"Not Music Yet": Graphic Notation as a Catalyst for Collaborative Metamorphosis

Abstract

In the past five years the collaborative relationship between composer and performer has emerged as an important field of enquiry. Challenging the assumptions of distinct roles and creativity in solitude, recent research publications by Ostersjo, Clarke/Cook/Harrison/Thomas, Roche, Hayden/Windsor and Heyde/Fitch have examined their own creative practices to explore many different models of collaborative relationships. The author's doctoral research in this field examined the collaborations on ten new works for solo piano, one of which is the graphically notated score, Not Music Yet (2012), by Australian composer, David Young. This article explores how Young's use of graphic notation alongside symbiotic collaborative strategies catalysed a metamorphosis of the collaborative process. In 2011, the author, a concert pianist, commissioned Young to compose a new work for solo piano. Young's decision to notate the score as a large watercolour painting served as both a point of resistance and a catalyst in the collaborative process. The article examines Young's strategies of managing and manipulating the author's interpretation, while affording the author control over fundamental compositional decisions. The author's process of creating a performable realisation of the score - utilising sonic and pianistic experimentation with a wide variety of extended techniques - is also examined. With reference to the author's doctoral research, which examined the effects of notational practices, imbalances of authority, and external pressures on the collaborative process, the article provides insights into the impact of graphic notation on the collaborative process and shows how Young's specific use of interdependent notational and collaborative strategies can provide a useful model for future collaborators and researchers while also facilitating new perspectives on the conventional roles and responsibilities of composer and performer.

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