GRAPHIC NOTATION IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC Curatedby Alex Waterman, Deb ra Singer, and Matthew LyFOREWORD BETWwaEN THOUGHT AnD SOUND: Graphic Notation in Contemporary Maisie isagroup exhibition exploring the intersection of drawing, thinking, and sound through experimental music scoresby thirty-one composers who relinquish traditional notation in favor of their own invented graphic systems, Their compositions take mysi- ad forms, ranging from abstract drawings, numerical series, and annotated photographs to videos and digital renderings —all of which are filled with complex pietograms, evocative matk-making, gestural symbols, and intricate codes of letters, numbers, and color. Co-organized by composer, cellist, and guest curator Alex Waterman, The Kitchen’ associate curator Matthew Lyons, and myself, the exhibition features works by Laura Andel, Robert Ashley, James Beckett, David Behrman, Cathy Berberian, Earle Brown, Cornelius Cardew, Tony Conrad, John Driscoll, Morton Feldman, Jon Gibson, "Tom Johnson, Alison Knowles, Joan La Barbara, Annea Lockwood, Alvin Lucier, Miya Masaoka, Kaffe Matthews, Meredith Monk, Gordon Mumma, Anthony Jay Pra Steve Roden, Marina Rosenfeld, James Saunders, Michael J. Schumacher, Eliott Sharp, ‘Wedada Leo Smith, Yasunao Tone, David Tudor, Seephen Vitiello and Chistian Wolff “These artists represent two generations influenced by John Cage pioneering, indeterminate compositions and chance operations begun in thelate 19308. Their hhighly personal notational vocabulasies ikevise originatein processes of experimen tation, as they break with convention, finding alternative visual meansto describe sounds, and provoke a reciprocal relationship between performer and composer, empowering the former to participate in the improvisatory creation of works that are distinctly different each time they are performed. Generated in response to deficien- cies in verbal language and descriptive termsas well asto the restrictiveness of tradi- tional notational languages, graphic scores generally serveas a sort of open-ended, invented code that canbe taught to, or shared with, others in order tobe performed. ‘Whether interpreted by the performer ory the viewer, graphic scores turn both into participants, placing them in the roles of translator or co-creator and serving asacata- lyst fora process of social exchange. Inaddition to their performative and socal functions, these alternative musical notation systems exist asstnning examples of abstract conceptual drawing, Like all forms$of drawing, graphic scoresare not traditionally aimed at closure or completion. "They do, however, offer a permanent, if loosely inseribed, documented record of ere ative intent, possessing a tactile presence that waivers between immediacy and delibera- tion. The score’ gestural mark serves asa material inscription of thought, reflecting the challenges of productively encapsulating time-based experience on a fixed, rwo-dimen= sional plane. Taken together, these graphic scores representa common search for new forms of language that seek to focand preserve the emporal and the ephemeral, predicament thar necessarily always exists ata critical juncture of transition and flix. DEBRA SINGER BecuteDinecand ef Conese 3a . . ve ° . . ° ° @ ° ° . ° ° ° . ° ° . ° . . ° . . ° ° Cec We cpa i i te baba mana. dn Go 6)step nmin nano sme com Lone“ 3940190 ~ ¢squandas ‘NAWOLIY AHL4 SYSTEMS for avian ier gl : — — = = - i —— — ——— —_ z (Setieeat a — «ay - - 7 ae i Pe oo a a | nonemcinem Ht ' fae Het mae | a. = (i - a i eee ae i | - = — i _- : | Saat se - = | = z li | = + i Sg ont ae = : t ee Pree sceaataaat w= Abbe | a Gene |e : Gemeente —_ { - | oc or Indie demi ot che te rom gS‘THE KITCHEN, September T— October 20,2007 g 2QagS See aS nt aang fle we UY ee, 4 Lomeagen een et te rr ells eae bss Cini Wl Or PepHE KITCHEN, Septamber 7— October 20, 2007 CIRCOLAR SONG £ > a A Ss ts ge SS cs wh se if 4 ot : ia xt xO ¢ i oO oo Be g 2B: a {nstrvchionss “pegjonine, ak top center with Aid exhaled descents nay alissandc Roce comfeddle tog ke lection dt cange., change breadth. St ‘thorn F range. and ascend on iemale to tog. ‘ > ceyeat Repre ontil tao exhausting, of me longer mosialley Wkeresiny Sr cides Shang Be ke nto ene acing atte io uN breathy crangps cccur at wiidgants di voce! cacag. capest as afore aie > + se next transtion hapce 4," te reme to cepe: atime, Sayre eth 3 breath c 3S for'ranae sweeg , alternate, io he J exiyale . after 3, mod on to 4 chanags a4 wee Kren erie Ko one step /nath back Rare in Sa one ‘inhales upward than exteales hat! ack dodo, changing, at 09 to exhaliaa, down acd. inhalina, alhoar, back 4p - + Qoe has Sow acrwed at the’ Sarat as wid point aiterratns, cakaled ark evieled molkighonies one moves Sram Khe lower to agar part F Kee range end ther Songs Aewn to kre step /MalE Back oe and proceeds Chroafp each cegesting, Kapre in severe. , NEL arraita, aasin St kre enionns,. &BETWEEN THOUGHT AND SOUND On, a a camera ae 3 MWA) Seater | op 2S , {| CB). system (D) Arsene SS 7 pares (ce) NN Ess na as CLOUD MUSIC bra] ee | Video camara (A) points at tha sky: Speciaily designed video analizer CB) svperi gererated crosshairs upon the video image. ests six electronically~ Coch crosshair may Be positioned anywhere upon the image. Composite image Caky plus crosshairs) is sent to the video menitars (C). “The video analizer devaleps six control velkages. Each voltage is praportional to the instentaneaos bght valve at the. poink where one af the six crosshairs is positioned. As’ cleud surfaces pass these six crosshair points, the voltages vary in respense te the clouds’ light content. t Digital electronic music system (D) receives the six voltage outputs from the Video analizer, “The must system senses veltage changes made by the onalizer and converts these changes into harmenic. progressions and dynamic. shifts Sound from the music system is sent to a four- channel leudspeaicer system CE). The loudspeakers surround the viewing space and, the video monitors. Cloud Music is intended or installation during times of che year when weather conditions faver a likeli heed of high daytime cloud achivity avd stn, Cl ln 7 Galante i Rake Wats nd Bob and)“THE KITCHEN, September 7 ~ October 20, 2007 ‘sine Bahn len Soa Rasa Tag 19MOUNIELR, a TwoPTEOR (foceptan) 1, 2, 3, Uhr musto stants (parallel to floor) dotted Lines: travel pathe for performers pret tentorescar jo00000* [Eeot sor tastrant ven nt ae right Lowtepeskor—[ TLLomts tor performer snenepttch Siastrusents (at least siz) \ extn ae, Meni Topi 9EMOKE SRL Hee Ha MATE H Me rao HIS REST USMS BEY Orns Bb bw spansatopiongerenge iterate gee BOOMERS SUSHI ESTERS SER TuTD PRRRERL ONG EU Msgs BESSA EY Sasued agen se bythe great ork sh hee oem need ty ore homecare Sark ns Cage SaoengeeRareaRs NRTA PE MRT ES ATE NRG 8 ASG 4 POSH CGE Saks 5 HBS Chee AEDT pkg BS SOS ELE RTO ETS OSS SSE Srn ce ehba agree deg eee ET cage ara rree gee So Sy SSEDEESRS Scag ee Sag soa ee EG rsa oa eS NO? BOP OT ALGER ote awa ISO er ANS aed GES UI G Cae 6 Sp ose SEL SSISaGoe So Syed Roe ARE RS 6 BRAT Ba SoeS UELS Tee ENG EGET SION nol SSE SRG hag se Ue ge her ord Sheet meDg Rb eRe Se Bag OTSA ETE Re Ig ETERS ETS Gta Eee “8 TORS EERb ass chap sung cage cage parent oa egRN OR RA Uke a ee es HSU HERS SARS ERD SRS Choo hts ERAN CES JES SES RR EEE SR aged SEDO SOS TAT nb eauaoerener en weg eieeeebaeese aman eNd SEE eS SUSE BSE SOAP RAG ECE Ee eg eae SES OTE eS NS Pe OR ARR BER ETL te wha ge MANN Ra agree oocyte TRS H OGRE WS SHY HAT YY oe INAS boc angels SSE OAT FEO ISNT SIR Se CRE TEES URES TE RE EY CREE eee ER Sb EEE ES TY SPER SERUESES TS LERE Saamgar Sa Sspeen geeagegugcessess megane SOR GIES TR eRe Sees PLB LTS MORO TERS Gat nas ees eee seers Sees OIG Leal gan asaya beh ats To ames}, Seeder Te SBE CT Se OARS GETS geREH AS HELO Sey Qeb SRLS SONIA OS BIL LUEG Tee Shee POI a eHeatdesereh SETSSS LESH ARES Ota URS gage SET NNN TEE ys oare saree sae SPARSE SUE gaya eswagec eta ey Sees oPraneatceast goetat ea eget eaesapes tee sabe nap eS RSS ae DESL L RG RSG ASS tea HSH AT SEARS GRRE GOES SAT IT SRR Se RE SEO Og rece TORE RECS RES SSE EES TOR SEGSPE RSS ESAS ERS es REESE OTS cana uae age DORE NESE GEE TES SE A TORE ERS ERSTE gee eee SORES RETR QTE EST Soe SS ea URS Sa lon TEP “Spl Distribution ® by Ten Gibson) ; 5 5 5 2 ; 7 5 é ? 5 4 é 2 : : . > 3 ¢ ; 3 3 i 7 5 6 a 5 : 4 ? é § = 3 3 7 ? 4 y : 5 é ee é 5 - Z 34 x7 “THE KITCHEN, September 7 — October 20, 2007 alle of Mumbens fp i ge gels si sie iota es ee ed ee ee j Sse owe eo ee: see Tee Teeter eat Se ke ew eee ee eSBETWEEN THOUGHT AND SOUND Table Of Numbers For EQUAL DISTRIBUTION (1977) A Composition For Solo Flute By Jon Gibson ‘he accompanying table of numbers represents all of tne pos~ gible combinations of tea pitches distributed equally among theaselyea*, There are 10 unite with 1 pitch, 45 units with 2 pitenes, 120 units with 3 pitches, 210 unite with 4 pitches, 256 unite with 5 pitches, 210 unite with 6 pitches, 120 units with 7 pitches, 45 unite with 8 pitches, 10 unite with 9 pliches, and l unit with 10 pitches, This chart was used to compose the piece in combination with, another system of pitch alteration, Tne ten pitches initially enosen for. the composition (example 1) were expanded so that three of the ten pitches could be altered by one-half step {example 2) thereby creating eight aifferent scales (example 3). In the beginning egch.scale te individually introduced and played long enough (32 unite) to establish its particuler character. Aa the piece progresses (there are altogether { 031 unite totalling 5,210 individual notes~ taking thirty aimutes to perform), the time for each scale becomes progres- sively snorter so that, as the piece ends, a different scale {s used with each new unit. The eight scales are continu- ously reshuffled so that the relationships between then are alwaye changing. The process used for reshuffling the scales {es one that I have used in different waye in other compositions, and, as I later discovered, is similar to basic principles (tne plain hunt and plain bob) used in the ancient British art of Change Ringing (12345678, 21436587, 24163857, 42618375, . 6281735, ‘64827153, ete.~ each number represents a different scale )+ Wast the written score finally indicates 1s a predetermined sequence of pitehes= ith other eleuents, such as pitch and phrase duration, rnythm, articulation, tempi, vibrato, etc. being determined spontaneously by the performer during the performance. *t&e systen by which all of the combinations of the ten pit~ ches are found 1s not explained here. Bx.1 om ten elf Dito, 72“THE KITCHEN, September 7— October 20, 2007 otang | Vorce cn MERE, ouueslee prceve soon | the Fe repcenecciraeeransorr| mu, ENE gress ars : 1sTRoUTE Saget mera ig sata _ penser OFREne ; Plat 1 ' " Hee ‘ ! 1 50 we ’ 1 04i6e7 Barve TRANBOUCED HB «Pe 1 se poy trot eee. Bavt-Pass | + sats otacn SSS sven Ee ork cenenens enfants Peist) Freqeuts . RaAingorest (4) .tudor "3 Genenariz€ Devi Tua Rafe 095 6sabre ”THERE'S a whole performance practice for certain kinds of music, which simply hasn’t established itself... It’s really an issue of notation, isn’t it? The implication is that the notation has to be supplemented by the performance, no matter what. Of course, what we want supplemented and what we want it to mean Is not that clear. What’s between the thought and the sound?! CHRISTIAN WOLFFBETWEEN THOUGHT AND SOUND (An Essay in Three Parts) ‘Music notation is an intermediary between the imagined sound and its performance, Composition is the practice of organizing sounds in time, and notation determines how these soundsare tobe read. In this sense, as the composer Cornelius Cardew has written, “notation and composition determine each other” But what happens to notation when you want to say moye than you can witha given language? Cardew differentiates “between creating a language in orderto say something, and evolving language in which you can say anything”* Graphic notation is just that sort of seemingly unrestricted language: it creates an open space for imagining, reading, “translating, and performing, Inthe actof recording a series of nonstandard graphi- cal symbols and visual ideas on the page, the composer places the emphasis on trans- lation rather than interpretation. The performer’ translation then becomes a form of composing alongside the original author of the work. Inthe performance of music thatis graphically scored the audience also partici- pates inthe space “between thought and sound.” Though the audience may change from one performance to the neat, itis mimeticaly inscribed in that time and place. Asmany performances are now recorded and mechanically reproduced for docu- mentary purposes, the audience defines the psychoacoustic space that sound travels through in real and recorded time. Notonly that, it creates a collective memory and psychoacoustic presence in front of which the performers stage their reading, ‘The poetand composer Chris Mann has described how this presence creates pressure in the performance, not only a change in the air, uta sense of tension in the performative moment. “The space that interests meis the brainpan of the observer, the interlocutor, or the listener... [This] is the person who makes all the developments possible”3 Indeed, audience receptivity can create a productive friction for the performer, especially when the work relies on improvisation. “The heightened self-awareness of the performer improvising in front of the audi- ences crucial to how the work s conveyed. Itis the combination of this perform- ance space and the reading space, or the distance between the performer and the score, that generates the traction necessary to make the new language, in its infancy, work. As Mann says: “It the resistance which makes the gift"4 Graphic notation often incorporates symbols from other disciplines and systems, such as geometry, physics, astronomy, statistical dara, graphic design, concrete poetry, and the Dada diagram. ‘The borrowed signs and signifiers of the graphic score are not intended to replace traditional musical notation. Likewise, the graphic score isnot “new” notation system because it does not supplant anotational canon; rather, itoffers up possibilities for reading musical ideas‘THE KITCHEN, September 7 October 20, 2007 and orchestrating sounds in time and space. Further, graphic notation, while incor- porating many elements of visual artand abstract representation, does not fall into the category of visual music. Visual music relies on the relativity of sensory experi- ence, the ways in which the visual informs the aural or vice versa, and often on synaesthesia Finally, the graphie score isnot static or absolute: each performance is one reading or realization thatremars the workto itsoriginal open state after its rendition. ‘Marcel Duchamp’s Unhappy Readymade (1919), a wedding present to his sister Suzanne and her husband, Jean Crotti, i a visual-art model of this open act of read ing: a geometry book the couple tethered to the balcony railing, where the wind “worked out problems” by tearing out pages, eventually leaving nothing but the binding, Duchamp’ suggestion of reading as performance impacted artists from John Cage to the Fluxus group to the Zaj group in Spain. Graphic seores also trans- porttheact of reading to the stage. The audience gathers to witness this reading.‘ “The opening of musical works in the 1950s and ’6os—paralleled in the literary field by the emergence of the “open work”? —wasa radical gesture thatsignaled the structural reorganization of musical and theatrical actions and the weakening of notions of authorial power, Whereas the avant-garde artist formerly had dis- avowed mass culture in favor of the personal epiphany, by the r9 50s and’6os authors and composers offered the choice of order and context in the work to the interpreters and the public, thereby re-opening the doors toboth the work process anda social practice.®WHAT WE’RE STARTING to talk about here and what you get in Cardew’s music Is this “educative function.” That is to say, whatever else will happen on the occasion of performing this piece, people will now know that there is such aplece, and what it’s about, and what caused it. And that educational process is a small modest step, but that too is important. The other thing is, and this happens a lot In my music—and I’ve heard you talk about this too— is this issue of the involvement of the people doing it. The music is put together in what you could call a democratic spirit. The whole hierarchy of authority— which is kind of “top-down’”—is not employed, and instead you have a lateral movement. Ideally you put all these pieces together with a group of people and you get together and discuss and argue and come up with something. This becomes kind of like a model of social behavior. It’s sort of pedagogical, certainly for those playing.” CHRISTIAN WOLEFLET’S START WITH THE IDEA very widespread in the avant garde and implicit in the score of “Treatise” that anything can be transformed into anything else. Now everybody knows (not only Marx- ists and farmers) that a stone, no matter how much heat you apply to it, will never hatch into a chicken. And that even an egg won't hatch into a chicken without the right external conditions. And yet in Cage’s work “Atlas Eclipticalis” patterns of stars in astar atlas are transformed into a jumble of elec- tronic squeals and groans. This transformation is carried out through a system of notation [a logic) that has no connection with astronomy and only avery sketchy connection with music.'© conyacts canpsw 29BETWEEN THOUGHT AND SOUND I John Cagewas one of the major practitioners of graphic notation in ts early years. ‘Amongoother sign systems, he often used cartography to suggest aconnection between physical space and musical space. In works such as Atlas Eclipticalis(1963- 62), Etudes Borealis 1978), and A Dip in the Lake (1978), Cage de-territorialized the map, separating t from its geographic function and activating itasa readymade object, a template from which to derive musical information, For Cage, trajectories plotted on the map could measure structural musical factors uch as space and time, as well as more localized features suchas timbre and dynamic. Cage's use of the map asa score is metaphysical in comparison with the quite physical and literal usage in Kaffe Matthews’ Three Crosses of Queensbridge (2005). Matthews’ drawings on a detail of aLondon map provide various itineraries forlis- tenersto follow as they ride on bikes with radios, tuning in toherlive broadcast of an electronic composition, Here, participants become performers and pedestrians become audience members!" For argument’ sake, its worth noting that Cardew found the objective reading of maps problematic for ideological reasons (see the excerpt from Stockhausen Serves Imperialism on page 29), Ttis true that maps are always expressions of borders and thus possession, They describe zoning, delin- eations of political power, socioeconomic divides, the extent of our knowledge and vision (star maps), and so on. When amap becomes a score fora musical eventit can’tenter into that space innocently. Christopher Matlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great (2¥87),-which chronicles the life of the Turkish Empire builder who inspired forty operas between 1689 and 1840, underscores this fact. In Matthews’ case, however, the map allowsher to reclaim privatized land and reemphasize those public spaces that do existin the cracks between private property, reinvigorating this space as per- formative and participatory. ‘Aclose cousin to the map, the architectural blueprint frames urban renewal, civic planning, relocation, dislocation, renovation, urbanization, and zoning and provides the necessary particulars to constructa habitable three- tes, Bites 208 fore Sete Fs 5e CB re wi) $408 Ceermngle = Geumas= e¥es Che an) in quick gee oF Siom Play ones er Hite. eg see StyeRoden Pion Se 0p Cornelius Cardews Treatise (1964-67), well-known example of graphic notation, is written not on an unconventional site such as a map or building, but on the very surface on which weare accustomed to reading music—sheets (190 of them) of music paper. Originally published without any performance indications or directions, Treatise takes musical memory and oral tradition as key to its function asascore. Drawn up during Cardew’ tenure as a graphic designer, its symbols are suspended on the pages above two empty musical staves. This empty space is suggestive of ablank slate, which the performer can use to re-notate the score, Italso suggests the historical derivation of the stave—the five fingers of the hand. Cardew’s anthorial hands are on each page, but rather than giv- ing clear directives, they present cryptic images that vary from nearly recognizable musical notation to constructivist and abstract shapes that move across the page in often cartoon-like fashion. 4"Cardew performed Treatise in and around London with groups such as AMM (with cofounders Edwin Prévost and Keith Rowe) for several years before gather- ing their accrued interpretive ideas into ahandbook. The Treatise Handbook, pub- lished in 1971, documents a collective oral discourse wherein certain symbols took on meanings that were absent at the pieces conception, To this day when perform- ersget together to work on the piece, they discuss the handbook, past performance practice, and what are now considered “conventional interpretations”” Rowe, for instance, has explained the empty circles in the scoreas “radio sounds,” and the little numbers scattered throughout the piece are often taken to denote the number of chords tobe iterated in a particular moment. Having created one of the most ambitious graphic scores we know, Cardew _later became disillusioned with graphic notation. By the 1970s, he had adopted the political ideology of Maoism, and equated these scores with a so-called bourgeois affinity for exclusivity and astifice, claiming that they obfuscate and confuse rather than lead to new understandings. Suggesting that graphic notation is a failure as notation and as. practice, Cardew stated on several occasions that it couldn't hope 10 replace the traditional notation system because it tries to question the language of the tradition with an inadequate language of its own, Moreover, graphicscores are problematicin that they can be mistead orindeed not read atall if they remain anaesthetic or fetish object. As Cardew wrote: Composers who adoptsuch approximate graphic indications of whattheir Musicisto sound ike have Japsed ideologically ino the fallacy that music can consist solely of a series of doodles, exmures, out- ‘bursts, stops, and starts, Never mind how artfully azvanged, this amountsto adopting the attitude that ‘your scoreeanbe used y anyone, to express any ideas, in any contest! Cardew’s rejection must be read in light of the enormous amount of collective work thathe describesin the Treatise Handbook and in Scratch Music (1972), which docu- ments his work with the Scratch Orchestra, No matter the apparent failings of graphic notation, Cardew’ attempt to elevate the role of the reader and to fore- ground collective participation was a radical reassessment of classical musicideolo- gy. Western classical music conservatories model their hierarchies on the symphony orchestra, with its musicians laboring undera central authority—the conductor — aswell ason the model of the composer as transmitter of enlightenment to the per~ formet, who in turn imparts it to the audience. The traditional score, in other words, amounts to a one-way directive that authoritatively instructs the performer. Italso makes for potential “error,” asthe musician and critic Hago Cole has described: With one-way communication, there is no feedback from pecformer to writer. Unclear directives can snotbe questioned; the writer eannot check that instructions are adequately canried out:hence the need to guard against possiblemisunderstandings with extra care. Notation is full of redundancies, precau- tionary markings, and duplicated instructions, These built-in checesare particularly necessary in an ageof specialization, when direct contact berween composers and performersis often non-existent.44 #‘THE KITCHEN, September 7 ~ October 20, 2007 Alvis Lai in, ane, Ream Tings 99BETWEEN THOUGHT AND SOUND Tl “When notation no longer acts asa directive, but instead asa question or proposal for anew language, for collective reading of a piece of music, direct contactislocated between the performers, and often supplants the need for dizect contact with the composer. Dialogue and consensus, not authority, are the erux of the graphic score. Alison Knowles’ Onion Skin Song (1979), for example, gives very litte verbal instruction, but the history of practice and her personal involvement in the work richly inform the interpretive result. Dayid Tudor’s Rainforest 1” (1973),in which sculptural objects in the perform- ance space act as resonators and filters of audio input, expands the process of com- position to include inanimate collaborators. (Tudor has since added human collabo- ration to Rainforest I, inviting the collective Composers Inside Blectronies, among, others, to contribute not only musically but sculpturally to the performance?) Inalnion view of Ranfoeet at esivald’ Autom 3 Pais, October 176 ‘Phone © Pligg Cre rrwaye-sn-) ‘The resulting massive interactive kinetic sculpture filters the sounds ina literal act that is also ametaphor for the process through which the audience filters the material of the composition. Rainforest IV illustrates interiority (in both the compo- sitional concept and composition) and its outward explosion into space (via instru- mentsand performer-controlled objects). The physical presence of the instruments and objects suggests the inner workings of the piece—the score. The extant written score isin essence only a schematic representation that describes the ideas behind the work and its electronic circuitry.a Stephen Vitel, Fee Mortal, 2007 Some graphic scores are based noton rules, but on cues. Stephen Vitiello’ First Vertical/ First Horizontal (2007), for instance, asks the players to interpret pictorial elements photographs of apond in Maine—into an informed impressionistic realization. Mavina Rosenfeld, WHITE LINES Marina Rosenfeld’s video score, WHITE LINES (2095-7), features scrolling white and colored lines of various thickness, transparency, and shape floating over __ sensual backdrops frozen representations of nature, light, and botanical still lifes ‘The lines indicate changes in pitch, timbre, dynamic, and counterpoint. The back- drop is non-functional, a visual counterpoint that provides an aesthetic juxtaposi- tion with the performer’ activities. 68BETWEEN THOUGHT AND SOUND ‘Tony Conrad’ Early Minimalism: June 1965 (1994) is also a video score. Ona monitorin the gallery we see musical notes written in white marker on glass. Behind the glass we see Conrad himself, clapping onal the firstbeats of the measure and condueting the other bests with his arm and righthand, clenched into a fist. Inthe background we heara metronome, similarly beating outtime. Inthe live perform ance of this score, multiple monitors are placed in frontof the musicians, their screens facing away from the audience towards the performers. The musicians heat the video’ soundtrack through headphones, while the audience hears only the sounding of the live performers’ instruments, ‘The score remainsa silent and unseen medium for the audience, but the ensemble attends to the score as a sounding object that dictates their performance. Viewing the video in the gallery with the sound played through speakers allows us to experience the waysin which the score illumi- nates the musical form and structure; we are watching the visual cues of a musical ‘work, Seeing Conrad dictating directly to the musicians offers an unusual view into the production modes of experimental music, which does notin general extend itself 10 mediating figures such as conductors, Tnanother of Conrad's compositions, Bryant Park Moratorium Rally (1969), he setup two microphones—one to record the “presentreality” of the rally, and the other its television commentary —to create a feedback loop of the polities of performance and participation that tests our sense of whatis real. We wantto believe thatthe rally is there in an unmediated state, but the television hasa way of swoop- ing down to get the better shot and the clearer sound, Conrad’ microphones are thus witnessing two simultaneous butnon-equivalent events. Like graphic notation, the intermediary function of the symbol (here, the television) i likewise acting like amedium, as Chris Mann acknowledges, “suggesting itself asbeing transparent... beguilingly so, while proving that it’ not!”?7 ‘The interpretation and reception of musicis always in motion. Philosopher Jean- Jacques Rousseau wrotein his Hssay On the Originof Language (1749), “sounds ‘manifest movement?! No notation can fix music conclusively, though many have tried to create the “definitive” recording or performance. Graphie scores are soundings somewhere in the time continuum. As this essay has cizcled around them, they are also circling, making their ways into the social settings of performance. "They keep returning, asking how we, the readers, attend to our senses, and how swe (perhaps too often) separate and isolate them from ourselves. We've only just begun to imagine music and possible music(s). Acknowledging the limitations of our language, breaking down the boundaries between performer and audience, and inviting participation inthe process of reading and composing, we are contin- nga collective creative project. Its possible that we're only at the beginning of anhistorical circle, 6‘THE KITCHEN, September 7 October 20, 2007 THE EYE |S THE FIRST CIRCLE; the horizon which It forms Is the second; and through- out nature this primary picture ts repeated without. end... Another analogy we shall now trace, that every action admits of being outdone. Our life Is an appren- ticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning.'? NOTES 1 Christian Wolff, “Discussionberween Alvin ucier, ‘Chistian Wolff, Brya Harrison, SteveLehman, ‘Tim Parkinson, James Saunders, and Justin Yang. Ostrava New Music Days, 8th August 2001,” published on Tim Parkinson official website, ‘www antitledwebsite.com/ words/65. 2 Cornelius Cerdew, "Notation— Interpretation ec,” “Tempo, new sera. 8 (Summer 1961), P28 53 Chris Mana, “Conversation with Chris Mane, View by Alex Waterman and Will Holder, in gap ed “Alex Waterinan (New York: Miguet Abreu Galley, 12007), pi74- An exhibition catalogue. 4 Mann, p76. 4 See Kerry Brougher and others, Visual Muse: Syma thesia in Art and Mea Since 1900 (Londdom: Thames & Hudson, 2005). An exhibition catalogue, 6See Alex Waterman, “Res Fact,” Dot Doe Dot 2 (Summer 3006), fr mozeon the subject. 7 Seethe work of Julio Cortérar, Raymond Queneaa, Georges Peres, and other Oulipo authors. B'The graphic seore wasnot theonly important notatio~ nal paradigmshiftofthicperiod. Others inchided “event scores” such as George Brecht Octet fr Winds (4964); La Monte Young Compocision 19625 Kartheing Stockhausen’ Jnuuive Masi; end Pauline Oliveros! ‘Sonie Meditations, Alloffered waysto vision spaces, ‘ound, uals, nd eonditions wherein music could be produced and experienced by performers and audience alike. : 9 Chistian Wolf, “Conversation with Christian “Wall,” interview by Alex Waterman, in Aguré,p.5 ro Cornelius Cardew, Stockhausen Serve Imperialism, p-t4 Latimer New Dimensioas Limited: London 11 Matthews! piese was partof the 2005 exhibition ‘Sound: Like Drewing orgiaizedby the Drawing Room, London, See wwrw.deavingroom.orguk/ exhibitions, pase_soundslike htm {a Keith Rowe, in conversation withthe anthor,regar~ ding performancesin Burope of Treatise with the Keith Rowe Electroacoustic Ensemble, organized by Ensem- ble Q-Os in Brussels, October 2002, Catdews The Tre~ ative Handbook (New York: Ration Peters,1971) addzesses these intezpretiveideasingreat det 13 Cornelius Carden, “Wiggly Lines and Wobbly Music,” Cornelius Carew Reader, ed. Edwin Prévost (Harlow, UK: Matchless Recordings and Publishing, 3006), f.254- Originally published in Sidi Zterationl, ol. 192, 0.984 (November/Devember 1976). Talloge Cole, Sounde and Signs: Aspects of Musical ‘Notation (Oxiords Oxford University Pres, 1974)sP.21 15 Images on sourced from worw.core77.com, and © Core 77, 3ne,,2007 16°The original members of ComposersTnside lects0~ fs were Phil Edelstein, John Driscoll, Bill ViolsyLinds Fisher, Martin Kalve, and Ralph fones. Ths ine up fuc- uated over the years and most recently included Ste~ phen Vitello and Matt Rogalsiy slongsidePhal Edel- $rein and john Driscoll, ina performancein fall 2007 at TThe Kitchen. A CD of Composers Inside Electronics’ recordings was published as part of the Font The Kit chen Aschivessties also in 2007. 17 Mann, p78. 18 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Essay On the Orginof Lange tuag, trans. John H, Moran (Chicago: University of (Chicago Press, 1960). rp Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Circles,” from Selected I7ri- tings of Person, ed, Donald McQuade (New York: ‘Random House, 1982),p-265