Augenmusik

Just a short comment to the rather passionate discussion about
"inaudible" music, or "augenmusik..."

It seems in some cases that certain "extra musical" considerations
can have an influence on the ultimate SOUND of a piece...

An example that immediately comes to mind is the music of George
Crumb... where the VISUAL presentation of the music is so incredible,
and, yet, is not perceived directly by the audience.

However, the PERFORMER encounters this unusual copying job... and it
certainly affects the final outcome of the performance.

John Cage's music is similar in this respect. The calligraphy is
always a significant aspect, although frequently unperceived.

Then there is a totally different category... theoretical discussions
that perhaps don't IMMEDIATELY apply to music. There is discussion
of that nature on this list, although several posters are intent on
stressing the APPLICATION of the ideas to audible sound, which I
appreciate.

However, perhaps one should not dismiss purely theoretical
speculations "out of hand..." Although they may not immediately make
music, they may influence the creators who ultimately do...

As an important part of art in it's own right.... as Ms. Margo
Schulter points out in her comments. Dunno. Perhaps it can be an
important part of the "ritual." Look at much "theatrical" music,
such as Partch and Kraig Grady.... Non-audible "ritual" is there as
well.

So, basically, non-audible elements are more prevalent and pervasive
than we might immediately guess...

____________ ___ __ __
Joseph Pehrson

--- In tuning@egroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <pehrson@p...> wrote:

> http://www.egroups.com/message/tuning/16064
>
>
> An example that immediately comes to mind is the music of
> George Crumb... where the VISUAL presentation of the music is
> so incredible, and, yet, is not perceived directly by the
> audience.
>
> However, the PERFORMER encounters this unusual copying job...
> and it certainly affects the final outcome of the performance.
>
> John Cage's music is similar in this respect. The calligraphy
> is always a significant aspect, although frequently unperceived.
>
> ...
>
> However, perhaps one should not dismiss purely theoretical
> speculations "out of hand..." Although they may not immediately
> make music, they may influence the creators who ultimately do...
>
> As an important part of art in it's own right.... as Ms. Margo
> Schulter points out in her comments. Dunno. Perhaps it can be
> an important part of the "ritual." Look at much "theatrical"
> music, such as Partch and Kraig Grady.... Non-audible "ritual"
> is there as well.
>
> So, basically, non-audible elements are more prevalent and
> pervasive than we might immediately guess...

Thanks, Joe - this is precisely the point I've been hammering
away at. Subscribers to this List will probably 'get it'
better because they'll be familiar with what you're saying
about these two particular composers (Partch and Grady).

As anyone who's ever looked at my webpages knows, visual art
is an extremely important part of my tuning-theory work, and
as anyone who's witnessed my performances of _A Noiseless
Patient Spider_ will recognize, this visual art is most
definitely finding its way into my recent compositions as well.

After reading John deLaubenfels's put-down:
http://www.egroups.com/message/tuning/16036

of Paul Erlich's put-down:
http://www.egroups.com/message/tuning/16033

of my ideas on this:
http://www.egroups.com/message/tuning/16028

I realized that maybe I backed down from Paul's contestation
too easily in this post:
http://www.egroups.com/message/tuning/16039

Even tho, as I said, I agree with pretty much everything Paul
said here, my more catholic attitude is well represented by John.

I think, Joe, that your invocation of Crumb's scores really
drives the point home... I became fascinated with Crumb scores
when I found them in the library at Manhattan School of Music,
and it just so happened that there was a great interest in
his music and many performances at that time (1979-81) at
that school.

... And note that in _Spider_ I've taken it one step further
and actually let the audience in on the visual aspect.

For those who missed my presentation of this piece, the
program notes are reproduced here:

http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/spider/spider.htm

I'd also like to add that the pieces by Bill Alves which
were given at this year's 'Microfest' are a very interesting
synthesis of computer audio and video. Among them, IIRC,
was _Static Cling_:

http://www2.hmc.edu/~alves/static.html

-monz
http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/homepage.html
'All roads lead to n^0'