Graphème - a publication for experimental musical scores - Vol 5

As with previous editions of Grapheme, you will find within a range of approaches and interests, drawing on text and instruction, diagrams, geometry, textures, colours, shades and shapes and a collections of hard to define offerings in this exciting interpretive and collaborative field.

The artists represented showcase a diversity of creative imagination, offering rich and varied methods of working—some very specific with well-defined goals, others less so, choosing to present more ambiguous settings within which to interpret material in a personal and intuitive way. As such, some composers decide to provide detailed instructions and procedures—systems with which to process information and data, to interpret words and symbols into actions and results, following mapped out routes. Others present a more ambiguous and intuitive approach, inviting a kind of guided creativity, deciphering puzzles and enigmatic clues, encouraging a personal response to subtle shadings, both literally and metaphorically.

In all, within these pages, there is a reimagining and repurposing of traditional score-making, utilising new and old technology to pursue and produce inventive unconventional outcomes. One thing all these pieces share is a fascination and curiosity with inventive strategies with which to make music, coordinate actions and interpret ideas.

We would like to emphasise, as we have done in our earlier editions, that the pieces here are presented to you in the hope that they will be explored and performed—deciphered and investigated—offering performers, interpreters and listeners alike the opportunity to engage with, and gain insight into new and sometimes challenging ideas about music making and performance.  

smallest functional unit was founded in 2020 by Tony Buck, Mazen Kerbaj, Magda Mayas, Ute Wassermann and Racha Gharbieh with the aim of performing and publishing unconventional, hybrid notational formats and graphic scores by international composers. The publication will appear as Graphème, a series with a thematic focus.