The proliferation of graphic scores emerging in Europe and America from the mid-1950s has had a profound impact on musical thought, broadening links between performers and composers, audiences and art forms. Exploration of notational methods based on graphics flourished rapidly and diversely during the fifties and sixties, primarily as a trend amongst young radicals. So many composers producing scores of this kind used a personal vocabulary of symbols – often creating different notation systems for each work – that the effectiveness of their approaches in realising a sonic concept can be assessed only on a case-by-case basis. But the significance of early graphic scores does not depend entirely on how they sound; rather it lies in their capacity to accommodate or even to generate new forms, techniques and mediums, and to challenge notions of what constitutes a musical composition. In addition, these works demonstrate that notation can extend beyond instructional functionality to allow for prominent interpretive and aleatoric elements, and can harbour an intrinsic aesthetic value of its own, apparent before a single note is sounded.
This paper will discuss some of the enduring benefits that early forays into graphic notation have imparted to later generations of performers and composers. I will contrast these advancements with some of the problems and concerns voiced by detractors of new notational styles during the 1960s, and address whether such issues, almost half a century later, have had the predicted negative impact on current practices. This discussion will be illustrated by scores which demonstrate various forms of visual and conceptual expression in music. Drawn from both Europe and the United States, my chosen example...
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...on a Grid” Kate Taylor, The New York Sun, Sept 4 2007. <[ HYPERLINK "http://www.nysun.com/article/61847?page_no=1" http://www.nysun.com/article/61847?page_no=1]>
Young, David. Be Reasonable [Melbourne: unpublished printed music] 2007.
For the purposes of this essay I will be describing “graphic notation” within the same broad conditions presented in The Oxford Companion to Music 10th ed; as a form of representation in which “visual shapes or patterns are used instead of, or together with, conventional musical notation.” I wish to add to this definition the permissible presence of text in combination with graphics, providing explanations of the symbols.
A succinct description of graphic notation and its history can be found in Cox, ‘Visual Sounds: On Graphic Scores.” Audio Culture – Readings in Modern Music ed. Christoph Cox (New York: Continuum, 2004) 187-88.
“Symbolism.” Dictionary of World Literature: Criticism - Forms - Technique. Ed. Joseph T. Shipley. New York: Philosophical Library, 1943. 564-9.
Putman, D. (1990). THE AESTHETIC RELATION OF MUSICAL PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE. British Journal of Aesthetics. 30 (4), 1-2.
Tresiddier, Jack. Dictionary of Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Images, Icons, and Emblems. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1997. 120-6.
As discussed by Greenberg (2009), the Renaissance saw many changes and advancements over a two hundred year span of evolution in music. The intellectual and social trends strayed from the absolute power of the church and secular music became admired and composed for the beauty of its art. Renaissance composers developed a more expressive style by clearly articulating lyrics “musica reservata” and a process called word painting or tone painting which reflected
Reich, Steve. Writings about Music. Halifax: Nova Scotia Coll.of Art & Design P., 1974. Print.
The book is divided into four chapters: 1) Humanly Organized Sound, 2) Music in Society and Culture, 3) Culture and Society in Music, and 4) Soundly Organized Humanity. In chapter one, Blacking discusses the analysis of sound. He begins by describing music as humanly organized sound. His overarching theme is that “the function of tones in relation to each other cannot be explained adequately as part of a closed system” (30). In other words, music can’t be analyzed simply by one set of rules. This is because every single culture has a different system that they use to structure and compose their music. In order to adequately analyze a society’s music we have to study their “system.” We must learn what music means to them. Then, and only then, can we accurately and completely analyze what a particular type or piece of music means to a particular society and culture.
‘Do not forget that the melody is the Idea, the outline; as much as it is the form and the subject matter of a work. The harmony is an illumination, an exhibition of the object, its reflection…’(3)
What would the world be like without music? The world would be a very silent place. Music is in many ways the material of our lives and the meaning of society. It is a reminder of how things were in the old days, a suggestion of how things are, and a view of where society is leading to. Music is the direct reflection of the picture of art, music, and literature. Music can be a way to deliver messages, being poetic, a fine art, or it can just be for entertainment. No matter what it is used for, music is the perfect art there is and there are various types of music; such as classical and romantic. This paper will discuss how classical music and romantic music had a turning point in humanity’s social or cultural development, and how they have
The model of semiosis allows us the investigation of the ¡¥sign¡¦: music, in its structure, in its act and its functionality which means communication and signification. Thus we can identify ¡¥the music-sign¡¦ through the expression of the sense¡Xthe sense that "is conceived as an evidence, as the feeling of comprehension, in a very natural way" (1)¡Xand through the significance. Thus, our guidance implies ¡¥sign¡¦, ¡¥expression¡¦, ¡¥signification¡¦¡Xthe triad that brings together the coordinates of semiosis; defined, it, by Charles S.Peirce through the cooperation of the sign, its object and its interpretant (2) and by U.Eco: "the process through which the empirical individuals communicate and the processes of communication become possible thanks to the systems of significance" (3). This semiosis is put in evidence by different semio...
The concept of the Renaissance man is somewhat of a lost ideal, replaced by the specialized philosophy of the industrial era. From the 14th to 17th centuries; however, it would be common to find a man with a profound knowledge of both the Arts, music, poetry, literature, art, and the Sciences, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology. The Renaissance man embraced all forms of knowledge, and through a deep passion for both the Arts and Sciences, used each discipline to expand the other. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, this same philosophy is far gone. Where these two fields once were used together to create an ultimate beauty, they are now pitted against each other by many scholars. It is not uncommon now for a mathematician or physicist to dismiss the Arts as a waste of time; or for an artist or musician to proclaim the Sciences as useless to them. As both an avid blues guitarist and an IB math student, I aim to contrast this modern opinion. I will do so by exploring the relationship between the Arts and Sciences; specifically mathematics and music. On a personal level, I find this to be extremely important, as I hold a deep value for all means of human expression and learning. I believe also that the Arts and Sciences hold one great unifying thing together, which is the search for Truth and Beauty. In a modernized world where ideas and creations can be shared so quickly; the potential for a profound knowledge and passion of both these fields has never been greater. Concepts I plan to explore are: how musical scales can be made using Fibonacci ratios, the Golden Ratio’s relationship with music, equal temperament, where else the Fibonacci numbers occur in music, the exponential nature of octaves, and how exposure to music help...
Beyond this, pinning down a definition of formalism can be tough work. Just as what we mean by a “work of art” can vary greatly—a poem or painting, a classic symphony, a pre-Colombian vase—so, too, can what we mean by “form” or “formal elements” vary. We may talk about a meter or rhyme scheme, a br...
Erwin Panofsky, 1939, Studies in Iconology, 1939 rpt. New York: Harper and Row, 1972, pages 3-31.
ABSTRACT: There has yet to be a culture discovered which lacks music. Music is a part of our existence, but we do not fully understand it. In this paper, working in the tradition of Aristotle, Wittgenstein and Langer, I elucidate some of the connections between music and the emotions. Using contemporary philosophy of mind theories of emotion, I explain how we can have a better understanding of our emotive responses to music. I follow the pattern through representational painting and abstract painting to music, and show how each functions as an intentional object for the object of our emotions in response to each art form.
The Middle Ages were really the beginning of what we call Western music. For the first time musical notation was used in European countries exten...
Throughout this semester we have discussed an array of musical periods ranging from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to more recent modern times. As music progressed through time certain concepts such as melody, harmony, and texture changed along with the introduction of different instruments. In the early phases of music it was more directed toward religious ceremonies, but as time went on it became integrated into everyday life. Even though musical dynamics seem to change as the years go on, it has never failed to create some form of emotional response such as laughter or sadness.