Welcome to the second instalment of Graphème, a publication for experimental and graphic music scores. As in the first edition, we find new ways to talk about organised sound and creative solutions to artistic questions and endeavours. In publishing a work like this, we hope to offer an alternative outlet for composers and performers to express, explore and publish their ideas in a direct and concrete way that bypasses the traditional and often outmoded options available to them in the mainstream music publishing world.
Since launching the first Graphème edition in the autumn of 2021 we have received an overwhelming response, great reviews and seen copies distributed around the globe. We held a launch concert where six of the compositions were played and have learned that several of the edition’s scores have been performed and studied by others. Musicians are composing in this manner and the audience, including performers and a curious public, are fascinated by experimental and unusual approaches to the practical expression and dissemination of these ideas.
Here in the second edition we present twelve compositions from another set of varied and distinguished artists. These artists share a passionate interest in finding and expressing a personal language and vision beyond the standard systems of western notation, and represent the wide creative spectrum that makes up innovative new music composition today. The twelve pieces explore notions of the score as a result of interdisciplinary collaboration, architectural systems as inspiration, instrument building as composition, printing and materiality as sources for interpretation and performative practice, as well as investigations of personal vocabulary and shared histories. Many of the scores in this edition are graphically beautiful and intriguing, and hold their own as works of visual art.
The heart of our endeavor in publishing these scores and to have them reach a wide audience, is to see that this music, and these ideas and procedures are performed. Graphème is fundamentally a practical collection of pieces to be played. We hope that performers feel free to work on versions of these compositions and find ways to realise them.
We invite you to dive in, explore and experience the ideas and creations of some of our most adventurous, curious, imaginative and inventive composers.