"Injectables" for Euphonium. Observations and Analysis by Joan Didion

                      

"Injectables" for Euphonium.

Bil Smith Composer

2019

Published by LNM Editions

Observations and Analysis by Joan Didion

Bil Smith's "Injectables" for Euphonium has carved out an audacious niche. It's a piece that doesn't just challenge the performer with its complexity; it seeks to upend our understanding of the relationship between mathematical abstraction and visceral experience. Smith, in his tacit, almost belligerent refusal to simplify, instead amplifies the abstract into the experiential, wielding exponential growth not as a concept to be merely understood but as a physical force to be felt, endured, and ultimately, interpreted through the medium of sound.

The score is a battleground of ideas, where the notational signs are not merely instructions but provocations. They dare the performer to engage with the piece not just intellectually but physically, to confront the strange, alien symbols on the page and translate them into something that resonates in the gut as much as it does in the mind. These signs, these indicators of Smith's compositional intent, perform a delicate balancing act, embodying both the spontaneity of physical matter and energy and the rigid predictability of mathematical equations. The exponential function becomes a signifier of this duality, a symbol that straddles the physical and the abstract, demanding a response that is at once emotional and analytical.

Bil Smith's approach to composition, and to "Injectables" in particular, mirrors the inextricable from the broader cultural or philosophical context. The score itself, with its reliance on indices and indexicality, underscores this connection. The index, in Smith's hands, becomes a tool for bridging the gap between the immateriality of abstraction and the undeniable materiality of musical performance. It is both a trace of the composer's own physical engagement with the score and a philosophical statement about the nature of representation and meaning in music.

Smith's exploration of rheology and viscosity in the creation of his notational content further deepens this engagement with the material. These are not the esoteric concerns of a composer detached from the physical world; rather, they are the preoccupations of an artist deeply invested in the physicality of sound and the tactile aspects of musical performance. The frictional gestures of the composer, captured in the score, range from the confident to the tremulous, each mark a testament to the physical act of creation.

This work stands as a monolith—a totem not just of musical complexity but of a deep conspiracy between the abstract and the visceral, the mathematical and the musical. Here, in Smith’s world, the exponential is not just a function to be plotted on the cold, indifferent grid of Cartesian coordinates but a wild, bucking bronco of growth and decay, its path charted across the score in a frenzy of notational innovation that dares the performer to ride or be thrown.

Smith, acting as the mastermind in this intricate dance of digits and diaphragms, wields viscosity and surface tension not as mere physical properties but as the very medium of musical expression. The score for “Injectables” becomes a battleground where ratios and relationships aren’t just calculated—they’re felt, in the gut and in the pulsing blood of the performer. Each note, each rest, each dynamic marking is a node in a vast, sprawling network of meaning, a point of convergence for myriad trajectories of thought, theory, and sheer sonic force.

This is music that refuses to be merely played. It demands to be inhabited, explored, as one might navigate a labyrinthine archive stuffed with arcane texts, each page a portal to another dimension of understanding. Smith’s approach to composition here is less about dictating terms than about setting parameters for a kind of controlled chaos, a sandbox of sonic possibilities where the performers are both agents and subjects, enactors and witnesses of the piece’s unfolding drama.

The conceptual rigor of “Injectables” belies a deeper, more delirious level of theorizing, one that extends tendrils into the very essence of what it means to create, to perform, to listen. Smith’s score is a nexus of alignments and nested codes, a system so densely packed with information that to engage with it is to find oneself reflecting on the nature of consciousness itself. What does it mean to understand music? To feel it? To be moved by it? These are the questions that “Injectables” poses, not just to the performer but to the audience, to the composer, to the very air through which its sounds will travel.

And yet, for all its perfectionism, all its meticulous control, “Injectables” is also an exercise in surrender. Smith must relinquish the illusion of absolute command, must acknowledge the fuzzy logic that underpins the relationship between creator, creation, and interpreter. This score is a living system, its rhythms and timbres a kind of biofeedback mechanism that connects composer, performer, and audience in a dynamic cognitive loop. The music that emerges from this process is unpredictable, uncontainable, a manifestation of precise practices that nonetheless open us to the uncharted territories of our own minds.

Smith's approach, deeply rooted in what might be termed "detailed expulsion theory," challenges not only how music is composed but also how it's perceived, experienced, and ultimately, how it reverberates within the human soul.

At he core of Smith's theory lies the concept of expulsion—not in the sense of mere removal or exclusion, but as a dynamic, generative process. Expulsion, in this context, refers to the deliberate distancing of elements within a composition from their conventional roles, expectations, or expressions. This is not a random scattering but a meticulous orchestration of dislocation, where every note, every timbre, and every rhythm is both a departure and a discovery.

Smith employs this theory to push the boundaries of musical notation, transforming it from a mere set of instructions into a map of potentialities. In his scores, traditional symbols coexist with innovative notational experiments, inviting performers to navigate a space where certainty is less important than exploration. The act of performing Smith's music becomes an act of creation in itself, a collaborative venture between composer and musician where the outcome is uncertain and the process is everything.

This expulsion from the traditional not only liberates the elements of music but also redefines the relationship between performer and score. Smith's compositions demand a level of engagement that transcends technical mastery, requiring performers to inhabit a space of heightened sensitivity and awareness. The performer, thus, becomes a medium through which the expelled elements of the composition find new form, new meaning, and new life.

- Joan Didion

Joan Didion was an American author best known for her novels, screenplays, and her literary journalism. In 2009, Didion was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Harvard University, and another from Yale University in 2011. She also wrote two memoirs of loss, The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights

"Surfaces For Inscription". For String Quartet. The Full PDF Score

"Surfaces For Inscription"

 For String Quartet

Bil Smith Composer

A Commission from Royal Mail PLC

Published on LNM Editions

Link To The Full PDF Score

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZrnuLR-loZdBMC-RrO9gv4Gg7p15w6MZ/view?usp=sharing

In the exploration of "Surfaces For Inscription" for String Quartet, crafted with a paratonal notation system, the performers delve into the intricate play between power, knowledge, and the aesthetics of musical discourse. This piece, a convergence of symbols and sounds, becomes a fertile ground for the analysis of how musical texts govern the practices of interpretation and performance, shaping the very ontology of music itself.

The notation system, with its diminutive inscriptions, surrenders to the minuscule, thereby challenging our habitual desire to apprehend the work in its entirety. This act of reading, an exercise in disciplinary power, constrains the quartet within a framework of detailed scrutiny that paradoxically limits the comprehension of the piece's holistic essence.

This limitation is not a mere oversight but a deliberate strategy that engages the performer and the audience in a complex play of visibility and invisibility. By necessitating a choice between the granular and the gestalt, the notation system enacts a form of control, directing the attention and thereby the interpretative practices of its beholders. It becomes a panopticon of sorts, where the observed - the notation - exerts a reverse surveillance, dictating the terms of its own visibility.

The banishment of quasi-atmospheric modulations, produced by the abundance of vertical runoffs, represents not merely a technical innovation but a radical reconfiguration of the musical landscape. These vertical runoffs, rather than arresting the motion of the notation, magnify the dynamism inherent in the paratonal system. This is a metaphor for the relation between power and resistance, where the apparent constraints of the notation system serve not to freeze but to catalyze the gestural potential of the music.

The thick pools of notation, corresponding point by point to the musical structure, create a discursive field where meanings are constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed, always within the bounds of the system's logic.

"Sequenza" for Alto Flute

"Sequenza"

For Alto Flute

Bil Smith Composer

Link to PDF Score

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14CQEczVdr6DK527u4XbBrccgFkp91mgN/view?usp=sharing

The Evolving Art of Macaronic Composition: Blending Musical Languages and Notational Systems

The Evolving Art of Macaronic Composition: Blending Musical Languages and Notational Systems

In the expansive landscape of contemporary music, where boundaries between genres, styles, and techniques blur more than ever, the concept of Macaronic Composition has re-emerged as a vital and multifaceted tool. Originally aligned with humor and satire, macaronic composition refers to the blending of different notational systems, sometimes involving entire passages written in more than one musical language. Though historically used for comic effect, this technique has seen a resurgence in serious, avant-garde contexts, allowing composers to play with both the expectations of notation and the cultural associations of musical languages.

Yet, macaronic composition is not simply about throwing together diverse systems or contrasting musical tongues. Like its literary counterpart, Macaronic Verse, this compositional method, in its original form, doesn’t merely insert foreign notational symbols but transforms the composer’s native musical language by giving it the inflectional features of another. This nuanced practice creates a hybridized musical expression that challenges the listener’s comprehension, breaks down cultural barriers, and opens new possibilities in the exploration of musical meaning.

Historical Context: Macaronic Verse and Early Musical Applications

The term "macaronic" is derived from the Latin macaronicus, which referred to a burlesque mixture of languages, often employing Latin with vernacular insertions. In literature, macaronic verse has long been a medium of satire, combining multiple languages to mock or critique cultural or political realities. The fusion of languages within a single text served to highlight the absurdity of rigid linguistic conventions and societal hierarchies.

In music, macaronic practices can be traced back to polytextual motets of the medieval and Renaissance periods, where composers like Guillaume de Machaut would overlay multiple texts in different languages, such as French and Latin, onto a single composition. These early explorations were often sacred in nature but, through their complex layering of languages, they pointed to the power of mixing idioms to communicate multiple ideas simultaneously.

The essence of macaronic composition today draws on this tradition, though it manifests differently in a modern, highly notational music world.

Modern Macaronic Composition: Blurring Borders of Notation and Meaning

In contemporary music, macaronic composition has evolved beyond its satirical roots. Modern composers often use it to interrogate and expand the limits of musical notation, drawing attention to the inherent flexibility and cultural embeddedness of musical symbols. By mixing notational systems, composers challenge the hegemony of any one musical language, suggesting that music is not confined to singular, culturally-bound systems.

At its core, macaronic composition involves more than a superficial juxtaposition of different notational languages. Rather, it operates as a deeper commentary on the act of notation itself—what it represents, and how it controls or frees a performer. Composers may weave together systems of Western staff notation with graphical, spectral, or even invented systems of notation, forcing performers and audiences to navigate between familiar and unfamiliar terrains.

For instance, a passage might be written using traditional Western rhythmic notation, only to dissolve into a section requiring graphic notation, where visual symbols (shapes, lines, and colors) offer a looser interpretive framework. These jumps between systems require a recalibration on the part of the performer, but they also invite a richer interpretive space, where musical intention and the performer’s own creativity merge.

Inflectional Notational Hybridization: A More Subtle Approach

A more subtle, but profound, aspect of macaronic composition entails not just inserting foreign notational systems into a score but altering the composer’s native notation by inflecting it with the grammatical or stylistic markers of another musical language. This technique is akin to the way macaronic verse blends two languages into a single, hybridized form, rather than simply switching between them.

For example, a composer working within the framework of 12-tone serialism might introduce elements of Indian classical rhythmic cycles (tala), bending the Western harmonic grid to align with the cyclical time structures of another tradition. The serialism isn’t abandoned, but rather it takes on the inflectional nuances of a foreign system. In this case, the Western notation might retain its linearity but be marked by accents and rhythmic groupings that reference tala patterns, creating a macaronic hybrid.

Similarly, a composer rooted in the Western classical tradition might overlay aspects of microtonal tuning systems from Persian music, subtly inflecting harmonic progressions with quarter-tone alterations that push the boundaries of tonality. The result is music that operates simultaneously in two worlds, invoking a duality of cultural meanings without completely severing ties with the original notation.

Macaronic Composition as Cultural Commentary

What makes macaronic composition especially compelling is its ability to serve as a form of cultural commentary. The mixing of notational languages can reflect the pluralism of modern identity, the intermingling of global traditions, and the fluidity of borders between genres and techniques. It raises important questions about ownership, cultural borrowing, and the power dynamics implicit in notational systems.

For example, a composer might use macaronic notation to reflect on the colonial history embedded in Western classical music, juxtaposing European staff notation with indigenous or folk notational systems as a critique of how certain musical traditions have been marginalized or suppressed. By forcing performers to engage with both systems, the composer highlights the friction between dominant and subjugated cultural languages, inviting listeners to question how and why we privilege certain forms of musical expression over others.

Moreover, the very act of blending notations challenges the assumption that music must adhere to a fixed, singular language. It speaks to the inherently polyglot nature of modern artistic life, where borders between traditions, cultures, and technologies are increasingly porous. The composer, like a cultural translator, must navigate these borders, mediating between different worlds to create new forms of expression.

Macaronic Composition in Performance: A Demand for Flexibility

For performers, macaronic compositions pose unique challenges. Navigating between different notational systems requires not only technical proficiency but also a high degree of interpretive flexibility. The performer must adapt to shifting languages of instruction, often making interpretive leaps as they move between traditional notation, graphic notation, or non-Western systems.

In some cases, this might involve using entirely different playing techniques, depending on the notational system employed. A macaronic score might ask a string player to switch from conventional bowing techniques to extended techniques (like bowing on the bridge or tapping the instrument), aligning with a change from standard notation to graphic notation. Or, in the case of vocal music, a singer might be required to alternate between traditional Western intervals and microtonal ones, creating a textural and harmonic complexity that stretches their interpretive skills.

In this sense, macaronic compositions often call upon the performer to engage in a kind of musical multilingualism, where the language of the score is constantly shifting, and the performer’s role is not merely to interpret but to translate between these notational systems.

As composers continue to push the limits of notation, macaronic composition offers a powerful lens through which to explore not only the interaction of different musical languages but also the deeper cultural, historical, and political meanings embedded within those languages. The blending of musical tongues, once a playful gesture, now carries serious implications for how we understand the global, interconnected nature of musical expression in the 21st century.

"Hectoring Commentaries" For Solo Viola

"Hectoring Commentaries"

For Solo Viola

Premier Recording by Renee Baker, Esteemed Member of the AACM

"Predictive Alliterations." A Vocal Technical Exercise for Coloratura Soprano

"Flee, Like An Explosion Of Heaviness." The Full Score (PDF). For Piano, Thein Piccolo Trombone and Contraforte

The Contraforte from Benedikt Eppelsheim

"Flee, Like An Explosion Of Heaviness."  

For Piano, Thein Piccolo Trombone and Contraforte

Bil Smith Composer

The Full Score (PDF)

Commissioned by The Santander Group

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lqYq0XwE76R3U3eWUwcFFVUkU/view?usp=sharing

The score for "Flee, Like an Explosion of Heaviness" unfolds not merely as a set of musical instructions but as an experiential odyssey for the musicians—Piano, Thein Piccolo Trombone, and Contraforte—similar to the way a theatrical visionary might deconstruct the medium to reveal its core. Yet, unlike Brecht's intention to expose the mechanics of theater, this composition directs its dramatic essence into the physicality of the performers themselves.

The piece opens with an array of guidance icons, each one an invitation to interpret and explore beyond the normative expectations of notation. These symbols are imbued with an ethical potency, challenging the performers to engage with the music on a level that is both introspective and socially conscious.

This score is deconstructivist in essence, breaking down the established structures and expectations by employing a variety of techniques, the visual language of the score spans "narrative, romantic, axiometric, schematic, or completely abstract" visuals, each contributing to the overarching dialogue of the piece.

This is a composition that lives in a continuous dialectic between fact and implication, concrete performance guidance, and the suggested emotive or conceptual associations they evoke.

The musicians become akin to mendicant pilgrims, each carrying the entire weight and wonder of the theater within themselves. They navigate the score’s landscape with animistic devotion, embodying an apt analogy to the piece's compositional journey. The score's evolution is a pilgrimage across the vast terrain of human experience and artistic expression, where the performers' bodies are not merely instruments but sanctuaries of sound, housing the sacred essence of music and drama.

This embodiment of the theatrical in each performer reflects a unique compositional ethos. The performers are invited to become vessels of a drama that transcends the physical instruments in their hands. Their rigorously trained and sensitized bodies are tasked with channeling an entire edifice of musical theater, evoking a rich tableau of emotion and story through their every movement and note.

The spirit of "Flee, Like an Explosion of Heaviness" is one of nomadism and improvisation, characteristics that emerge in isolated, yet profoundly impactful moments throughout the performance. These moments spotlight the notational devices within the score, which, through their reliance on incongruity and paradox, animate the raw visual constructs with an enigmatic vitality.

As the piece progresses, these notational symbols and cues—spread whimsically across the page—spark flashes of understanding and illumination in the performers. It is within these ephemeral instances that the score breathes life, fostering a sense of living art that grows and evolves in the hands of those who interpret it.

"Flee, Like an Explosion of Heaviness," in its essence, champions a musical theater of the mind and soul, one that is carried within the performers and bestowed upon the audience not as a fixed narrative but as a journey of discovery. The score, through its visual and notational paradoxes, becomes a catalyst for this transformative process—a process where every musician is both a pilgrim and a storyteller, weaving tales not through words, but through the resonant language of music.