Keeping Score

A text score is a set of instructions for a performance, often of music, but not limited to that; I was first introduced to the idea of a text score when I was in music school.  The examples I recall from my time in college were ideas that could not actually be performed, such as "The performer comes to the edge of the stage and throws a live grenade into the audience."  (I'm uncertain of the composer of that, or even if I'm quoting it correctly, but it might be from Dick Higgins' Danger Music series.)  Text scores don't have to be impossible (or unethical) to perform; the format can be extremely flexible.  They can be pages-long instructions for execution of elaborate performances or brief, simple, single-sentence statements; there's even a Twitter account for them.

Use and composition of text scores has been part of my recent training in Deep Listening* and their role in Pauline Oliveros' work -- both DL and her broader oeuvre -- appears mainly designed to promote an experiential orientation to art, the communal production of art, and civic engagement.  Oliveros' scores also tend to give a fair bit of leeway to the performers in how they might execute them.  I also think that text scores also allow a composer to share an idea -- and, to my mind importantly, take credit for it -- when they may not want or be able to produce it themselves.

Recently, I had an idea for a work that I was excited by, but for which I do not currently have the resources or time to perform and it occurred to me that it would make a good text score, as it had a fair bit of built in uncertainty and would benefit from respecting that.  So, having written it up, I will be sharing it here.  I expect there may be others in the future, thus my introduction/explanation in this post.  In sharing them, it is my intent that others are free to perform them, provided that they credit the authorship appropriately.  I would be grateful for any notification of any performances.


*This is something I've been meaning to share about here; I plan on writing an in depth post on it once the course is complete at the end of this month.