"Pillars Asymmetrica" for Schilke E3L-4 4 Valve E Flat Trumpet (Link to PDF Score)

"Pillars Asymmetrica"

for Schilke E3L-4 4 Valve E Flat Trumpet

Bil Smith Composer

Link to Full Score PDF

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b-ZAjkduiAD5ZQM8wSf-t8xKK570Uil0/view?usp=sharing

 

Trevor Extruder for Flute (A Multimodal Tablature System)

 "Trevor Extruder" for Flute (A Multimodal Tablature System) 

Bil Smith Composer

Published by LNM Editions

WORK II

 

WORK

 

"Dying Lords" for Alto Flute and Flugelhorn. The Complete Score

"Dying Lords" 

For Alto Flute and Flugelhorn.  

The Complete Score

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lqYq0XwE76Zy02UFFZdFFpbDA/view?usp=sharinghttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lqYq0XwE76Zy02UFFZdFFpbDA/view?usp=sharing

Commissioned by Alitalia

Premiere: Modena, Italy, September

"Dying Lords" Cover on Magnetic Silver Translucent Photofilm.  

Analysis by David Batstone.

In approaching the score for "Dying Lords"—a composition for alto flute and flugelhorn—the Impedium notational system invites us into a world of compounded presumption and bold experimentation. This score does not simply lay down a roadmap for sound; it engages in a philosophical dialogue with tradition and innovation in musical notation, pushing boundaries in ways that challenge our understanding of structure, interpretation, and agency within music.

The Impedium system is described as containing a “compounded tacrographic system,” and indeed, one feels the palpable tension between order and freedom in the notation. Tacrography, here, suggests a kind of disciplined notational shorthand, but with compounded layers, each element resists simplification. This is a notation system that reflects an institutional jurisdiction—a framework that both delineates authority over the musical material and subtly rebels against it.

Reckless Presumption and the Notation of Variability

The score’s notation exercises a reckless presumption that is almost defiant. What does it mean for a composer to presume recklessly? In the case of “Dying Lords,” it reflects a bold confidence in the capacity of variability itself. The notation suggests that the performers are not mere interpreters of static symbols, but rather co-creators whose interpretative instincts are brought to the forefront. The compounded layers of tacrographic notation do not prescribe a single, definitive path; rather, they offer a matrix of choices, a lattice through which the performer’s agency is invited to interact with the composer’s framework.

This notion of variability is not about randomness but about contingency. Each notational layer introduces potential shifts and alterations in rhythm, pitch, or timbre, acknowledging the fluid nature of sound and interpretation. Here, variability becomes a central element—not an accessory or afterthought, but a core principle embedded within the score’s very structure. In doing so, "Dying Lords" rejects the notion of a fixed musical truth in favor of a truth that is continually reinvented.

Institutional Jurisdiction and Stewardship Protocols

The term “institutional jurisdiction” applied to a musical score may seem paradoxical. What institution is being referenced here? In this context, it seems to point towards the jurisdiction of tradition and form in musical composition—a framework that gives structure but also places constraints on creation. The “stewardship protocols” embedded in the score imply a kind of guardianship over these notational elements, suggesting that certain boundaries are in place to maintain coherence. Yet, these boundaries do not exist to limit creativity but to preserve the integrity of the composition as an evolving entity.

The notion of stewardship also hints at a responsibility given to the performer. By engaging with the Impedium system, the performer is entrusted with maintaining a balance between the intended form and the inherent variability of the score. It is a responsibility that does not bind but liberates, allowing the performer to act as both custodian and innovator.

Preventing the Notation from Being Fabricated Anew

An intriguing aspect of the Impedium system is its refusal to allow the notation to be “fabricated anew.” In essence, the score resists complete reinvention. There is an underlying respect for continuity and stability within the work; each performance may differ, but it must remain within certain notational parameters that protect the identity of the piece. The notation is thus a living document, dynamic in its interpretive potential yet anchored in its fidelity to the composer’s vision.

In philosophical terms, this resistance to fabrication anew might be seen as an insistence on authenticity and integrity. The composer has not only left room for variability but has done so within a system that upholds the piece’s core identity. The composition does not permit a free-for-all re-imagining; rather, it allows for an interpretative flexibility that stays true to the foundational spirit of the work.

Eclecticism as a Method and a Philosophy

The eclectic nature of the score for “Dying Lords” is not a mere stylistic choice but a philosophical stance. By combining elements of various notational traditions within the Impedium system, the composer acknowledges the complexity of human experience and the multifaceted nature of expression. This eclectic approach challenges the performer to move between different modes of understanding, requiring them to engage with the score in an intellectually and emotionally dynamic way.

The compounded layers of tacrographic notation reflect a willingness to embrace complexity, even when it borders on the chaotic. It is as though the score is saying, “Life is not neat, so why should music be?” There is a resilience in this approach, a faith that beauty and coherence can emerge from disorder, that meaning can be forged through the process of interpretation.

In “Dying Lords,” we find a score that is at once institutional and subversive, structured and free, disciplined and wild. The Impedium system’s compounded tacrography is an invitation to reimagine the relationship between composer and performer, between notation and sound, between order and chaos. It is a work that asks us to confront our assumptions about musical authority and to embrace a more participatory, communal vision of music-making.

The notational eclecticism of “Dying Lords” ultimately invites performers into a dialogue with the unknown, challenging them to engage with contingency, to find coherence in multiplicity, and to honor a form that respects both tradition and transformation. In this way, “Dying Lords” stands as a testament to the power of music to be both grounded and transcendent, rooted in the present yet reaching toward possibilities that are continually unfolding.

"Detlin's Baby"...for Bass Flute and Celeste. Bil Smith Composer

"Detlin's Baby"...for Bass Flute and Celeste. An Ideographic, hand drawn score utilizing deconstructionist fundamentals.

"If we interpret erasure as graffiti, the erasure is an 'enigmatic surplus' to the original drawing. Although it could also be seen as an attempt to re-clean the background, to move it towards the blank sheet which is more 'suitable for performance interpretation'. However, the thought it prepares the way for is inevitably polluted by the traces of the background that is never successfully cleaned. 

The erasure moves the background into a state which is more suitable to a musical realization, but only an interpretation in relation to itself. This can be seen as an extension of my earlier argument that the erasure invites a departure that is founded on the original compositional drawing."

Paul Crowther writes:

"...to Deconstruct history or texts in the style of Derrida or Foucault is to make evident that play of difference - that ungraspable network of relations, which sustains but is concealed by claims to self-presence. It is, in other words, to offer an insight into, or partial presentation of, a totality which as a totality is unpresentable. This, as Derrida remarks, "gives great pleasure" (Crowther in Papadakis (ed.), 1989, p.99)

Preview of New Commissioned Compositions for 2023: Works in Progress for Solo Flute

 

Preview of new score for solo Flute inspired by Piero Manzoni, Fortunato Depero, Aldo Tambellini, Mimmo Rotella and the Arte Povera movement.  This tablature was born from a need for separation from the traditional.  This notation in no way relates to aesthetic fantasies or a quest for fashionable effects, but concern compositional facts that imply an entirely new kind of musical interpretation.

In this work as many of my compositions, the way the visual elements act upon each other is like a molecular process that combines images of transformations that occur in the real world: images of mathematical or logical transformations; multiplication of visual representations, affiliations between pairs of divergent materials; existence and absence of materials and of tactile adaptations.

I do not suggest that the art of composition is really a science of measurement and precision. I do think that any work demands precision of judgment.   It is precision that informs both the performer and the listener.