Graphic Score Book

What are these?

Are they sunsets over a valley?

Are they contemplations of man’s role in the universe, and whether or not we as a species have gone too far in its assertion of dominance in it?

Are they a cry of oppression in the silent form, one that its dictators won’t understand, and a longing for freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?   

Or are they just a bunch of squiggly lines on a canvas?

In truth, they are actually musical compositions.

All of these are compositions crafted in what’s called “Graphic Notation”. Graphic Notation is such that is more democratic than its traditional counterpart. It provides the performer a set of vague instructions on how it might want something done based on a series of symbols and expects the performer to fill in the gaps, blurring the line between composer and performer. As I keep saying in these blog posts (seriously, I’m like a parrot here) no two performances are alike, and all that hard work can result in performances like this:

This style of composing was particularly popular among the composers of the New York School (with Morton Feldman being the hipster of the group, writing in grid style before anyone else), taking their inspirations from their fellow artists. But how did they take inspiration? Sure, John Cage’s 4’33” was most directly inspired by a series of white canvases by Robert Rauschenberg, but the three movements are all tacet, not exactly uncommon notations. So where did inspiration strike? What force would compel these composers to write compositions that look more like pieces of art? Well, there is one idea: Abstract Expressionism.

Abstract Expressionism is, in its rawest form, an extreme form of surrealism. It takes the raw emotions of its painter and puts in on canvas, no matter how silly and unusual it may seem. Often, the results look something like this:

Look familiar?

To be fair, this is one of the earliest portions of the New York School, forming shortly after World War II as a way of separating themselves from the Parisian counterparts. Regardless, there is no way that the paintings presented here are not influential on the graphics of at least some of the graphic notation works written over the years. For instance, compare Arshile Gorky’s The Liver in the Cock’s Comb…

...to this piece by Slavek Kwi.

Granted, Kwi is a more recent composer than, say, John Cage, but the influences are obvious. Similar graphics, similar uses of color, similar design. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that the Kwi was clearly made in photoshop, I would call this a truly grand Abstract expressionist piece.

But that’s just one example. Let us now look at a piece from the famous 1920s painter, Wassily Kandinsky: Unbroken Line.

This painting is a clear resemblance of random, uninterrupted chaos scattered about the canvas. What all this means is unclear (and I’m not gonna try to analyze it), but its influence is clear in pieces like this:

And like this:

And, of course, like this:

Of course, not all graphic notation has its roots in this style of artistry (there’s also the I Ching to take into consideration), but it’s obvious that Abstract Expressionism played a significant role in its early stages. It both goes to show just how much the factions of the New York School intermingled with each other and, more important, that inspiration can strike from anywhere.