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TWENTIETH- - Synapse Music

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288 The Roles of Chance and Choice in Twentieth-Century <strong>Music</strong><br />

SOME EXAMPLES OF PERFORMER INDETERMINACY<br />

Stockhausen's Piano Piece XI (Klavierstiick XI) (1956) was one of the first European<br />

works to employ open form. The score, a single page roughly 2 1 X 37 inches, consists of<br />

nineteen precisely notated segments of varying lengths, the proportions being governed by<br />

a Fibonacci series. 2 The segments are played in any order. and the performer is instructed<br />

to choose the order randomly without intentionally Hnking one to another. If a segment is<br />

played a second time, instructions in parentheses such as Bva may allow some variation.<br />

When a segment is "arrived at for the third time," the piece is over, even though some segments<br />

may not have been played at all. Each segment is followed by symbols that specify<br />

tempo, dynamics, and mode of attack, and these are to be applied to the next segment in<br />

each case (the performer chooses the tempo, dynamics, and mode of attack for the first segment<br />

that is performed).<br />

Cornelius Cardew's Octet '61 for Jasper Johns (1961) is a free-form composition<br />

"not necessarily for piano." The score consists of sixty "signs" that are to be interpreted<br />

cyclically- that is, sign 60 is followed by sign 1. The performer may begin anywhere and<br />

end anywhere. and the signs may be taken in reverse order if desired. An additional wildcard<br />

sign is provided for use "anywhere and as often as desired." The first six signs are<br />

shown in Example 14--1. Notice that sign 1 includes the Arabic numerals 6 and 7, sign 3<br />

contains 3 and 5, and sign 6 contains 1,6, and 7. Cardew provides hints for interpreting<br />

some of the symbols used in the signs, but the instructions emphasize creativity and interpretation<br />

rather than conformity. As an illustration of one of the many ways of interpreting<br />

signs 1-6, Cardew provides the illustration seen in Example 14--2. His key to the illustration<br />

follows the example.<br />

EXAMPLE 14--1 Cardew: Octet '6 1 for Jasper Johns ( 1961), signs 1-6 (Used by p"m;ss;on 0(C. F. Pet",<br />

Corporation, on behalf of Hinrichsen Edition, Ltd., London. © 1962 by Hinrichsen Edition, Ltd.)

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