Topographical improvising

Topographical Improvising is an aleatoric music technique invented by young avant-garde music composer, Andrew Grathwohl. It is classification "Level II" in Grathwohl's personal music system. It lies above "Level I" (Sub-Reality Musics) and below "Level III" (Kaufman Symmetry Musics - still in development as of Q1 2007) within the system. It is described by Grathwohl as, "a humanitarian approach to structured improvisation", adding that "it is my hope that, through topographical improvising, I can combine the qualities of accessible pop music with the musical genius to be heard through structured improvisation." The technique has been praised by John Zorn, off whose work the project is based.

Conception
Grathwohl conceived topographical improvising after first experiencing a performance of John Zorn's "Cobra" piece, a structured improvisation piece based off of cues given by a conductor and the performers. Regardless of his huge appreciation for Zorn's music, Grathwohl thought that many people would feel an artistic disconnect from the performance, since the audience was "left to guess" what the cues were and what they were related to (inner thoughts, a story, et cetera). While visiting his birthplace of Manhattan in New York City, Grathwohl spent many hours in Washington Square Park, and knew immediately that this would be his location for change.

The first performance of topographical improvising appeared at Washington Square Park during the summer of 2006. It was performed by a duo comprised of a clarinetist/saxophonist and a cellist. A third special guest performer was West-African kora musician, Adama Dembele. The project was titled Broken Hearts On Ice: A Topographical Improvisation (Broken hearts on ice is the name of Grathwohl's musical project, under which all topographical improvisations will occur).

Musical Theories

Topographical improvising deals with the accessibility factor which Grathwohl says "plagues" otherwise brilliant works of improvised music. He believes that the reason why most find structured improvisation, and other aleatoric music, so difficult to appreciate, is due to the audience's lack of understanding of its musical processes. Topographical improvising, according to Grathwohl, seeks to provide a "mutual understanding" between the conductor of the piece and the audience observing the performance. Grathwohl, in an early essay regarding topographical improvising, laid out the groundwork for performing the technique:

Performance

The performance of a topographical improvisation often resembles that of other structurally-improvised pieces. The music will often vary significantly in style, theme, and texture. Improvisations can be either long and chaotic, or brief and fun. Grathwohl's topographical improvisations are well known for their odd implementations of vocals and less conventional instruments (such as electronics, laptops, bird calls, bullhorns, slide flutes, and, in one composition, a doorbell). Topographical improvisations often require a high level of concentration, so musicians may appear to be extremely focused and uninterested in stage presence. This effect is often substituted by the incorporation of other sensory presentations (either the surrounding performance environment, such as a public park, or a visual presentation along with the music).

It is Grathwohl's hope that, in the future, topographical improvising can include other performance arts (such as free-style film, opera, or dramatic plays). This can in part be accomplished by implementing topographical improvisation compositions in higher-level musical theories of Grathwohl's unique music system.

Musical System Implementation

Topographical improvisations are able to incorporate all of the aspects of the "Level I" (Sub-Reality Musics; electronic compositions involving mathematical algorithms or other systematic composition methods) system in Grathwohl's musical hierarchy. Furthermore, topographical improvisations (and, thusly, Sub-Reality musics) can be incorporated into Grathwohl's highest musical level, "Level III" (Kaufman Symmetry Musics).

The musical system which houses all of these theories is in fact able to implement all of these musics simultaneously, meaning that certain quadrants of the performance ensemble can play different pieces of music at the same time. Although, it is important to note that only one type of the "base composition level" can ever be played at one time. So, for example, if a "Level III" system is being performed as the chief composition, then it is possible to have as many "Level II" and "Level I" systems occurring simultaneously as the conductor(s) wish, but never could more than one "Level III" system occur.

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