Comparative study of New Music Notation in the Works of Contemporary Composers (Case Study: Banshee, Spatial Galaxy, Freeman Etude no. 2, Kontakte, 8'37", Rain Spell)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Composition of the Department of Composition, Faculty of Music, Tehran University of Arts, Tehran, Iran

2 Master of Music in Composition, Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Tehran, Iran

10.30480/dam.2023.4870.1810

Abstract

Notation in music has always been an evolving issue. In the last century, as music research and innovation continued, new notation systems increased and certain standards, however relative, were set. There were two very important questions in the conflict of these extensive developments in notation: Whether all these changes have been necessary? And in what areas has conventional classical notation failed to express the ideas of contemporary composers?
In this study, as an example, six works were selected due to structural differences in notation. First, each of the works was examined separately from the perspective of notation and written symbols, and in the next stage, the similarities and differences in notation of these works were compared. At the end,  the reasons for choosing modern notation in each of the six studied works and the limitations of using conventional classical notation in the scores of these pieces were examined. In addition, the question was considered whether it is possible to rewrite each work with the conventional classical notation method or not.
The method of this research is analytical. Gathering information is based on literature studies and using the works of composers, books and articles in the original language, interviews and internet sources.
According to this study, it seems that notation in the conventional classical way has been applied and used in presenting the generalities of the studied parts, but it has some limitations in presenting the details that arise from the composer’s creativity. Cowell and Crumb use some extended techniques into the inside of the piano, Stockhausen tries to find a way to sketch electronic sounds in the score or uses an upside-down bango with a bunch of beans inside, Cage marks the bow position at the beginning and end of a martelato or the direction of a glissando on a certain pitch, Takemitsu takes cues to coordinate the musicians and Penderecki uses the sound behind the bridge on strings. Due to the limitations of classical notation, these works can not be written completely in the usual classical way and the composers have been forced to use innovative ideas in the writing of these pieces.

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Volume 14, Issue 33
November 2023
Pages 39-78

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