Friday, August 27, 2021

Unplayable, Playable Composition: Disruptive Ideation





During a lecture last week, I challenged the notion of creating the unplayable work. This is not new...consider Cage's Freeman Etudes. 


Cage, himself thought the work to be unplayable. I participated in Irvine Arditti's morning sessions at Darmstadt in 2012 at the Orangerie and his performance of the etudes that evening in concert.

When we consider the concept of a work being "unplayable"  we may take it a step further; what if the instrument as we know it today, is not physically capable of execution.

Herein lies the opportunity to define an ideated system of change.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

"Flaunted Mirror: A Rematch" for Piccolo Saxophone (Soprillo)



"Flaunted Mirror: A Rematch" 

for Piccolo Saxophone (Soprillo)

Bil Smith Composer

2016-2017

A Commission from Natixis

Published by LNM Editions


Friday, August 6, 2021

Instrumental Reasoning Can Be Explained ...Bow, Arch, Strings, Resin, Pain.



Reasons-motives internalism is the appealingly boring view that unless an agent is, or could be, inspired to act in a certain way, he has no normative reason to act in that way. 

Thus, according to reasons-motives internalism, facts about an individual’s motivational psychology constrain what is rational for that agent to do what? 



Here, the agent is a bassist; a violinist; a vibraphonist constructing and delivering a most persuasive argument against external reasons proceeding through a rationalist restriction.

Instrumental reasoning can be explained — either in terms of it being constitutive of the very notion of having an end, or solely in terms of instrumental considerations. Improvisation, perspectivisation and elementary birthing… Twice…and probably not enough.


At least since the middle of the twentieth century, philosophers have tended to identify weakness of will with akrasia—i.e. acting, or having a disposition to act, contrary to one’s judgments about what is best for one to do. However, there has been some recent debate about whether this captures the ordinary notion of weakness of will.

This page of the score from Violin II is to shed light on what in the world the concept of weakness of will is. Is there an ordinary notion here?

If so, is it disjunctive and how will it be interpreted? 

Violin II resolution-violation are indeed among these features.  However, neither is sufficient on its own for an ascription of weakness of will; and other features also play a role, such as the moral valence of the action. 

Bow, arch, strings, resin, pain.