Music Without Scores

Abstract

A score is to a symphony as a formula is to a rotation; it has all of the instructions, but it does not contain any gestures within itself. If the formula is essential to a rotation, then one may also conclude that the score is critical to a symphony. This leads us to ask, can music exist without the score? The answer is yes. Given that real music is derived from gestures, then we must study the gestures that inherently exist. If we can understand gestures without a score, we can only better understand gestures that are accompanied by a score. However, in the score’s existence, there is no action or progression of time. Such is the belief of many musicians trained both classically and in jazz. In this chapter, we will examine the works of free-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor and the works of robots.