As I was preparing this month's free composition lesson, I was reminded of how much fun "shaped compositions" were. Composers as far back as the Renaissance have explored "shaped" scores and compositions. Two examples from the early Renaissance are from Baude Cordier, (ca. 1380-ca.1440).
Cordier's chanson Belle, bonne, sage is in a heart shape, with red colored notes indicating rhythmic alterations. Eye-music-within-eye music is in the small group of notes hanging like a locket in the upper left, also all in red and in the shape of a heart. Another work of Cordier is inscribed in circles, Tout par compas suy composés.
Likewise, many contemporary composers have composed scores in triangular, circular, grid, or artistic design formations. For example, Healing Waters by Maxwell R. Lafontant, Stockhausen, Die zehn wichtigsten Wörter, and Makrokosmos, Vol. 1 by George Crumb, to name but a few.
Search "Augenmusic" or "Visual Scores" for more examples. Explore these with your students and make connections for classroom compositions. Concrete Poetry also offers a very obvious point of departure for "shaped" scores.
Cordier's chanson Belle, bonne, sage is in a heart shape, with red colored notes indicating rhythmic alterations. Eye-music-within-eye music is in the small group of notes hanging like a locket in the upper left, also all in red and in the shape of a heart. Another work of Cordier is inscribed in circles, Tout par compas suy composés.
Likewise, many contemporary composers have composed scores in triangular, circular, grid, or artistic design formations. For example, Healing Waters by Maxwell R. Lafontant, Stockhausen, Die zehn wichtigsten Wörter, and Makrokosmos, Vol. 1 by George Crumb, to name but a few.
Search "Augenmusic" or "Visual Scores" for more examples. Explore these with your students and make connections for classroom compositions. Concrete Poetry also offers a very obvious point of departure for "shaped" scores.
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