Music Scores

Tom Phillips - Ornamentik

Ornamentik was written and drawn at the request of the American trombonist Stuart Dempster who asked for a piece that would suggest, within the character of a sustaining instrument, various provocative challenges to corner him into inventing new sounds or techniques.

Wadada Leo Smith

Smith has pioneered the creation of a new world music sound since the 1960s, and his adventurous use of electronics in Luminous Axis partners with trumpet in ways that truly are transformative.

Gyorgy Ligeti - Artikulation 

Artikulation is an electronic composition by György Ligeti. Composed and notated in January and February 1958, the piece was prepared and recorded on magnetic tape.

Rainer Wehinger created a musical score for the piece, representing different sonorous effects with specific graphic symbols much like a transcription.

Kwi - Drawing The Air 

This nature-inspired score is a representation of an electronic piece by composer Slavek Kwi. He explained: "There is nothing to be understood, no comprehension required accessing this work… only intensive listening."

Cardew - Treatise ("The greatest musical score ever designed")

Cardew was one of the revolutionary British avant-garde composers that came to prominence in the 60s. His music can be spare and abstract, but also childish and melodic. When looking at his scores, it is not entirely surprising to find out that later on in his life, Cardew began work as a graphic designer. Cardew spent four years, between 1963 to 1967, working on the score. Treatise is a masterpiece of visual communication and a major achievement in any musical system. It contains 193 pages of beautifully rendered lines, symbols and shapes. He sought to expand how performers could interpret the work, divorcing themselves from the whims of the composer. It was a very 60s cocktail of Marxism, semiotics and a dash of groovy Structuralism.