. involved in grammatical authenticity spell accu- concrete poets, the placement of words does not that future with increasing information. A pattern
More an instruction kit than a language, mu- rately—and expect, however futilely, that those strongly effect how they read or signify; book de- of notes on lines, once adequate, is now meager.
sic notation is extensible but deprecates to text who read their scores will grasp their choices. signers may increase legibility or create visual Manners of articulation are specified, speeds com-
when symbols are unavailable—or made unavail- Whether using a plethora of elusive verbal style, yet the clarity or ambiguity of the words are municated exactly, and techniques indicated. An
able. Industrial publishing scrapes them away, descriptions (What do andante or espressivo unchanged. But how one spells—and the publish- extended library of musical symbols aids in dis-
using commodified symbols to recast old publi- mean? How about Cage’s screw and bolt?) or the er engraves—a given symbol has implications to ambiguation.
cations and restyle manuscripts. Musics of diverse markings performers are accustomed to chang- both legibility and meaning. Many composers also believe that music’s
cultures and times are read through the identical- ing (such as tempi, string phrases, or dynam- Moreover, there is a distinction in purpose and meaning is best conveyed if it looks like it feels,
ly ground lenses of 19th-century Berlin or Rome or ic levels), composers employ a grammar and practice. We do not speak or read or hear or write appears as it sounds. Yet the composers’ man-
Paris—and their digital doppelgängers today. syntax—a style—within their music that is as open words in even the simplest counterpoint; our un- uscripts are transformed by publication—or to-
This is a crisis of clarity into the past—as well as or mysterious as a composer intends, but exter- derstanding may be informed by ambience, but day’s equivalent of publication, as more manu-
into the future’s past. Composers use notation nally ambiguated by time and place, after which (save for concentrated interleaved listening) we scripts are directly computer-entered. The char-
to communicate sound and ideas, and expect editing and typesetting add value—or a veil. obtain only one meaning-stream. (The vacant look acter of notation and the composer’s chosen de-
them to sustain. Yet their instructions are distort- Notation progressed like a giant ball of dust, at a restaurant table? The person opposite has tails matter far more than a mere sequential count
022 | |B B| | 023
of pitches and durations. interpretation, acculturation effects, and feedback— ing. Software adopted symbology and techniques cal community, among friends, or where a reputa-
Directors assess documents for content, struc- placement, expression, tuning, and interaction straight out of the 19th century—measure-based, tion is such that performers are willing to (or paid
ture, and ideas that can be discerned from the with other performers—all driven by a constant- horizontal, graphics-free, note-bound workflow to) spend time and energy creating a piece from
composers’ evidence. These are challenges. ly changing stream of symbols. This delicate lifted right from the engraver’s plates. It is as if hand-drawn materials, the tools—paper and ink,
Composers may not have notated all the content, process is perturbed by illegible printing, dubious the 20th century never happened. And it has an say—are no barrier. But materials move out of the
editors and publishers may not have rendered the symbols, poor placement, cramped pages, or effect. circle of acquaintances. Publishers take them on,
content faithfully, cultural differences may create broken page turns. reprinting composers’ manuscripts or hiring cal-
false cognates, and directors may not have time It would seem that professional engraving soft- VIII. ligraphers and engineering drawing experts and
or ability to perceive and re-create musical coher- ware would facilitate the entire process. Ironical- Notation and engraving software are fundamen- specialists working in a combination of programs
ency. That last matters. Directors should be—but ly, software has not brought with it an increasing tally distinct. A graphical notation program has to create fine graphical renderings.
often are not—conversant with the styles of new awareness of legibility, placement, visibility, and few limits, but efficiencies are gained when soft- But the economics of publishing militates
compositions. Nonpop can be without precedent, convenience. And techniques of page clarity and ware handles tasks natively and musically, with a against hiring graphic artists, instead requiring
and so very personal. balance learned through hand-copying have fall- fluid interface, where sonic and musical informa- scores to be submitted in digital format, cam-
With fifty years of notational variations from the en away, before software has caught up with the tion can be entered in sonic and musical ways— era-ready. (One of my engraving clients is a well-
avant-garde through minimalism to postmodern past or the present. Just as notation software has even with respect to graphically intense scores— known composer whose publisher expects ready-
classicism to a distorted capitulation to older pub- set in motion a process—and dependency—similar and where proofing, playback, and studio features to-print pages. He refuses to learn software and
lication styles, directors may chafe at notational to that which obviated such disparate tools as long are available. pays for engraving, with the joy of performance
practice in endless transformation from 19th-cen- division, spelling, typesetting, and stick-shifting, in Confirmation that notation programs are still his only profit.)
tury methods—as well as the investment demand- this period of transition of both notation itself and based on 19th-century models can be seen in the
ed to learn a notational style that may be used just notation software, a plethora of awkward scores list of symbology weakly or not supported. Per- IX.
once. Yet can one interpret that which one cannot drained of visual meaning are being made. cussion notation, modern articulation symbols, This limitation may injure subsequent generations
read? tone clusters, circular accidentals, and alternative of composers. Software suggests—demands—
Reading performers—the mechanics-driven VII. noteheads require supplementary fonts. Stemless ways of working with a score, even of conceptual-
(using notation as instructions for placement of A century’s resentment simmers between com- notes, feathered beams, beaming over barlines, izing it. Experienced artists can reject this or work
fingers and methods of presenting the sound), posers and music publishers. Publishers are busi- and variable staff lines are kludges. Staggered around it, but nascent composers raised with-
the music-driven (using notation as a guide to nesses, and their interest in art is engaged only so barlines, beams breaking over objects, beamed in software’s commercial limitations are at risk
the sound), and body-driven (bringing abstract long as it coincides with profit. In a corporatized flags, fractional or interwoven tuplets, angled of pre-emptive forgetfulness. Directors and per-
notation into their muscles to articulate)—demand environment, social commitment to artistic cre- stems, drawing on curves, time-based notation, formers are disinclined to assist the development
notational attention. ation is evanescent. circular or bent or angled staves, grid notation, ar- of symbolic vocabulary. Ultimately, composers
Ensemble and solo performers differ psycho- Profit comes into play because coincident with bitrary continuation lines, curved or broken arrows, will have to re-build an advanced notational con-
logically, as composers learn painfully; leaders the hyper-capitalistic trends came the fastest and and half-slurs or half-ties are all graphical kludg- sciousness.
and team players are as distinct in the musical deepest development of notational practice in the es. Quarter-tones are marginally supported and And then party like it’s 1949.
world as they are in business or politics, with history of written music. Though it has continued microtones hardly at all, nor are dimensionable
passive-aggressive behavior easily engaged by to evolve since Karkoschka’s Notation, the most symbols, stretchable elements, and scores in col- Northfield Falls, Vermont, August 2, 2007
unfamiliar notation. And professional instrumen- explosive developments took place between 1920 or. Equitone, Klavarscribo, and the entire universe
talists resent ambiguity, appreciate clarity, and and 1970. The 2005 SoundVisions (Möller, Shim of graphical notation are simply absent.
expect efficiency. Compromise may be required. & Stäbler) shows that development since has This catalog of near-impossibilities is stunning.
Instrumental notation is idiomatic, and compos- slowed. And creative people are not immune to their tools’
ers who notate outside conventions—accidentally Examples in Karkoschka and Cage are large- limitations. When software defies working with
or deliberately—risk artistic dismissal and miser- ly hand-written manuscripts or hand-inked fair contemporary techniques natively, and as com-
able performances. copies, as one would expect during an era when posers come up through composition using com-
typography was expensive and music was still puter notational tools, they will be inhibited by the
VI. engraved on metal. However, save for traditionally enormous inconvenience of working outside of
Music, a real-time activity with symbolic repre- notated music, SoundVisions shows little change 19th-century conventions. Imagination may stretch
sentation, begins on the page and ends as sound, from the hand-inked era—despite twenty-plus well past tools, but in practice, one produces prac-
proceeding through recognition, short-term mem- years of computer music engraving. tical materials—under duress, temporal or eco-
ory, biological and mechanical action, external What has happened? Nothing. Absolutely noth- nomic. Among those in a forward-looking musi-
024 | |B B| | 025
stephen beck Stephen Beck invited them all to come see the performance—
and a few came!
Mycology, Musicology, Harpsichords Upon entering the stadium the sounds of par-
Electronic Music and Video at the University allel harpsichords with electronic audio amplifica-
of Illinois in 1969 tion, dozens of other audio speakers playing tape-
recorded electronic music generated by resident
composers using ILLIAC computers and other
John Cage was a visiting composer in residence at electronic synthesis, a cacophony filled the air.
the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, in (Max Matthews at Bell Labs had recently re-
1968-1969; his visit culminating in a weekend of leased MUSIC V, his software program for gener-
Stephen Beck; CYCLES. For video/electronic synthesizers. Used by permission of Stephen Beck, © 1974.
multimedia magic with the world premiere of HP- ating precise frequencies, tones, ADR, and other
SCHD in the flying saucer stadium there in May basic music parameters. To use MUSIC V involved
of 1969, barely two months before the first man a multi-day-long process of composition and de-
walked on the moon. sign, then punching hundreds of IBM data cards
HPSCHD was composed and produced by Cage, on the mechanical key punch machines, deliver-
together with Lejaren Hiller, founder of the Uni- ing the huge and heavy box of cards to the com-
versity of Illinois Electronic Music Studio. It was puter center; getting a few bad runs with bugs, you
my good fortune as a young student of age 18 to would sort through reams of print out paper with
play a part in the visual and aural realization of this your program code to find and fix the bugs; final-
most magical and transformative performance. ly, a rare and singular low-performance digital to
HPSCHD included seven harpsichords, comput- analog converter would output to audio tape and
er-generated music, electronic music synthesis, vi- you received a 1/4-inch reel-to-reel tape to listen
sual projections of film and slides, and a whole ar- to your composition.)
ray of new music meets media concepts. As you progressed down into the stadium, color
The Stadium at the U of I looks like a giant flying lights swept the interior; this was the beginning of
saucer that just landed in the middle of the corn- Light Show technology of the 1960s.
fields at the south end of the campus. The sta- And there standing at center court, beaming his
dium was primarily built for basketball games, a huge smile and dressed in an all white suit like a
passion of colleges in these parts. The opportuni- jovial ice cream man was Cage himself, basking in
ty to transform it into a glowing, pulsing, sonic sta- the joy of the creation.
dium saucer for HPSCHD was probably a once-in- The date was May 16, 1969, and even Andy War-
a-lifetime chance. hol had sent one of his surrogates with the trade-
The circumference of the saucer rim was com- marked white long hair wig to join the fun.
Stephen Beck; Radhe. Used by permission of Stephen Beck, © 1991. prised of large, ten-feet high plate glass windows. As a young student in electrical engineering at
By projecting 35mm slides and 16mm films from the U of I, this event was an opportunity for me
the inside out onto thin translucent screens hung to get a job with James Beauchamp, Jerry Hiller,
CYCLES depicts a visual theme and varia- RADHE postulates that we are entering a of the 1060s to today. My work has inves- on the windows, the entire saucer edge became and Herbert Brun, to study electronic music and
tions as a visual allegory of the eternal “post-digital” era in which tools for image tigated visual tools and visual language, a light show of pulsing, throbbing, lyrical, and dy- composition while helping to build the Electron-
cycles of life. The composition process in- making, sound, music, and communica- archetypal modalities, internal imagery,
namical images. ic Music Studio.
cluded merging and fusing of 16mm color tions are mature and ubiquitous. How do spiritual technology, and compositional
film positive with Beck Direct Video Syn- we use these tools wisely, and what might structures in video, music, animation, light As you approached the stadium from afar, it was Housed in the attic of a small bungalow across
thesizer images with a collage combined in be their implications and consequences? sculptures, and games. a sight never before seen. The stadium sits in a the street from the main Music Department Build-
a process I call "Editation.” I composed and What becomes of visual language, sen- large, clear and flat parking lot—flat, wide-open ing, the Stiven House was the antithesis of high
performed the sonic music component to sory and optimal perception? Will diffusion
the final edited visual composition, which of analog motifs result? For me, creative
space is plenty available in these parts—so the vi- tech appearance. Yet up in the attic was the huge
has a run-time duration of approximately necessity propels artistic realizations and sual effect was magnificent in the evening dark- collection of harmonic tone generators, oscillators,
10 minutes. explorations via hybrid electronic technol- ness. patch cords, reel-to-reel audio tape recorders, and
ogies. My artistic and technical innovations Some of the neighboring farmers looked on the second Moog music synthesizer ever built.
in luminous dynamic, emitted light span
the transformation from the analog world
with astonishment and curious wonder, and we It was there we could find Cage and other com-
026 | |B B| | 027
posers, including Dr. Hiller and Dr. Brun, and the It was here that in late 1968 Sal Martirano began Some of my films were projected on large While audio signals were interesting on video,
wonderful Sal Martirano, who was so cool and to design and construct his own personal elec- screens at the HPSCHD event in 1969. This was certain frequencies and pitches were more inter-
friendly with us undergrad students. Everyone tronic music synthesizer, the SalMar, using Heath- first real public performance, as part of the work esting than others, due to the frequency hetero-
was always smoking cigarettes or pipes with to- kit’s new digital electronics modules. He was not of a Master—John Cage! dyne of the video horizontal and vertical scanning
bacco, so the music filtered through a hazy cloud only a magnificent and innovative composer (one Some years later, Ron Nameth made a trek to rates.
of smoke. of his interesting creations included L’s GA—Lin- India with the films, and told me he had left them In order to obtain even more precise controls of
Gordon Mumma, Edwin Kaplan, Maggie Payne, coln’s Gettysburg Address performed with an ac- there with a guru in an Ashram in Kathmandu. I pitch and amplitude I then proceeded to program
Jim Cuomo, and myself, we were all up in Stiven tor wearing a gas mask with microphone feeding wish I had some of them now! MUSIC V so as to obtain the most precise control
House at all hours of the day or night, trying to real-time audio voice processing, accompanied by In 1969, thanks in part to Ron Nameth and Sal for optimum video as per my aesthetic.
get a few hours booked in the studio to generate taped music and a live improvisational mix by Sal, Martirano, I was able to obtain the donation of a I still have those 1/4-inch reel-to-reel tapes in
a minute or two of tape. Professor James Beau- all set to a film background by Ron Nameth), but 27-inch color television set from Zenith in Chicago, my archive, someday to reincarnate the earliest
champ and I were the only two renegades from he was also an amazing jazz piano improviser, but where I had worked at a summer job the previous video experiments.
the Electrical Engineering Department to wander now took on a new task of mastering electronic cir- summer on a laser color TV projection system. At this time at the U of I the multimedia work
across campus to mix it up with these “out there” cuits to make his instrument. Once I had the color TV I was able to modify was exploding, and at the kind invitation of Sal
musicians. Dr. Hiller was formally a chemistry pro- In the midst of all this creative energy, we had a the red, green, and blue video circuits and sync Martirano, who invited me to join his live perfor-
fessor, but he got the electronic music bug in the war in Vietnam to protest, and many of us young circuits to feed in external “direct video” synthesis mance group with the SalMar, we often would lug
1950s and began to develop the Electronic Music men collectively gathered and publicly burned our from a small analog console I built. the 27-inch Zenith color TV from my apartment to
Studio, beginning in 1958. He was wise enough to military draft cards. (Women were not allowed in This was very exciting in 1969 because comput- various venues on campus to give live electronic
bring in great talents like Dr. Brun and Jim Beau- the military then for the most part, and were not in er graphics at that time were very primitive, con- music and video performances.
champ, and it was primarily his diligence that led danger of being drafted and sent to Vietnam. But sisting mainly of only a monochrome oscilloscope Sal invited me on tour with his SalMar Perfor-
to Cage coming to be a composer in residence they showed their support and affection for us in or cathode ray tube with special long-persistence mance Company to The Art Institute of Chicago,
that year. other nice ways….) phoshors onto which the computer could draw a the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the Uni-
Among his many talents, Cage was also an ac- This environment inspired my concept of cre- dot, or a series of dots, in a very slow, non-real versity of Iowa, and other locations in the Midwest.
complished mycologist—mushroom hunter—and ating a video synthesizer as an extension of the time process. It was a lot of heavy lifting of the Zenith, which
one time in the spring of 1969 he invited a group concept of a music synthesizer. The idea of a per- My first Beck Video Synthesizer #0 was capa- weighed almost 100 pounds, and the SalMar. But
of us all to go hunting out in the forests near Ur- sonal visual instrument, in the lineage of Thomas ble of real-time, full-color video with motion, shad- nothing ever broke on all this travel and we played
bana with him. Wilfred’s Lumias and Oscar Fishinger’s abstract ing, textures, and forms, based on my invention to hundreds and thousands of people during the
Indeed, after some spring time rains, there ap- animations, with a dose of The Whitney Brothers of the voltage to position converter circuit for hor- winter of 1969-1970.
peared an abundance of wild mushrooms un- mixed in, and a dash of Jordan Belson added for izontal and vertical locations. This design was in- As the concepts for my video synthesizer devel-
der the oak trees and other forest foliages. Cage good measure, came to me at this time. spired by Bob Moog’s voltage to frequency circuit oped a basic model of modules generating four
would inspect a find, make a determination if the These works that inspired me were all 16 mm in the Moog music synthesizer. basic elements or ingredients of the moving im-
mushroom was edible or toxic, and we would col- films being shown at Undergound Movie nights Another aspect of this first video synthesizer age emerged: color, form, texture and motion.
lect the good ones in baskets. on Saturdays on campus. was to feed audio source signals into the coloriz- During a very brief period of time I designed
Back in Champaign we all headed over to Sal At first I was only working with the monochrome ers, which then displayed them in real time on the dozens of circuits for all of these functions, based
Martirano’s home for a roasted mushroom feast. oscilloscope in the Electronic Music Studio, devel- CRT color screen. on a constructivist approach to video synthesis.
Sal and his wife (a violinist) were very kind, and oping complex Lissajou patterns using audio fre- At the first video salon held in my small apart- This was in 1969-1970.
were always inviting students and faculty over to quencies from the multiple oscillators that I also ment on Bash Court, over a dozen friends and mu- Another good friend of longstanding, and fel-
their home for working social events. We would recorded to tape. Playing oscillators and wave- sicians crowded in to watch my video performanc- low student at the U of I, was the cinematic ge-
eat, smoke, play music, talk circuits, and jam it up. form generators in real time, I could get some nice es, including my feeding stereo audio signals from nius Ted (Theodore) Timreck. We had met up in
(No, none of the mushrooms collected were psy- three-dimensional line images going. a turntable playing vinyl records of all sorts of mu- Rob Fisher’s Multimedia class and became very
chedelic, though those could be obtained from In late 1968 I collaborated with film professor sic—Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Mozart, Stockhaus- good friends. Ted is a musician, writer, animator,
other local suppliers.) The feast was delicious, and Ron Nameth and we used his 16 mm film camera en—which produced amazing, never before seen filmmaker, and all around talent.
while there was a slight chance the mushrooms with some color gel filters to film many minutes of images on the color screen. At that time I was also doing stage lighting for
might have been toxic, we all shared a dare in eat- my first oscillogramics. (Later I learned that the pi- Soon I was composing specific audiotapes in the modern dance companies at Champaign, includ-
ing them, trusting that Cage had made the correct oneering film artist Mary Ellen Bute had explored Electronic Music Studio with the analog waveform ing the Willis Ward Dance Company. My special-
collections. (He did NOT employ I-Ching methods this territory some ten years before, yet I had never generators and the Moog Synthesizer designed to ties included dichroic color lighting, gas discharge
in selecting the mushrooms.) seen or heard of her then—a pity for me!) playback into my video synthesizer. strobe lights, sequencing, and other goodies that
028 | |B B| | 029
I designed and built myself. irene becker
Modern dance companies were great to work
with since there were many lithe, young, lovely
lady dancers to mix it up with!
Ted asked me to do some special effects light-
ing for some of his experimental films, includ-
ing a scene where we lit dichoric color on a rit-
ual cutting open of a nude woman wrapped in
aluminum foil.
Ted was filming in 16mm with a Bolex camera,
so I invited him to come over to my studio apart-
ment to film some of the early video synthesis
images. There was no access to videotape at that
time, so film was the first and only method avail-
able to record my video performances.
The results were very nice, and we shot hun-
dreds of feet—tens of minutes of film—of which
today I would love to get my hands on.
At the dawn of the 1970s we all collaborated
with Rob Fisher in the production of a Rock Opera
that premiered in January 1970, at the Krannert
Center. Entitled ! the multimedia extravaganza
featured dancers, musicians, artists—all the new
talent at the U of I.
We projected my video on film on a giant screen
on stage, in front of which dancers and jazz musi-
cians performed. I also had designed and built a
sixteen-channel sound sweeper, and performed
it live on stage as this hippie techno guy was sit-
ting over on the side.
We all lugged A7 speakers up and around the
hall, and with the sound sweeper I could place Irene Becker; Adventure No. 7. For ensemble/voices ad lib. Used by permission of Irene Becker, © 1993.
and move sounds in and out, around, far and near.
One scene put the hall totally in the dark and I per-
Adventure No. 7: How to do the piece? In By Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen
formed a six-minute sound space beginning with a
a letter from Irene, she writes: “You have of
thunder and lightning storm that was amazing. course your freedom to interpret the piece.
The effects obtained by fading sounds, then mu- However, I can well hear inside me—in the
sic, in from far away behind the audience, bringing fourth ‘picture’—the French horn playing
the lower ‘part’—a fast walking-bass in free
the sound up closer and then spinning it around,
jazz-style—but now I say no more! Of course,
up and out the stage were great. time measurements are approximate. Have
a nice trip!”
From this it can be deduced that the
composer enjoyed hinting at some musi-
cal styles, but she nevertheless consid-
ers it important that the group makes its
own interpretation. Make the experiment
yourself and have a good talk on how you
feel like doing each section—this is how it
should be in an “adventure.” And of course,
the concrete details described with words
in sections 5 and 6 must be followed.
030 | |B B| | 031
cathy berberian david berezan
12' 00 10 20 30 40 50 13 ' 00
bœ
bœ j
032 | |B B| | 033
carl bergstrom–nielsen carl bergstrom–nielsen
Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen; Postcard Music. For an ensemble of preferably different voices and instruments.
Used by permission of Edition Samfundet, © 1992.
Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen; Towards An Unbearable Lightness. For any ensemble. Used by permission of Edition Samfundet, © 1992.
Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen; Frameworks 2. For variable instrumentation. Used by permission of Edition Samfundet, © 1992.
34 | |B B| | 35
philip blackburn philip blackburn
Night Time: Night, but five stars shine: nemes. The structures of these also deter- changes. The piece also acts as an exer-
joy-moaning, do glide over Buttermilk Way, mined the performance decisions. cise for training singers to maintain pitch
eyes data-full of dust, bust horizons, time. Thus, “night” and “time” are homonyms (the tendency is to go flat) and pay atten-
Night Time brings the worlds of Tallis’s with palindromic aspects; “but,” “butter,” tion to independent articulation, tuning,
40 Part Motet and Scelsi’s single-tone piec- and “bust” are imaginary comparatives and not getting lost.
es together. It is performed by solo voices and superlatives. After the first note, intel- The conductor acts as a timekeeper;
in a circle (originally sitting on boats on ligibility rapidly goes out the window, but there is no perceived sense of pulse when
the River Cam) around the audience and patterns emerge in the spatial distribution listening. He/she must trust in the per-
explores the spatial and timbral effects as a result of particular consonants cutting formers' ability to self-critique since there
produced by shifting formant frequencies. through the texture. is no way of discriminating the individual
Having done phonetic transcriptions and There is no need to use standard pitch parts from the podium.
analyses for previous works, this time I notation—everyone is singing a G—since
began by creating a text from a set of pho- the piece trades on timbral and dynamic
Philip Blackburn; Night Time. For 29 solo voices. Used by permission of Philip Blackburn, © 1982 Lynceus Press.
036 | |B B| | 037
benjamin boretz sam britton
banjo Used
Sam Britton; Junkspace. For and electronics.
by permission of Sam Britton, © 2006.
Benjamin Boretz; Downtime. For piano and percussion. Used by permission of Benjamin Boretz, © 2005.
Music, as music, adds a significant dimen- with things and phenomena outside of its just “lived.” The latter seems to me much Junkspace: Because it is so intensely consumed,
sion to experience and cognition. When own linguistic-phenomenal space, not be- more “open-ended” in addition to being Junkspace is fanatically maintained, the
music is assimilated explicitly to extramu- ing comfortable with the implicit interpen- more realistic and less paranoid. This is an excerpt from the Rem Koolhass es- night shift undoing the damage of the day
sical modes of cognition and experience, etration but needing something, some So, when you say that something is say "Junkspace," originally published in The shift in an endless Sisyphean replay. As
that otherwise nonexistent dimensional- reference, some analogy nailed down? For “relevant to music experience” how is that Harvard Guide to Shopping (Rem Koolhaas, you recover from Junkspace, Junkspace
ity is lost, or at least significantly dimin- example, “structure” in music is clearly an determinable by more than music experi- editor). Tashcen (2001). Used by permission of recovers from you: 2 and 5am, yet anoth-
ished. That everything interpenetrates with extramusical reference imposed on mu- ence itself? It is understandable to me that Rem Koolhaas. er population, this one heartlessly casual
everything is certainly true, but doesn’t sic as a sine qua non while no one feels music as extramusic is part of everyone’s and appreciably darker, is mopping, vacu-
handle the issues here: the question is, in the same need to explicate structure for world (like childhood or personal relation- If space-junk is the human debris that lit- uming, sweeping, toweling, re-supplying…
what form, in what degree, to what pur- every verbal or pictorial phenomenon. To ships, or historical associations and their ters the universe, “junk-space” is the residue Junkspace does not inspire loyalty in its
pose, with what desirable self-conscious “open” music by tying it to a complex of attendant inner feelings)—but that is epis- mankind leaves on the planet. Junkspace is cleaners…Dedicated to instant gratification,
cultivation—or, conversely, with what un- explicit other issues seems more like clos- temologically trivial (everything and any- what remains after modernization has run Junkspace accommodates seeds of future
avoidable pervasion—and—perhaps most ing it by reduction than if it is supposedly thing can and does have that kind of net- its course or, more precisely, what coagu- perfection; a language of apology is woven
poignantly—to what effect, with respect “closed” by being just whatever it is, leading work—a rock, a book, a face, a house, a bird, lates while modernization is in progress, through its texture of canned euphoria;
to both music and extramusic does that just wherever it leads, creating who knows anything). So what does actually “deepen” its fall-out. Modernization had a rational “pardon our appearance” signs, or minia-
interpenetration lodge? Why is it normal what otherwise illogical or even irrational music, and what actually “shallows” it— program: to share the blessings of science, ture yellow “sorry” billboards mark ongoing
to think that some phenomenon, some ut- mélange of awareness and associations. It and do we valorize “depth” and demonize universally. Junkspace is its apotheosis, or patches of wetness, announce momentary
terance, is just what it is within its own lan- makes me think about reincarnation, how “triviality”—or not—and, either way, why, or meltdown…although its individual parts are discomfort in return for imminent shine, the
guage, even though we know at the same people always imagine themselves having rather, in the service of what? the outcome of brilliant inventions, lucidly allure of improvement. Somewhere, work-
time that everything is interpenetrated been someone important or famous, hav- planned by human intelligence, boosted by ers sink on their knees to repair faded sec-
with everything, while in the case of music ing done something “officially important”— infinite computation, their sum spells the tions—as if in prayer—or half-disappear in
it seems necessary to identify it explicitly rather than just “someone,” someone who end of Enlightenment, its resurrection as ceiling voids to negotiate elusive malfunc-
farce, a low-grade purgatory. tion—as if in confession…
038 | |B B| | 039
earle brown earle brown
Earle Brown; November '52. excerpt from FOLIO (1952/1953) and 4 SYSTEMS (1954). Used by permission of the Earle Brown Foundation,
© 2006 Associated Music Publishers.
Earle Brown; December '52. excerpt from FOLIO (1952/1953) and 4 SYSTEMS (1954). Used by permission of the Earle Brown Foundation,
© 2006 Associated Music Publishers.
Why is it never learned that art is an exploration of experience and difficulty of indicating all of the articulate and inarticulate inflec-
communication and meaning. There is always a cry for individual- tions in “speaking” this language are immense. I was once very
ity and originality, but at the first indication of either one, the cry envious of painters who can deal directly with the existent real-
changes to nihilism, no values, anti-art, sensationalism, I suppose. ity of their own work without this indirect and imprecise “transla-
This is the difference between human nature and the human mind. tion stage.” In conversation I would ask them if they could imagine
The human mind recognizes the essential nature of life as change, sitting down and writing out a set of directions so that someone
but human nature is insecure and protective. else would be able to paint exactly what they themselves would
It is well known that notation has been a constant difficulty paint in all details. I thought very much about this problem, from
and frustration to composers, being a relatively inefficient and this angle of direct contact with oneself and sounds, and it had an
incomplete transcription of the infinite totality which a composer effect upon my notation and performance concerns.
traditionally “hears,” and it should not be at all surprising that it
is continuing to evolve. It serves as vocabulary and punctuation
in an abstract language whose syntax is potentially infinite. The
040 | |B B| | 041
herbert brun ellen burr
042 | |B B| | 043
john cage allison cameron
Allison Cameron; Untitled (Two Bits). For string quartet, double bass, and five percussion.
Used by permission of Allison Cameron, © 1986.
John Cage; Aria. For a voice of any range. Used by permission of C.F. Peters, © 1958.
Aria: the aria may be sung in whole or in may be used and any correspondence pained inhalation; peaceful exhalation;
part to provide a program of a determined between color and style may be estab- hoot of disdain; tongue click; exclamation
time-length, alone or with the "Fontana lished. The one used by Miss Berberian is: of disgust; of anger; scream (having seen
Mix" or with any parts of the "Concert." dark blue = jazz; red = contralto (and con- a mouse); ugh (as if suggesting an Ameri- Two Bits was constructed in 1986 at the Uni- specific sound world for the piece through
The notations represent time horizontal- tralto lyric); black with parallel dotted line = can Indian); ha, ha (laughter); expression of versity of Victoria, British Columbia, Cana- the use of extended techniques and in turn
ly, pitch vertically, roughly suggested rather sprechstimme; black = dramatic; purple = sexual pleasure. da, from a graphic image of a circle divided also created an alternate graphic notation
than accurately described. The material, Marlene Dietrich; yellow = coloratura (and The text employs vowels and conso- into multiple time frames. Scored for dou- for the score.
when composed, was considered sufficient coloratura lyric); green = folk; orange = ori- nants and words from 5 languages: Arme- ble bass, string quartet and 5 percussion-
for a ten-minute performance (1 page = ental; light blue = baby; brown = nasal. nian, Russian, Italian, French, and English. ists the work was heavily influenced from
30 seconds); however, a page may be per- The black squares are any noises ("un- All aspects of a performance (dynamics, the structure of Javanese Court gamelan
formed in a longer or shorter time period. musical" use of the voice, auxiliary percus- etc.) which are not notated may be freely music. I used "found" sounds in the work in-
The vocal lines are drawn in black, with sion, mechanical or electronic devices). The determined by the singer. cluding a wind chime made from piano tun-
or without parallel dotted lines, or in one ones chosen by Miss Berberian in the order ing pegs along with a brake drum technique
or more of 8 colors. These differences rep- they appear are: tsk, tsk; footstomp; bird called dead-sticking (hitting and muting the
resent 10 styles of singing. Any 10 styles roll; snap, snap (fingers); clap; bark (dog); instrument simultaneously). I developed a
044 | |C C| | 045
joe catalano joe catalano
Joe Catalano; “DreamFrame” from Five Terrestial Projections for Guitar and Other Instruments. Used by permission of Wendy Burch (Catalano), © Quiet Cat Music, BMI, 1989.
046 | |C C| | 047
raven chacon chris chalfant
Chris Chalfant; Portraits. For piano. Used by permission of Chris Chalfant, © 1990.
Portraits: The original title was "Portrait of provisation I created in performance. It was
Three Portraits," because it was based on created for a composers’ competition in
Raven Chacon; …lahgo adil’i dine doo yeehosinilgii yidaaghi. For any large ensemble. two paintings of me which evoked two dif- Louisville, Kentucky, for which I was mer-
Used by permission of Raven Chacon (Dineyazhe Music), © 2004. ferent moods. The third “portrait” was not it finalist.
an actual painting, but rather a “live” portrait
of my mood at the time of the performance.
This score is based on the structured im-
048 | |C C| | 049
jef chippewa kyong mee choi
for asamisimasa
…without…
GUITAR (amp volume “normal” playing level but amp is OFF, all volume
knobs and pedals off): sit in chair, feet flat on ground; wrap cable through
strap from behind and leave hanging freely; move PICKUP switch to neck;
reach over with LH to your right side to the guitar amp ON-switch; HOLD…
PIANO: standing between bench and keyboard; hands resting on keylid and
piano frame, right foot positioned to be able to pedal.
DRUMSET: sitting at set, one drumstick in RH, HiHat held closed with foot.
jef chippewa
var.1 q=40 staccato sempre to STRING [III–VI]
pp
pinch between index and thumb
(2007)
5 pp
œ π. ∏ œ-
7 vib. (pull)
RH ã turn on AMP calmly return to [ ø]
pp
é pp
abruptly; HOLD normal playing
electric guitar
p p 5
p
∫ œ.
position
LH ã œT ∫ . π ø œ ∫π ∫. œ π
“ß”
to NECK [VII–IX] to MAG. VOL. KNOB
hold from above, palm dampen (brief string noise on release ok)
all strings with medium pressure dampen strings with forearm (through var. 2)
π À ! œÃ ∫SET
& PP
SET
§pC A
3 p p pp ª
piano
? π À ! œpà π π . ! HpC∫ ª p∫ π Cª HC
¡ C HC π V
[ ø] “ç”
5 3
RIDE release grip;
grab edge Ä
! ϣ clet sway slightly
to BRUSH
pp
π ∫ PP ∫ ª PP π . œ π.
on table
RH ã
[ ø] [ ø]
3 3 SET
drumset
edge
LH ã ∫ À œÃ π
PP
[ ø]
«draw
SWISH» to PATCH CORD (sub.)
«dragCRICK »
C
n string (~1cm) and n
nail rapidly along rapidly grab patch cord and
3p
3 5 ppp ppp
place it at plug ; HOLD
ã ∫Ä ∫∏ π œC∫ . œ
MAG. VOL.
5p “ç” Ø [ ø]
p
ã π π œ- π π
0<8
[ ø]
(the volume of the amp should be set so that some noise
RFt to PEDAL can be heard when the pedal “volume” is medium to high)
Kyong Mee Choi; Conceptual View of Worlds I (page 9). For piano, cello, clarinet, trumpet, and percussion.
∫ œpp ∫ π . ∫.
3 5
ã [exp. ped.] ø N∫
Used by permission of Kyong Mee Choi, © 2002.
[ ø ] THUD
« » an intense and expressive
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§ strike KEY (but controlled) vibrato
À !aœÃ
é §pp
lift in a broad arc and… 3
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PP .ø ! x C CH H œ ∫ & !H C
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pp é table end of the string, place fingertip
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table at the end of the wounds
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© 2007 by jef chippewa ø LIFT as if to strike; HOLD [ ø] shirling & neueweise
All rights reserved — Tous droits réservés http://newmusicnotation.com
Jef Chippewa; …without… (page 1). For guitar, piano, and drumset. Used by permission of Jef Chippewa, © 2007.
…without…: In recent works each individu- most part, no sound can actually be heard.
al sound (typically not repeated) has been For example, with the sffz accent early in
so precisely composed that a significant the piano part on an already-depressed
amount of text accompanies many of the key we “see” the result but “hear” nothing.
sounds, notes, and actions the musician is Gradually more and more sounds result
to perform. from the actions until in the third variation
In the opening two variations of …with- conventionally produced sounds appear,
out…, the minute details of the actions the actions now a means to produce the
required to produce sound on the instru- composed sounds.
ments—the mechanics of the performance
—are the compositional materials; for the
050 | |C C| | 051
Kyong Mee Choi vary many aspects of my approach depending on municate its meaning to performers clearly. If the
the piece. Certain pieces suggest more abstract graphics interfere with communication, the score
shapes than others. In some pieces, I indicate all is no longer a score and is only visual art. It is true
As a composer, I have been interested in graphic of the sonic events with different shapes, while in that some performers have a preference to read
notation and have used it extensively to incorpo- other pieces I use only a few figures associated from a traditional score—but it is also true that per-
rate extended techniques or as a component of with word-expressions. Scoring for both acous- formers’ capacity and readiness to read graphic
electro-acoustic music scores. tic and electro-acoustic sound presents a unique notation have changed tremendously.
My interest toward graphic notation can be challenge. Generally speaking, electronic scores I have found that many performers are willing
traced all the way back to my early childhood only include a small percentage of the sounds, to incorporate graphically notated music into their
when I developed a genuine passion for calligra- and usually only those that are needed to help repertory, and some even seek out new and inno-
phy, science, geometry, and visual art, along with the performer read the score. However, I like to in- vative music, often with very unique and personal
music. In this sense, graphic notation for my com- vent particular symbols for each electronic sound notation. In order to accomplish both a function-
position is not a result of studying contemporary event so that the symbols can be easily associat- al and artful result, I pay careful attention to the
music, but rather an outcome of my personal jour- ed with the sound. This makes the music easier to ease of reading of my scores. I make sure to in-
ney that integrates diverse interests. Calligraphy, learn and the score easier to read. Many perform- clude performance notes that explain all symbols
for instance, which I did when I went to elemen- ers like to see these electronic sound symbols in that are not already commonly known.
tary school, has become essential for my creative a score since it is helpful for them in conceptual- Some might think graphic notation is heavily bi-
process in general. I use a calligraphy pen to cre- izing the electronic part, and in being less reliant ased toward an improvisational style of compo-
ate certain stems or lines in a score. This helps on a click-track or stopwatch. sition. There might be some truth to that in the
to generate the impression of a smoothly flow- One of the other features that have motivated sense that there is usually some aspect of indeter-
ing atmosphere. These elegant lines are juxta- me to create graphic notation is my interest in both minacy in graphic symbols or shapes. On the other
posed with sharp angles, charts, and rectangu- graphic software and handwriting. Tools are quite hand, in my electro-acoustic scores I use graphics
lar shapes, which derive from my fascination to- important since they can accelerate and stimulate to indicate exact events with exact timings. Some
ward geometric shapes and symbols. In college, the creative process, as well as restrict or inhibit. I also think graphic notation is an outgrowth of the
studying inorganic-chemistry modeling fascinated tend to use graphic software to generate a gener- desire to negate traditional notation. But I see it
me enormously due to the intricate structures of ic format for the score; this takes care of the things more as an extension or expansion of tradition-
molecules. In music, visualizing the structure of a that are too tedious to do by hand and provides al practice. I also see graphic notation as being
piece and imagining the shape of sonic events in- a score skeleton that looks neater when printed. flexible enough to accommodate a broad spec-
spire me every time I compose. Therefore, graph- Having this digital file also allows for easy dupli- trum of musical style and approach, regardless
ic notation is a natural byproduct of various intel- cation of the non-hand drawn elements. Outside of the composer’s compositional voice. The best
lectual activities that interest me. of this skeleton, the score has areas left empty for way to decide what is the most appropriate scor-
The other aspect of graphic notation that I found my handwriting, allowing me to personalize each ing option is to find how to help performers to un-
attractive is that it makes each score incredibly score. If the piece requires parts, I incorporate the derstand and realize a particular piece in the best
unique and original. I like the idea of having my symbols created for the score in the parts via a no- way possible. I have found that adding a graphic
personal taste reflected in my score, as long as tation program. For electro-acoustic music with a dimension to my scores gives me room to be cre-
the score clearly communicates the musical in- solo instrument I prefer to use graphic software ative and to put a personal stamp on my music. It
tent. However, I am not using graphic notation ex- that is primarily designed to draw shapes or sym- is great to invent something unique of one’s own.
clusively, nor am I discarding traditional practice. bols. Because each piece, after all, is one-of-a-kind.
It is quite the opposite. I incorporate traditional Apart from all of the intriguing aspects of graph- Since graphic notation naturally evolved from
notation as necessary (sometimes with custom- ic notation, I also see my score as an artwork. I my personal interest and background, it has be-
izations to better elide with the graphic notation). have found that even those who are not trained come essential for my compositional process, go-
In this way, my scores combine traditional ele- musicians appreciate my scores as a form of vi- ing beyond its original purpose as instructions to
ments with graphic figures. Each score has a dif- sual art. Notating my music graphically is a satis- performers.
ferent look depending on the type of instrumen- fying way to bring my enthusiasm for music and
tation, musical style, and medium. I have devel- art together.
oped a score design and preparation procedure As I described earlier, I think a music score
that I have used for several compositions, but still should be functional. This means it needs to com-
052 | |C C| | 053
henrik colding–jorgensen henrik colding–jorgensen
Henrik Colding-Jørgensen; Museik No. 10. For any instrumentation. Used by permission of composer, © Henrik Colding-Jørgensen, 1979.
Museik No. 10 (1979): The society for con- Sweden, with subjects relating to contem- mance. Sheet No. 10 is designed rather for Henrik Colding-Jørgensen; Museik No. 9. For any instrumentation. Used by permission of Henrik Colding-Jørgensen, © Henrik Colding-Jørgensen, 1979.
temporary music, DUT, in Copenhagen, porary composition, and there I met the a shaping of a concert performance, and
Denmark, decided in 1979 on its first Chil- American composer Earle Brown. He lec- copies were placed on the music stands at
dren's Music Week, and I was entrusted tured about rehearsing and directing per- the first performance.
with the task to direct and conduct a group formances of graphic and aleatoric nota- And here the supplementary instruc-
of very young instrumentalists, and to tions, with discussions of a lot of examples tions end. There are no predefined "right"
compose a piece of music for these chil- drawn from his wide experience with solo- ways to perform or rehearse this music or
dren to premiere as part of the program. ists, orchestras, and ensembles, both in his to interpret the graphics. You have to find
We would have one week together, which own works and other compositions. That your own ways to sort out ideas and inspi-
meant three rehearsals and one recital, so meeting was a great inspiration to me for rations, and with an ensemble you also
I took a deep breath and made an entirely many years to come, and still some of his have to establish a trusting and confident
graphic composition for the group of 10 or enlightening statements at that time come cooperation. When playing from these
15 teenagers, who applied for participation, to my mind when working with aleatoric kinds of graphics, we are not troubled by
playing various instruments. I had been notation. instrumental limitations, age, experience,
employing optic and graphic notational The word “Museik” is a combination of technical musical elements, counting of
elements in my compositions for a num- the Danish words “museum” and “music,” bars or beats or such, but alert and open
ber of years, but this was my first entirely derived from the fact that the rehearsals to the visual impulses and inspirations,
graphic score. and concert took place in the concert hall beyond words or semantics. Regardless of
The concepts of aleatoric improvisation of the State Art Museum, Copenhagen, our level of professionalism we can focus
and graphic notation were central in the and the music week was realized in coop- on the music, forget time and place, and
composers' milieus in many countries at eration with the museum. There are ten share—with the audience—the intense, sus-
that time, at a professional level. In 1971, I sheets in all, nine of which can be used for pended moments of expressive life.
participated in a symposium in Stockholm, inspiration and rehearsal as well as perfor- Isn't this what music is about?
054 | |C C| | 055
nick collins david cope
Nick Collins; avscore 37. For a live audiovisual performance group. Used by permission of Nick Collins, © klipp av 2007.
David Cope; Sketch for Cello Concerto. For cello concerto.Used by permission of David Cope, © 1982.
avscore37: This audiovisual score is intend- sion of framed abstract scenes, while player loosely interpreted as suggestions for con-
ed for realization by a live audiovisual per- V follows a continuous staved timeline. The formance and complementation of activi-
formance group. In full generality, such a particular score included here involves four ty, given the additional constraints of the
score might consist of a visual stimulus for systems; performers may use any portion scenes, or fully adhered to as the prima-
the audio production, and an audio stimu- of the score for a given realization, select- ry goal, at the performer’s decision. Some
lus for visuals, but given the constraints of ing their own playback speed (which might slight spillage between frames and parts
a book format, and the difficulties of cleanly be marked out in terms of frames per min- is also evidenced and may form a further Sketch for Cello Concerto was complet-
monitoring a separate audio stream as well ute by an external timer). The continuous abstract cue. ed in 1982 for a work not yet complete. The
as the main audio in a live concert, this is curves on each part represent the degree of The audiovisual score was created by a graphic nature of the score actually has
perhaps better conceptualized as a graph- desired correlation between audio and visu- generative computer program; while many significant musical meaning. The multiple
ical score alone. al modalities, on a scale from a lower limit further variants could be exhibited, this par- staves each describe a time line, with tex-
In this instantiation, a graphical score of attempting full contest or independence, ticular score is advanced as good evidence ture, range, relative motion, and other pa-
line for the "music" (A) accompanies a "mu- to a higher limit of full inter-modal co-op- of the potential output of the program. The rameters laid out in temporal relationship.
sical" score line for the visuals (V), in a tra- eration and coincidence; because there are program, however, could be used for the Such sketches often serve as scores for im-
ditional scanning pattern of left to right and two curves, audio might be attempting to creation of novel scores as spurs to new provisation until a work is concrete enough
down the page between A+V systems. The follow visuals while visuals ignore or try to guided improvisations in advance of, or dur- to allow other, typically more traditional no-
player labeled A must interpret a succes- avoid the audio. These envelopes may be ing, concert performance. tation.
056 | |C C| | 057
philip corner brent michael davids
Brent Michael Davids; Mohican Friends. For youth choir, two soprano flutes, triangle, shaker, tambourine, and powwow drum. Used by permission of Brent Michael Davids, © 1993.
Mohican Friends teaches introductory vo- our earth, deserve to be understood on their Desert Invocation is a prayerful work for
cal sounds and words in the Mohican lan- own terms, respected, and treated as cher- solo Quartz Crystal Flute. The single-page
guage while challenging young vocalists ished relatives. This music celebrates our sheet music is a beautifully hand-notated
with good contemporary composition. The relatedness and is dedicated to the Stock- and brightly colored portrayal of a saguaro
Mohican text reveals something of what a bridge Band of the Mohicans. cactus bowing in the desert; the sheet mu-
traditional Mohican thinks about, namely sic is what I call “picture notation” or music
the importance of good familial relation- that is shaped into pictures to match its sub-
ships and about respecting others. A good ject matter. The one-page music has often
Mohican respects our animal and bird rel- been used as a visual poster, when not ac-
atives too, and searches out responsible tually performed by the crystal flute.
and good-hearted ways to share our lives
with the world. Mohicans do not strive to be
domineering over the animals or the land.
Philip Corner; The Constellations. For piano. Used by permission of Philip Corner, © 2004. We must work to live a balanced life with
our world and treat others of the world as
good-hearted relatives. Our earth, birds,
The Constellations (23 paintings, 1940- The music continues undisturbed. animals, and humans are intimately relat-
1941): The images projected are each of ed. We are all family members in this world.
relatively short duration—followed by a The given content (23 visual elements) Sometimes it is difficult for us to understand
longer darkness—with the next appearing should not necessarily determine the per- each other.
in a different location. forming length. If the pianist persists, then Communication remains a constant chal-
the images could continue by being pro- lenge for all beings and requires our vigilant
jected in retrograde order. efforts to listen accurately as much as talk
well. The intent of Mohican Friends is to ac-
knowledge that everyone, our animals and
Brent Michael Davids; Desert Invocation. For quartz crystal flute.
Used by permission of Brent Michael Davids, © 2001.
058 | |C D| | 059
tina davidson mario diaz � � leon and jay king
Tina Davidson; Never Love a Wild Thing. For non-specific instrumentation and open orchestration. Used by permission of Beyond the Blue Horizon Music, © 1986.
060 | |D D| | 061
robert denham halim el–dabh
Robert Denham; “Percolator” from Suite of Household Appliances. For two trumpets, each with a metal pot of water.
Used by permission of Robert Denham, © Imagine Music Publishing, 1996.
Percolator: It may be difficult to find glam- power then, whether by giving off a sooth-
or in a garbage disposal or pilot light; a dish- ing drone that lulls us to sleep, or by sub-
washer may not ever catch our eye until it tly dripping their steaming contents into a
breaks and it is time to call someone to re- hot carafe, or by creating a sense of mystery
pair it; vacuum cleaners and coffee mak- with a small flicker of flame burning softly
ers? These are tools that we use to make our in a basement corner.
lives just a little bit easier. But in the scheme Note: when performing this piece in-
of things these appliances do have some- doors, it will be necessary for a tarp to be
thing in common: we have come to depend laid down on the floor to catch excess water.
on them, and though we do not normal- Painter’s tarps are an inexpensive option.
ly take notice of them when they are there,
we certainly do miss them when they are
not. These machines wield an eerie sense of
Halim El-Dabh; “Canine Wisdom” from The Dog Done Gone Deaf. For baritone saxophone, violin, oud, double bass, piano, vocals, and percussion.
Used by permission of Halim El-Dabh, © 2007.
062 | |D E| | 063
Halim El-Dabh azine that someone had left behind, depicting an my Harmonies of the Spheres, a work for concert
ancient parchment leaf covered with an array of band, on the concept of music derived from heav-
Color Music colored circles of varying sizes. I felt a chill through enly bodies.
my body as I recognized it immediately as a form My most recent use of this color notation was
My sensitivity to the interconnections between of early Egyptian musical notation. A closer look in my 2007 composition The Dog Done Gone Deaf,
color and sound began at about the age of two. told me that the circles on the left represented the commissioned by and premiered at the Suoni per
Years later, my older sister Rogina would recall twelve tones of the chromatic scale and that the il Popolo Festival in Montreal. In the movement
her amusement at my exuberant reaction to the diameters of the circles represented durations and entitled "Canine Wisdom," I asked my ensemble,
sight of newly plucked roses. My mother frequent- rhythms. The vertical stacks of circles seemed to as well as the entire audience, to close their eyes
ly made jam from rose petals; as the youngest imply a polyphonic texture. The unusual design and quietly breathe in for six beats, then out for
of nine children I would always run to where she struck me as quite modern—like a late Mondrian seven, resulting in a metrical structure of 13. I then
was working, hold my hands tightly over my ears, painting—but also triggered my memory, remind- asked everyone to slowly open their eyes and ex-
and scream in reaction to the intensity of the crim- ing me of my earlier experiences in my homeland, amine the colors and shapes of my score (which
son, scarlet, and vermilion blossoms, which to me particularly the planets and stars I had so close- was projected for all to see). In this meditative
seemed to emit a variety of high-pitched, pene- ly observed during my childhood. Furthermore, state to which I had guided them, the musicians
trating sounds. Also during my childhood, I de- the six dancers at the top of the page reminded were now in a highly receptive state, ready to be-
veloped a fascination with astronomy, often sleep- me of the Coptic liturgical dances I was familiar gin playing in their own time. They followed, from
ing outdoors in order to feel a connection with the with from my visits to Coptic monasteries in Up- one sphere of color to another, engulfing both
heavenly bodies above. per Egypt. musicians and audience in a slowly blossom-
Later in my childhood, my brother Adeeb In an effort to learn more about this unique and ing cloud of vibrations in which color and sound
brought me to the museums of Cairo, where I was previously unknown notation, I inquired at the merged as one.
immediately attracted to the ancient faience orna- Egyptian consulate in New York, but was told that
ments with their bright blue colors. I was also cap- the best place to look would be at the Museum of August 2007
tivated by the blown glass that I saw being made Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo. Years passed and I
near Bab Zuwayla, one of Cairo's three old gates— eventually learned, via the writings of Hickmann For more information about the Egyptian parch-
the sounds, sights, and actions of the molten glass and others, that my interpretation of the notation ment, see page 290.
swelling into colorful spheres seemed like a sym- had been correct. I still have this page today, and I
phony to me. In my early teens, I had the opportu- have just learned that it came from the September
nity to visit the Tomb of Pharaoh Seti I, in the Val- 1, 1952, issue of Vogue magazine — of all places!
ley of the Kings near Luxor. The stunning vibrancy The idea of using color for my musical notation
of the tomb's painted ceiling, displaying the eve- remained in my subconscious until November
ning sky in the form of the goddess Nut, with other 1965, when I decided to present a workshop for
divinities representing the various constellations, children on this subject in Gloucester, Massachu-
left an imprint that is still with me today. setts. In this workshop, I taught the children how to
In my early twenties I was fortunate enough to compose and play their own music, as well as sing
meet the eminent German musicologist Hans Hick- and dance, using a form of notation based on the
mann, who had emigrated to Egypt in 1933. I attend- one depicted in the Coptic parchment, but inter-
ed lectures at his Musica Viva conservatory, where preting the circles as blocks of sound from which
he presented his findings about Ancient Egypt's single tones and chords may emerge. I viewed
musical culture, in particular how many European the colors as facets of the totality of sound, which
musical instruments (such as harps and reed in- could be represented by the color white ("white
struments) derive from Ancient Egyptian models. noise"), which includes all colors.
In late 1952, while attending graduate school in In subsequent years, I have returned periodical-
Boston, I happened to be visiting New York City ly to this color-based approach, using it in my 1973
when something caught my eye. Sitting on the work Voyages, for jazz big band, as well as oth-
subway seat next to me was a page from a mag- er workshops I have presented. In 1991, I based
064 | |E E| | 065
robert erickson pozzi escot
Robert Erickson; Scapes, "Game 2" and "Game 3." For two groups, each of both five or more
instruments and conductor. Used by permission of Sonic Art Editions (Smith Publications),
© 1984.
Pozzi Escot; Your Kindled Valors Bend. For soprano, clarinet, and piano.
Used by permission of Pozzi Escot / Publication Contact International, © 1989.
066 | |E E| | 067
pozzi escot julio estrada
POZZI ESCOT
The American composer Robert Cogan quotes William H. Gass (The Tunnel, New York:
Harper Perennial, 1995, pp. 244-245), "Make the present your past, enter the flux before it
gets frozen over, write about change, write about transformation." In this essay of Cogan he
himself writes that, "This past century has been a thrilling musical century of ongoing
experiment, creation of endless astonishing openings. Our ears have spread backwards
through millennia of musical creation; through deep, newly uncovered layers of fascinating
expressive growths. We can now choose to live with Hildegard von Bingen, Guillaume de
Machaut, Dufay, and Josquin, opened outwards to the end of the truly endless earth, through
previously impermeable geographical cultural barriers."
I was trained as a composer and mathematician, but beyond these possible barriers I was
trained to pass through with a life of deep absorption of all senses' possible learnings. Thus,
for me music is a thinking endeavor powerfully adorned by all thinkings. Composing is a
'baking' of such incredible diverse absorptions. As we learn the basics of fundamental
techniques, apply them, discern them, analyze them, the result of a composition has to bear
a new colloquium to pass on. Moreover, music connects well and wide. Our vocabulary
might be for some occasions limited given the fact that Alaskans, for instance, have 22
words (sounds) for snow; Africans many for ants; and all geographies dispense the
Julio Estrada; ishini'ioni (page 3). For 6 percussions on a pentagon. Used by permission of Julio Estrada, © 1998.
composing endeavor with fabulous different sonic results. Environment deeply influences
how we all produce sounds. The manner in which we communicate music is very different
throughout and around.
ishini’ioni: Purepecha Language: ishini: always, ioni: time
ishini'ioni is a continuum where rhythm and sound are under-
We are so brainwashed with the linear world that our musics tend to follow a linear result,
stood as similar physical elements, inaudible or audible, respec-
but so much of our world resides within the nOh-linear parameter where there is a wondrous tively. Both elements are treated under a methodology that pro-
connection though disjointed, fragmented, stopping sonic lines. Expressionism brought the poses the cumulative register of every speed of acoustic change,
in order to allow the greater individuality and potentiality of each
non-linear world to us only very recently. Rules were written to control the compositional
component.
result. When we see a Kandinsky and the drawings of completely isolated figures we have In composition, continuum means a more acoustical musical
eventually developed a good admiring effect for the colors, situations of the isolated possible writing than those originated by musical systems. Continuum is
shapes, but that has been difficult for our musics. When a student or somebody in the equivalent to higher resolution, proper for the rigorous and subtle
description of the variety of inflexions of audible matter. From that
audience when I am invited to address it, asks ''what type of music do you write? My perspective, ishini'ioni doesn't establish a boundary between the
answer: the world around me with centuries of history and centuries of expressions. imaginary and the reality of its evocations—the abstract and the
figurative. Composing under this continuum tends to orientate the
mind toward time, within processes far from memory, to be, in-
stead, a vivid and fugitive register of music creation: an imitation
1 of the mentally listened, precise description of the movements of
the imaginary.
068 | |E E| | 069
rajmil fischman robert fleisher
Robert Fleisher; Mandala 3: Trigon. For soprano saxophone. Used by permission of Robert Fleischer, © 1979.
Mandala 3: Trigon includes four num- speakers direct their sound to the center
bered sections performed in order with- of the audience area. When amplified, the
out intervening pauses. The four sections optimum volume level should match as
each contain three subsections, articulated closely as possible that of each performer’s
through processes of phrase addition and un-amplified sound, i.e., from the center of
subtraction. In the original, 24-minute ver- the audience, e.g., the oboe and the facing
sion (not for the squeamish), each section speaker that amplifies it should produce
is six minutes in duration, with two-minute comparable volume levels.
sub-sections. A stopwatch with a second
hand is needed by each performer to main-
tain the coherence of parts and execute the
necessary cues throughout.
No Me Quedo . . . (plantado en este verso)
The performers should stand equidistantly
(I am not staying . . . [stuck in this verse]): a Rajmil Fischman; No Me Quedo…. For saxophone or clarinet, bassoon, violoncello, percussion, and tape.
positioned around the perimeter of the
work consisting of five continuous sections Used by permission of the composer of Rajmil Fischman, © 2000.
audience (preferably seated in-the-round),
and a coda.
each of the three loudspeakers positioned
directly across the audience area from the
These take their titles from the text of
instrument, which it amplifies. Thus, all
a poem by the Peruvian César Vallejo
six sound sources should be equidistantly
(1892-1938). Dedicated to Dalit Fischman.
surrounding the audience, as though rep-
resenting the even-numbered hours on
a clock face. Both instruments and loud-
070 | |F F| | 071
Robert Fleisher enly presumed to represent a monolithic genre. The judged that a new notational approach was need- Schoenberg the modernist asserted that “Art
misapprehension drawn from the commonplace ed to represent those produced by the intonaru- means New Art,”20 and defined composition as
Being of Sound (and Visual) Mind use of such terms is that in all compositions, so mori (“noise-intoners")—mechanical instruments “the art of inventing a musical idea and the fitting
described, to quote Cole Porter, “anything goes." 6 of his own invention that naturally produced mi- way to present it.”21 For this composer, convinced
It also seems necessary to affirm that compo- crotonal (he termed these “enharmonic”) varia- that “everything of supreme value in art must
By the time John Cage’s Notations appeared in sitions that are variously “indeterminate”—which tions in pitch.11 These two very different compos- show heart as well as brain,”22 such a creative pro-
1968, it was evident that contemporary music tends also to connote works employing uncon- ers sought practical solutions to notating new as- cess needn’t be purely cerebral, or result in un-
had undergone an epochal transformation, per- ventional approaches to notation—may be as dif- pects of early 20th-century performance practice affecting work. He insisted that even as the outer
haps the most significant departure in a thou- ficult, or even more difficult, to perform than more and instrumentation, as composers of electronic characteristics of his musical language evolved—
sand years. Notations served equally to document conventionally notated works. (The difficulty of music following World War II would later do.12 Lu- from tonality through different approaches to what
these changes and to focus attention on the top- performing a work of any style or era, however, kas Foss described the impact of this new medi- he preferred to think of as “pantonality”—he con-
ic. Its publication was followed by an internation- remains an ineffective arbiter of aesthetic strengths um (writing in 1963): “Electronic music showed up tinued to compose as he had before. Though he
al wave of projects, conferences, texts, and oth- or weaknesses.) Finally, a composer of music that the limitations of live performance, the limitations asserted that “a creator has a vision of something
er writings continuing to the present day, involv- variously employs indeterminacy or improvisa- of traditional tone production, the restrictiveness which has not existed before this vision,” 23 and was
ing many performers as well as composers.1 This tion in performance neither necessarily seeks to of a rhythm forever bound to meter and bar line, frequently the target of negative, even caustic, crit-
essay, written by a composer who has employed remove his or her own aesthetic intentions, nor notation tied to a system of counting. Electronic icism, he was never an experimental composer in
a variety of non-traditional notational approaches necessarily delegates to performers primary music introduced untried possibilities, and in so the sense we associate today with Cage. Schoen-
for more than three decades, combines observa- responsibility for elements that might be con- doing presented a challenge, shocked live music berg the classicist was tied to the organic concep-
tions on the subject in general with reflections on strued as representing the identity of each work.7 out of its inertia, kindled in musicians the desire to tion of art, with its attendant attributes of narrative
personal experience.2 Nonetheless, the post-war changes in music and prove that live music ‘can do it too.’”13 logic, coherence, and development—and to con-
Kurt Stone has written that “only a fundamen- musical notation have dramatically expanded the Some of the most prominent 20th-century tinuing the “common practice” of composing mu-
tal break with established musical aesthetics and collaborative role of performers, who have need- visual artists, including Wassily Kandinsky and sic through the crafting of tonality, harmony, mel-
philosophies can bring about a commensurate ed to find, and have found, new creative solutions Paul Klee, had music in mind much of the time, as ody, and form.
notational change.”3 He attributes the upheaval, to a seemingly infinite number and variety of com- evidenced by their choice of titles.14 By the 1950s, it Cage attended Schoenberg’s classes in Los An-
beginning in the latter half of the twentieth centu- positional and notational approaches. would appear that works by these and other visual geles for about two years during the mid-1930s.
ry, to the conflicting trends toward precision and A composer may transform or invent musical artists may have suggested alternative approach- Although few today would likely recognize much
flexibility. Each of these opposing aesthetic stanc- notation for a variety of reasons. Arnold Schoen- es to musical notation for composers of New mu- common ground in their aesthetics or their mu-
es yielded many new notational solutions. It didn’t berg’s modifications certainly influenced the de- sic. On the figurative-prescriptive side, there are sic, their relationship and the question of Schoen-
take long for such opposites to attract, and the velopment of more standardized contemporary scores by George Crumb—for example, move- berg’s influence have long been discussed.24 Da-
attempt to find a balance between them produced notation—including [Hauptstimme and Neben- ments such as “Crucifixus” or “Twin Suns” from vid W. Bernstein has suggested that there may be
still many more works in which “controlled free- stimme] brackets to highlight prominent melod- his two volumes for piano titled Makrokosmos.15 more connections here than meet the eye (or ear):
dom” sought to mediate between these polarities, ic lines, diamond-shaped note-heads combined On the abstract-indeterminate side, consider the Cage’s early compositions explored serial proce-
through an increasing variety of new notational ap- with written instruction to produce sympathetic striking resemblance between Earle Brown’s De- dures and atonality;25 Cage compared the emanci-
proaches. Two radically new aesthetic viewpoints vibrations of piano strings, indications of (heard as cember 1952 and Pieter Mondriaan’s Composition pation of noise (from “so-called musical sounds”)
emerged from this period: first, the redefinition of well as performed) string harmonics, indications with Lines.16 John Cage became acquainted with to Schoenberg’s emancipation of dissonance;26
music itself, as “organized sound,”4 owing in part of Sprechstimme vocal performance, accidentals artists Mark Tobey and László Moholy-Nagy as Schoenberg acknowledged the influence of
to the advent of electronic music; secondly, the preceding most (if not all) pitches, and keys at the early as the 1930s,17 and later was closely asso- chance in the compositional process;27 and Cage,
rethinking of all prior assumptions concerning beginning of scores explaining the special sym- ciated with Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschen- in retrospect, linked his mature compositional pro-
musical form,5 ultimately including the concept of bols employed throughout. None of these prac- berg, who were both instrumental in coordinating cess of “asking questions” to the memory of a sin-
a composition’s identity—as gauged by its capacity tices, of course, fundamentally altered the con- and promoting the 25-Year Retrospective Concert gle counterpoint class taught by Schoenberg.28
to be recognized as the same work from one per- ventional notational context.8 Perhaps the earli- of the composer’s music at Town Hall in 1958. In Bernstein even perceives “correspondence of the
formance to another. est instance of an invented “graphic” notation re- 1965, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati wrote: “I am underlying aesthetic assumptions behind Cage’s
This new music continues to suffer from its own placing traditional note values and symbols may personally astounded that even today one does chance music to Schoenberg’s notion of a musi-
terminology. Works employing chance operations be those found in the scores by the Italian Futur- not play Kandinsky or Miro, even though it would cal idea.”29
in the compositional process—or involving some ist painter, Luigi Russolo—whose manifesto, The be so simple and easy to do so.”18 The use of text Still, the contrasts between these composers
degree of indeterminacy, improvisation, choice, or Art of Noise, appeared in 1913.9 Russolo “wanted scores as a substitute for music notation may also and their music remain distinct, and may likely be
“controlled freedom” in performance—are mistak- all sound to be possible material for music,”10 and reflect the influence of concrete poetry.19 attributed, at least in part, to their generational and
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cultural differences. Cage often recalled that his Most of these premises appear to underlie Se- sicians, students, and colleagues alike, undeterred ist surrounded and accompanied by an “ensem-
teacher considered him an “inventor” rather than raffyn, composed while I was an undergraduate. by the notational or interpretive challenges posed ble” of 12 cassette tape players. This approximate-
a composer.30 Schoenberg sought to achieve log- "Seraffyn" was the assumed name of Donald Mörk, by new music. My Mandala series comprises three ly 18-minute composition has an introduction, 12
ic and coherence by means of motivic unity and a multi-lingual singer-lutenist who lived the life of compositions designed for performance in the principal sections (one minute each), and three co-
developing variation through the relationship of a wandering minstrel—performing in castles, col- round: "Synchron" for four percussionists, "Radi- das. The clock-face design of the score pages for
tones. Cage, devoted to experimentation, chance, leges, and private homes around the world.33 In us" for trombone and 12 cassette tapes, and "Trig- the 12 sections mirrors the spatial relationship of
and “purposeless play,” regarded time as the ulti- keeping with its namesake, the work involves 10 on" for amplified oboe, clarinet, and soprano sax- the centrally positioned soloist, who is surround-
mate context in which all things musical (including musicians and four tape sources, most (along with ophone. All feature expanded collaborative roles ed by two concentric rings of 12 equidistantly posi-
noise) occur, basing his works on “pre-composi- two clusters of bells that “fly” overhead) in more- for performers consistent with works employing tioned music stands—the nearer stands for scores,
tionally determined temporal divisions.”31 Schoen- or-less continuous motion throughout: on and off “controlled freedom.” As their shared title sug- those at the perimeter for tape players. The au-
berg’s aesthetic priorities (perhaps owing in part the proscenium stage, up and down the aisles, gests, each explores aspects of circularity—influ- dience fills the space between these concentric
to his experience as a painter) are consistent with and across designated (audience-free) rows. Two encing factors such as form, spatial design, move- rings. These 12 positions correspond to the chro-
his view that “the work of art is like every other tape programs play from the front and rear, while ment, pitch organization, and notation.36 (An ex- matic scale, and the soloist’s extended trombone
complete organism.”32 Cage foregoes the organ- two battery-operated cassette players (handed off cerpt from "Trigon" appears in this volume.) acts like the rotating hands of a clock. Each pitch
ic model for an existential one that equates mu- between performers) are heard from several lo- "Synchron" is all about sound: dynamics, den- is aimed at the appropriate hour, which changes
sic with life in general: abandoning convention- cations. Seraffyn begins with all performers blow- sity, timbre. Each player assembles a battery of with each new section. Each page also displays
al performer-listener boundaries, and mirroring ing bottles, ends with crescendo of police whis- wood, metal, and skin instruments. These are rep- available note durations, pitch range, and range
the evident absence (or, at least, absence of evi- tles, and otherwise combines a variety of record- resented in notation, respectively, by squares, tri- of dynamics.
dence) of logic, coherence, and predictability ex- ed material with string, wind, brass, and percus- angles, and circles—in seven sizes, correspond- "Trigon" engages three performers in a process
perienced in daily life. sion instruments; (two grand pianos are played ing to dynamic levels. Each of these timbral cat- that, like "Synchron," combines independence and
My own compositional thinking and practice with large mallets, only on the strings). There was egories also plays a unique role in the work. No interdependence. The distantly separated musi-
have certainly been affected by the music and writ- a full house for the 1974 concert during which specific instrument is required and non-tradition- cians form a triangle in the performance space, in-
ings of both these important figures. It is Cage’s in- this work was premiered, but no witnesses to the al choices producing indefinite pitch are suggest- terlocking with a corresponding triangle of speak-
fluence, however, that seems most evident in the performance—which took place in total darkness ed. The score comprises two large pages, sepa- ers. Together these two triangles form a large six-
perspectives that have guided me as a compos- (with even the exit signs obscured) to minimize rately mounted on foamboard. Each percussion- point circle surrounding the audience. Each per-
er: (a) Music is sound in time and space—the lat- distractions and focus the listener on the interplay ist reads from his/her own set. The board near- former is amplified through a speaker positioned
ter realm also capable of serving in a composi- of sounds in time and space. In this proportional- est to each musician is a large upright rectangle directly opposite his/her position. There is no full
tional, rather than coincidental, role; (b) No a pri- time score combining traditional and graphic no- suspended from a rack. The other, directly behind, score, only three one-page parts. Although tradi-
ori assumptions (or exclusions) concerning what tation with written instructions, the opening two- is a motorized, 30-inch diameter circular disc, re- tional staves are employed, these are arranged
may constitute a usable sound; (c) Coherence of minute section (bottles alone) is presented on the volving at 1 rpm, attached to a music stand. This to form a large triangle, containing four trian-
form need not require uniformity or continuity of first page; thereafter, each page represents one 15-part rondo, lasting approximately 30 minutes, gles within. Each triangle side contains a three-
style; (d) It may be desirable at times to ask per- per minute of elapsed time.34 follows the palindromic pattern, ABACADAEADA- note “phrase.” (Some phrases, bearing opposite-
formers (and their instruments) to do things that Although some have been exhibited, none of CABA. Notation for the eight refrain (A) sections ly-positioned clef signs, are read right-side up as
can be (and have been) done—and at other times my “graphic” scores were created with an essen- appears on the nearer rectangular page. Nota- well as upside-down.) Performers individually de-
to do things that maybe cannot be done (or, at tially visual aim. Their appearance generally de- tion for the alternating episodes appears in four cide when, and how often, to perform the phrases,
least, done precisely as notated); (e) It may some- rives from core aesthetic and structural aspects of concentric rings on the circular page behind. Four within the given time constraints of each section.
times be appropriate to use conventional notation, the work. In my experience, employing invented small square “windows” in the first board reveal vi- The use of very short and very long single-pitch
and it may other times be appropriate to modify or customized notation may establish conditions sual clusters (phrases) of geometric symbols on (or multiphonic) sonorities is intended to reflect
or replace this familiar language with an invent- conducive to thinking/hearing “out of the staff,” the second. All section changes require the per- the points and lines that form these geometric
ed (or “customized”) notational approach that de- and thereby, to composing in new and unaccus- formers to recognize aural and visual cues. Ex- shapes. Section and sub-section changes of tex-
rives from, and is congruent with, the idea(s) un- tomed ways—i.e., to discovery. Musicians open to cept for these critically coordinated cues articulat- ture, density, dynamics, and pitch content are con-
derlying a specific work; (f) Performers (like com- meeting the interpretive challenges presented by ing the overall form, and the eventually coordinat- trolled, and indicated by "+" and "–" symbols, sig-
posers) are accustomed to solving problems, and such works can discover new ways of performing ed series of simultaneous attacks heard at the end, nifying the complementary processes of “adding”
it may be desirable to employ degrees/factors of and thinking about music, and consequently bring the four musicians independently perform similar and “subtracting” other available phrases within a
indeterminacy that require special performance fresh perspectives and problem-solving abilities to materials throughout. section. Stopwatches help to coordinate the sec-
strategies; (g) A new work need not resemble any- their treatments of more conventional literature.35 "Radius" could be described as a choreographed tion changes that occur at regular intervals, result-
thing ever seen or heard before. I have been very fortunate to work with many mu- electro-acoustic concerto, with a solo trombon- ing from these processes.
074 | |F F| | 075
Many of the world’s musical traditions and rep- remixed in ways their composers could never have notations that involve bending the staves on the
page. And this may reflect what seemed to me a kind
attribution a 1953 letter to Cage from Peter Yates,
recounting a conversation with Schoenberg several
ertories have been historically transmitted through imagined. Even composers of electronic and elec- of a circular element in the sound itself, in the music years earlier. (Yates later repeated this comment in a
itself.” www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=1809; review of two Cage albums, appearing in the periodi-
oral (and aural) tradition, whereas music notation tro-acoustic works requiring no performers will ac- accessed August 5, 2007. In the Five Pieces for Piano cal, Arts and Architecture.) Hicks also confirms that
(until relatively recently) has been the essential knowledge that certain variables may cause them (excerpted in Notations), the approach more closely Cage, the son of an inventor, “gleefully accepted”
parallels Schoenberg’s notational “fine-tuning”: Schoenberg’s appraisal (135).
medium by which Western music has been doc- to be heard differently by different listeners. The the music still reads left to right, with a handful of 31 Bernstein, “John Cage, Arnold Schoenberg,
special symbols denoting a variety of extended per- and the Musical Idea,” 31. Thus, everything that Cage
umented, disseminated, and preserved. Occasion- context is immutable: musical notation is the visu- formance techniques, and written instructions inter- learned from his teacher about musical structure
ally lost in discussions of this topic is the recogni- al representation of aural phenomena.37 Compos- spersed, as needed. Crumb’s use of time signatures and division of the whole into constituent parts he
here is a pragmatic one only, as the flow of events transformed from a thematic-harmonic model to a
tion that little (more likely, none) of this music was ers' intentions, therefore, will be lost and/or found is intentionally free (“Quasi improvvisato”); nothing temporal context. “Cage perceived this approach to
ever entirely predictive of its realization. Bach pro- in translation. As the Turkish-born composer Ilhan remotely metrical can (or should) result from these
combined indications.
structure as a necessary improvement on Schoen-
berg’s theory, since time is the a priori phenomenon
vided virtually no expressive details; Beethoven Mimaroglu observed in Notations: “Notated music 16 Both are reproduced in Bryan R. Simms, Music within which pitch, harmony, noise, and silence may
of the Twentieth Century: Structure and Style, 2d ed. exist.”
was the first composer to employ metronome is music only to the degree a blueprint is a build- (New York: Schirmer, 1996), 351-352. 32 Arnold Schoenberg, “On the Relationship
markings linking tempo to real time; and dynam- ing or a screenplay a motion picture.”38 17 Joseph, “‘A Therapeutic Value for City Dwellers’: to the Text,” Style and Idea, 144.
The Development of John Cage’s Early Avant-Garde 33 His untimely death in a California automobile
ics have only been in common use for a couple of Aesthetic Position,” 135-40. accident, in 1964, followed shortly the release of his
hundred years. Choral and orchestral scores have 18 Haubenstock-Ramati, “Notation—Material
and Form,” 97.
debut LP recording, Of Love, Of War, Of Many
Things (Columbia CL 2157). The liner notes state
been performed by ensembles of different sizes 19 See, for example, “untitled piece” by Carl that in 1953, Mörk received the Folksong Award at
Fernbach-Flarsheim, and “I Have Confidence in the International Eisteddford in Wales.
and composition, and pre-existing compositions You” by Eric Andersen (Cage, Notations, n.p.). 34 This work and its premiere (at the University of
of all kinds have been transcribed, arranged, and 20 Arnold Schoenberg, “New Music, Outmod- Colorado in Boulder) are described here as an exam-
ed Music, Style and Idea,” Style and Idea, 115. Also, in ple of a compositional premise that would be poorly
“Composition with Twelve Tones (I),” from the same served by the exclusive use of traditional notation.
volume: “A creator has a vision of something which Other logistical challenges posed by the work also
has not existed before this vision” (215). led to workable solutions: To aid memorization, most
1 An online search under “graphic notation” or notated as one prepared by Mozart (to whom a Value for City Dwellers’: The Development of John 21 Arnold Schoenberg, “On the Question of musicians reduced the essential information needed
“graphic scores” yields an abundance of related compositional “game” using musical dice has been Cage’s Early Avant-Garde Aesthetic Position,” in Modern Composition Teaching,” Style and Idea, 374. to perform their part to a small cue card. To facilitate
links, including pedagogical materials designed for attributed by some), or as minutely and precisely David W. Patterson, ed., John Cage: Music, Philoso- 22 Arnold Schoenberg, “Heart and Brain in movement in the darkened hall (while performing),
ages seven to eleven; see Mark Warner, “Graphic detailed as some of the best-known integral serial phy, and Intention, 1933-1950 (New York: Routledge, Music,” Style and Idea, 75. shoeless musicians treaded a nylon cord taped along
Notation,” 2007; www.teachingideas.co.uk/music/ works. However, chance operations need not occur 2002), 140-42, 169 (n. 15). 23 Schoenberg, “Composition with Twelve Tones the pathways on the floor. To insure the prescribed
graphic.htm; accessed August 7, 2007. anywhere in the compositional process to create a 11 Luigi Russolo, “Enharmonic Notation for the (I),” Style and Idea, 215. time-frame and sequence of sonic-spatial events
2 I am indebted to my wife, Darsha Primich, and to work involving indeterminacy (i.e., degrees or factors Futurist Intonarumori,” in Kirby, 187. The new me- 24 Two recent studies covering some of the same (for their own sake, and to avoid injuries), luminously
my Northern Illinois University colleagues, Dr. Janet of unpredictability) in performance. dium of radio was viewed as a natural extension of historical details also offer different perspectives; painted cue cards were posted in the control room
Hathaway and Dr. Ted Hatmaker, for their helpful 8 Even had he lived past 1951 and continued com- the intonarumori, and in the 1930s, radio sintesi cre- see Michael Hicks, “John Cage’s Studies with window at the rear of the hall every 30 seconds.
editorial suggestions. posing during the ensuing “upheaval,” it is doubtful ated by the movement’s founder, Filippo Tommaso Schoenberg,” American Music, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Summer, Rehearsals extended over a period of approximately
3 Kurt Stone, Music Notation in the Twentieth that Schoenberg would have adopted new ap- Marinetti, comprised broadcasts in which sounds 1990), 125-140, and David W. Bernstein, “John four months, fortunately assisted by a theatrically
Century (New York: Norton, 1980), xv. Stone identi- proaches to notation. See, however, his far-reaching were absent for periods of up to three minutes. Cage, Arnold Schoenberg, and the Musical Idea,” trained movement specialist.
fies two previous comparably “profound upheavals” proposal from the 1920s, “A New Twelve-Tone Nota- According to Kirby, here “silence is ‘heard’ against in Patterson, ed., John Cage: Music, Philosophy, and 35 Any composer who has worked with non-stan-
in Western music: the advent of polyphony around tion” in Style and Idea, ed. Leonard Stein; trans. Leo a ‘background’ of sound; silence becomes equal to Intention, 1933-1950, 15-46. dard notational approaches has also likely worked
900 A.D., with its increased specificity in pitch and Black (Berkeley: U of California, 1975), 354-62. sound as an aesthetic tool. Obviously, thought of this 25 Bernstein, “John Cage, Arnold Schoenberg, with performers who “resort privately to standard
rhythmic notation, and the ascendance of chordal 9 Michael Kirby, Futurist Performance (New kind has much to do with the work of contemporary and the Musical Idea,” 25-32, 39. musical symbols in the process of working out
harmony around 1600, resulting in the replacement York: E.P. Dutton, 1971), 190-91. Russolo’s manifesto composers such as John Cage” (Kirby, 145). 26 Bernstein, “John Cage, Arnold Schoenberg, indeterminate or graphic scores.” Aloys Kontar-
of part-books with full scores. assumes the form of a letter written to his Futurist 12 Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, “Notation— and the Musical Idea,” 33. sky, “Notation for Piano,” in Benjamin Boretz and
4 Edgard Varèse, “The Liberation of Sound,” in colleague, Francesco Balilla Pratella, apparently a Material and Form,” in Benjamin Boretz and Edward 27 Bernstein, “John Cage, Arnold Schoenberg, Edward T. Cone, eds., Perspectives on Notation and
Elliott Schwartz and Barney Childs, eds., Contem- trained musician. Russolo concedes, in his closing: T. Cone, eds., Perspectives on Notation and Perfor- and the Musical Idea,” 20-21. Performance, 188. When preparing indeterminate
porary Composers on Contemporary Music (New “I am not a musician; . . . I am a Futurist painter who mance (New York: Norton, 1976), 99. Writing in 1965, 28 Cage recalled that after multiple contrapuntal compositions or parts thereof, for example, some
York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967), 207. The projects beyond himself on a much-loved art his own the author states: “The use of magnetic tapes, mea- solutions were provided for a cantus firmus, Schoen- may prefer to preserve one possible realization,
composer—or, as he preferred, “worker in rhythms, wish to renew everything. That is why, being bolder sured in centimeters per second, led to the graphic berg repeatedly asked his students to identify the among the perhaps infinite number and variety the
frequencies, and intensities”—dated his earliest use than if I were a professional musician, unpreoccupied representation even of traditionally notated musical common principle underlying these. Since it took composer might imagine would be equally available
of the term “organized sound” to the 1920s. by my apparent incompetence and convinced that events, according to the principle time equals Cage forty years to determine that “the answers options during a real-time performance.
5 Varèse also addresses this subject in “The Lib- audacity has all rights and all possibilities, I have space.” have the question in common,” this anecdote only 36 Composed between 1977 and 1979, these works
eration of Sound”; e.g., “Each of my works discovers been able to perceive by intuition the great renova- 13 Lukas Foss, “The Changing Composer-Per- appeared in print a little over a decade before his served as partial fulfillment of the requirements for
its own form,” 203. tion of music through 'The Art of Noise'” (174). Half former Relationship,” in Benjamin Boretz and Edward death. Bernstein (37) and Hicks (135) cite two dif- the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of
6 In my own works employing indeterminacy, of Kirby’s comprehensive study is devoted to Futurist T. Cone, eds., Perspectives on Notation and Perfor- ferent sources. As a further link with Schoenberg, Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), received in 1980.
“anything never goes.” I normally control overall manifestos (including excerpts from scores by Rus- mance, 34. Bernstein (38) also cites two statements in which 37 Numerous individuals, from Laurie Anderson
shape, sequence of events, proportions or sectional solo and Pratella) and playscripts. 14 A recent article discusses the extent to which Cage explains that “the questions that are asked” to Frank Zappa, have been cited as the source of
durations. These are always recognizably the same 10 Kirby, p. 33. This view would become central to “music—and the idea of music—appears every- in his works represent an aspect of compositional an amusing observation, perhaps equally immu-
compositions from one performance to another, but Cage’s thinking. The polymorphous conglomerate where in Kandinsky’s work.” Gerard McBurney, choice and control. table: “Writing about music is like dancing about
they are also not possibly the same. known as the Futurist movement, which flourished in “Sound and Vision,” Guardian Unlimited (June 24, 29 Bernstein, “John Cage, Arnold Schoenberg, architecture.” See Mary Louis Schumacher,
7 Cage presents a special (and often confusing) Milan during the two decades surrounding the First 2006); http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/ and the Musical Idea,” 40. He draws this inference “A Question,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 20,
case that can lead to a false analogy, because his World War, anticipated many elements that would 0,,1804602,00.html; accessed August 7, 2007. from a statement in which Schoenberg suggests that 2003); http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/
works from the 1950s onward typically involve later be called “happenings,” “new music,” and “per- 15 Crumb addressed his Augenmusik in a 2002 a motive is more than “a seed from which a composi- is_200307/ai_n10890251; accessed August 11, 2007.
elements of chance in composition as well as in formance art.” Cage was apparently familiar with the interview with Frank J. Oteri (“Jumping Off the tion evolves,” but rather, “has the potential for more For a pedagogical application, see Francesca
performance. The incorporation of chance in the movement and with Russolo’s writings in particular Page to Become Sound,” August 1, 2002), appearing than a single compositional realization.” In light Rivera, “If ‘Writing about Music is Like Dancing
compositional process, however, is not a predictor no later than 1938, when he arrived in Seattle to in the American Music Center’s online New Music of the aforementioned parallels between the two about Architecture,’ Maybe it is Time to Draw: Using
of notation or style. The issue of whether, or to what teach at the Cornish School. He “began to associate Box: “I suppose all of my notation is concerned with composers: “This approach is a significant departure Visual Aids to Introduce Musical and Stylistic Analy-
degree, chance operations play a role in the compo- himself with Russolo explicitly,” and continued to being as clear as possible in communicating the nec- from the determinism often associated with organi- sis,” Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Resource
sitional process is a separate, albeit related, question acknowledge his influence thereafter. In the early essary information to the performer. There are only cist aesthetics, and it became an important point of Center, University of California, Berkeley; http://gsi.
from that of the indeterminate score. A composi- 1960s, Cage specifically cited Russolo’s manifesto a few pages of my music that are involved in what aesthetic convergence between Schoenberg and berkeley.edu/awards/02_03/rivera.html, accessed
tion created through the use of chance operations “as one of the books with the great influence in his I would call these rather symbolic notations and I Cage” (21). August 11, 2007.
can easily enough result in a score as traditionally thinking.” See Branden W. Joseph, “‘A Therapeutic think you’re referring to those specifically—circular 30 Hicks (“John Cage’s Studies with Schoenberg,” 38 Cage, Notations, n.p.
134) has identified as the original source of this
076 | |F F| | 077
christopher fox bruce l. friedman
Christopher Fox; at the edge of time. For a bass drum with a soft-headed beater, either as a solo or simultaneously with any other
part(s) of at the edge of time. Used by permission of Christopher Fox, © 2007.
078 | |F F| | 079
bruce l. friedman guillermo galindo
Guillermo Galindo; Cisma. For alto and bass flutes with electronics. Used by permission of Guillermo Galindo, © 2003 (revised 2007).
080 | |F G| | 081
malcolm goldstein malcolm goldstein
Jade Mountain Soundings: The music focuses on aspects of controlled by the bow pressure/speed as indicated in the graphic
sound-quality/texture expressed through the performance of a score. (But dynamics and bow pressure are not synonymous.)
bowed string instrument: the physicality of generating the string A wide range of non-vibrato—varieties of vibrato should be used,
to sound. Bow pressure, bow speed, and bow placement are fun- with each pitch having its own quality. (It will happen that a heavy
damental considerations in the sound of this music. The graphic bow pressure and slow bow speed, without vibrato, will sound one
score indicated, by thickness and curve of line, changes in these way; whereas adding vibrato will radically alter the pitch/noise
aspects of performance technique. The lines, similarly conceived balance of the resulting sound. So, also, slight alterations of bow
of as phrases, are always realized as sustained (legato, lyrical) speed will alter the balance. In fact, any slight or gross alteration of
bowings—as varieties of breathing (the bow upon/within the string). any aspect of the total physical gesture—relationship of the string
The music can also be conceived of as a kind of meditation. player through the bow to the string—will be expressed in the
The instrumentalist determines four pitches, prior to the per- sound being generated. This should be explored in the process of
formance, which will be the total gamut of the piece. For example, preparing the music for performance.
the gamut can be as simple as G-A-C-D (i.e., for string bass), or The lines of the graphic score should be thought of as phrases
as complicated as desired. Each pitch is fixed in its specific regis- that are expressed as much by varieties of bow pressure, bow
tration but, as indicated with the Roman numerals in the graphic speed, and bow placement, as by pitch and dynamic changes. The
score, can be played on any of the four strings—another possibility thickness of the line indicates the amount of bow pressure and/or
of expressing variety of sound-quality/texture for each pitch. (The bow speed: thick = more pressure and/or less speed; thin = less
Roman numerals indicate specific strings [I, II, III, IV], the highest pressure and/or more speed. (However, the bow speed, at times,
to the lowest.) Harmonics (natural and artificial) are also possible, can be interpreted the reverse of the above, since it will also be
as long as the sounding pitch is within the same specific registra- conditioned by the duration of the sustained pitch.) The notations
tion as the fingered pitch gamut. also indicate manners of articulating and performing these bow-
Each pitch is sustained until, following a line on the graphic ing techniques: sudden changes of pressure, (symbol); gradual
score, another Roman numeral is arrived at—at which point the changes, (symbol); a constant, sustained condition by constant
string player changes bow direction and plays another pitch (of thickness; gradual changes and/or irregular changes by analo-
the same pitch is possible if a different string is indicated). Bow gous indications in the graphic line, to be expressed literally in
direction changes, that occur at these points, should be as smooth the performance technique. (Heavy bow pressure indicated by the
as possible. thickest line, should be almost at the edge of noise—but always
Duration of the sustained pitch—always to be fit into one bow with pitch clearly perceptible.)
duration—is thus determined by the proportion of length of line The curvature of the line indicates changes of bow placement:
transversed from numeral to numeral. (As a guide, 1 inch = 3 to from on the bridge to on the fingerboard and anywhere in between.
5 seconds, but this will depend on the string player's bow control When the line curves more gradually, so also the shift of bow
and facility.) placement is more subtle; when the line curves more suddenly or
Choice of pitch to be played is up to the choice of the performer; extremely, so also the bow placement should change accordingly
it is to be improvised. (It is possible to use one or two pitches for a (but always legato). In what direction these changes take place is
while; also, it is possible to change pitch with every bow change— up to the choice of the performer. (Other possible interpretations
at the discretion of the performer. Note that the apparent structure of line curvature include use of bow wood to varying degrees and
of the piece relates also to this process of time/spaces, of various variety of vibrato—but these are secondary to bow pressure.)
Malcolm Goldstein; Jade Mountain Soundings. For any string instrument. Used by permission of Malcolm Goldstein, © 1983. rates of change, of pitch focus.)
Dynamics, also, are improvised, from ppp to f, though never ex-
cessively loud. It will become apparent that, to a certain degree, the
dynamics, as well as the articulation and decay of a pitch, will be
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daniel goode daniel goode
Daniel Goode; "Gong Spread" from One Page Pieces. For any number of seven or more Daniel Goode; "Hear the Sound of Random Numbers" from One Page Pieces. For any ensemble.
performers playing a family of (similar sounding) hand-held instruments, such as gongs. Used by permission of Daniel Goode / Frog Peak Music, © 1999.
Used by permission of Daniel Goode / Frog Peak Music, © 1999.
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Daniel Goode composer’s idea, but the performer is also the guillermo gregorio
composer’s partner, on the same level because
Conceptual, Verbal, and Graphic Scores s/he is in possession of the concept behind the
music, expressed succinctly in words. Yet verbal
scores can also be challenging because, invariably,
A verbal score tells you how to make the music—in there are questions about exactly what might be
language, rather than in musical notation. There meant by the words, or sentences.
may be some musical symbols in a verbal score, And the musicians must be willing to give of
maybe a graphic, but you are being told how to themselves, to inhabit the ideas, to do, to com-
make the music via language, not musical notes in pose what is needed to make the ideas into music.
musical staves to be played by specific musical in- A spiritual commitment is required, and the build-
struments or voices (though the verbal score also ing of a performance community, because there is
can tell you what instruments should be played). no such thing as simply “playing the score.”
The verbal score is the elephant-in-the-room of Maybe just from this short discussion, the read-
the Modernist and Experimental music traditions er can sense how the verbal score is a powerful
since it wipes clean the premises of musical no- and flexible tool: first, because it addresses per-
tation. Moving from idea (expressed in words and formers in their native language, their first lan-
maybe diagrams or sketches) to realization re- guage.
quires imaginative input from the performers on a And second, because it can say things that
level quite different from and more inclusive than notes can’t. In thinking about all this, it suddenly
what performers do with traditional musical nota- occurred to me to ask what if music notation from
tion. The verbal score can be difficult for a trained its beginnings had taken the form of human lan-
musician, and a godsend to a talented, but non- guage, written and spoken, before it took its famil-
musically-literate performer. A verbal score may iar form of notes and rests? Wouldn’t the verbal
ask the performers to do anything, including mak- score then be at the center of music culture and
ing up their own sounds, or notes according to the music teaching instead of at its periphery? Imag-
instructions given. Call it the Platonic idea of mu- ine writers and composers together, teaching the
sical composition because the idea precedes the use of language to convey sound, idea, emotion, Guillermo Gregorio; Coplanar 1 (+2). For oboe, clarinet, viola, cello, contrabass, guitar, and live electronics. Used by permission of Guillermo Gregorio, © Chicago, February 2001.
actual notes, that is, the realization in sound. performance. This is a thought experiment we
Nothing more challenges music Conservatory should all consider making.
training and tradition than the verbal score: that Conceptual, graphic, and verbal scores chal-
you can make music without that musical literacy lenge the immovable scholasticism of music the- Coplanar 1(+2) consists of two different through the episodes containing differ-
that the Conservatory is in charge of instilling. The ory as it has been taught since Medieval times types of notation performed simultane- ent melodic fragments (in the case of the
tool of the verbal score does an end-run around in music theory courses world-wide, the kind of ously, one in a relatively conventional semi-conventionally notated circuit) and
fashion, and another one that is a purely fragments of undetermined sonic events
that pillar of cultural education, musical notation. courses that discourage so many brilliant music
graphic score. The former is intended for (in the case of the graphic one) in any di-
It is radical, too, because it steals musical tech- students from studying music theoretically. Col- the “melodic” instruments (oboe, clarinet, rection, by following the possible circuits,
nique away from the Medieval power-center of the lections that bring this work to the fore start to re- viola, cello, contrabass) and the latter for performing the given material, and observ-
Conservatory. Yoko Ono may have done the earli- dress the imbalance. “prepared” guitar and live electronics. Both ing the lines of silence. In this piece the co-
scores are formed by isolated musical epi- hesive structural element is silence—or, in
est ones in the mid-50s. La Monte Young did a se-
Note: this has been adapted from the liner notes to Philip Corner: Extreme Positions. sodes connected by straight lines of vari- visual terms, the empty space which the
ries in 1960 (sometimes these are called concep- able length. The connecting lines should physical object inhabits.
tual scores, or conceptual music. A full account be read as silences, with measures indi-
would include the Fluxus artists such as George cating duration. The performers may start
anywhere, and create their own itineraries
Brecht, Bob Watts, Dick Higgins, Philip Corner and
others who developed “Event Scores” influenced
by John Cage’s teaching).
The verbal score puts an intelligent agent in
charge of finding the right performance for the
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barry guy barry guy
Barry Guy; Witch Gong Game II/10. For thirteen-piece orchestra ensemble. Used by permission of Barry Guy, © 1994.
Barry Guy; Bird Gong Game. For improvising soloist, flute, oboe, clarinet and bass clarinet, trumpet, and percussion.
Used by permission of Barry Guy, © 1992.
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barbara heller brian heller
Brian Heller; (Ready to Use) Illustrations of Women’s Heads. For any solo wind instrument,
electronic effects, and CD playback. Used by permission of Brian Heller, © 2003.
Illustrations of Women’s Heads: The no- The articulation marking “(k+)” indicates
tation is designed to “drift” between fairly a key-click and tongue-slap, as suggested
conventional notes and rhythms, and more by Robert Dick in his book The Other Flute.
suggestive lines and shapes, intended as a These non-specifically notated sections
rough outline or contour of a phrase, with- should not be rehearsed so much that they
out specifying anything further. The illus- become as if they were heavily notated.
trations of the heads (scanned from a book The performer should be comfortable with
of clip art from the early 1980s, intended them, work with a few ideas in rehearsal,
for professional graphic designers and il- but make every effort to keep them spon-
lustrators and arranged here in the compo- taneous.
sition by Jessica Nordell) are almost com-
Barbara Heller; le triple accord and en relation. Both used by permission of Furore Verlag, © 1994. pletely open-ended, and the performer is
encouraged to use them creatively!
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william hellermann william hellermann
William Hellermann; To Brush Up On. For any instrumentation. Used by permission of William Hellermann, © 1976.
William Hellermann; Experimental Music. For any instrumentation. Used by permission of William Hellermann, © 1973. William Hellermann; The Shape of Music to Come. For variable instrumentation. Used by permission of William Hellermann, © 1980.
William Hellermann; Juicy Music. For any instrumentation.
Used by permission of William Hellermann, © 1982, 1989.
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william hellermann william hellermann
William Hellermann; Music Sweeps Up. For 2 or more instruments and sweeper and dustpan. Used by permission by William Hellermann, © 1984.
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096 | |H H| |097
098 | |H H| |099
William (Bill) Hellermann wrote this letter to composer Philip
Corner (p.58) to discuss "Score Art." Bill now says, "I was struck
at how much of my discussion was concerned with the use of the
word 'art.' I think today, people are much too comfortable with
ascribing art to anything they admire—hairdressing, interior
decoration, pastry, etc—and probably find my letter to Phil
pathetically hung up on a term."
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