Notations 21

by Theresa Sauer, Mike Perry (Designer)

Drawing inspiration from John Cage's Notations , Notations 21 features illustrated musical scores from more than 100 international composers, all of whom are making amazing breakthroughs in the art of notation. These spectacularly beautiful and fascinatingly creative visual pieces make not only for exciting music, but for inspiring visual art as well. The scores are accompanied by written contributions from the artists that explore every facet of their creative processes, from inspiration to execution. Contributors include the likes of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Earle Brown, Halim El-Dabh, Joan La Barbara, and Yuji Takahashi, as well as emerging composers whose compositions are visually astounding and important. In the spirit of honoring the 40th anniversary of Cage's seminal book, while furthering it in a 21st century context, a portion of the sales will be donated to the Foundation for Contemporary Performing Arts.

Genres: Music, Art, Design, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird and sometimes wonderful, but often just weird. Best read like a coffee table book, browsing and flipping to find what interests you. While intending to represent music in alternate notations, it’s more visual art than music. Half the time I wished it came with recordings, and the other half I was pretty sure I wouldn’t want to listen to them for very long. A mind bender and extender.