NOTATION AND IMPROVISATION: NOTATIONAL PRAXIS IN THE WORK OF THE ICP, SARAH BRAND AND MOSS FREED

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between notation and improvisation and the ways in which notational representation and prescription are extended by para-notation in the work and practice of the improvisers Sarah Brand and Moss Freed and in the work of ethnomusicologist Floris Schuiling, in particular through his research into the Dutch collective, the Instant Composers Pool (ICP). Sarah Brand analyses her own improvisation transcriptions using concepts derived from music therapy to help sharpen awareness for future improvisation. Moss Freed's Micromotives features his own variant of conduction, developed through reflexive and cyclic processes of notation, rehearsals and discussion. Floris Schuiling's ethnomusicological research into the ICP reveals how notation can be used to generate creative challenges, not only for the members of the collective but for musicians in general. A series of interviews reveals that these musicians use notation to render processes visible and to build and develop communities and cultures.