NEW NOTATIONS
Less obviously contradictory were the efforts of Earle Brown (1926–2002), another early associate of Cage, to free performers from their usual constraints, and make them fully “aware” participants in the making of his music, by means of a “graphic notation” that eventually dispensed with conventional symbols. In Synergy (subtitled “November 1952”), conventional note-heads and dynamic markings were deployed on a sheet that was lined from top to bottom. Performers had to decide on instrumentation, place clefs where they wished, choose a mode of attack for each note, and decide both when to play it and how long it would be (within limits suggested by the use of empty and filled note-heads). A month later, in December 1952, Brown provided a score consisting of nothing but lines and rectangles on a white background (Fig. 2-9). The symbols represented “elements in space”; the score was “a picture of this space at one instant.” It was for the performer “to set all this in motion,” whether by “sit[ting] and let[ting] it move” or by “mov[ing] through it at all speeds.”
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 2 Indeterminacy." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2024. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume5/actrade-9780195384857-div1-002009.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 2 Indeterminacy. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Late Twentieth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 29 Nov. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume5/actrade-9780195384857-div1-002009.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 2 Indeterminacy." In Music in the Late Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 29 Nov. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume5/actrade-9780195384857-div1-002009.xml
