Notating Beauty That Moves

Listen with your eyes

 

不懂看樂譜,解讀不了當中的符號,早年收到過藝術家楊嘉輝的樂譜影印本,卻驀地被樂譜吸引。在豆豉與豆䜴之間,有著各種跳躍不定的線與圖案,眼睛滑過時,彷彿看到了他站在指揮台上揮動的手,以及表演者舞動的琴弓。琴譜並不是等待被破解的暗號列表,同樣也是牽動人情緒起伏的抽象畫。

楊嘉輝最近與策展人楊陽合作,替香港小交響樂團策劃了Notating Beauty That Moves活動。在活動的展覽部份,將展出包括了John Cage及Igor Stravinsky等多位音樂家的樂譜手稿。「在現代音樂中,圖像記譜是一個較新的領域,普遍被認為出現於戰後,當時,一眾前衛藝術家認為傳統的樂譜系統中有太多僵化了的規矩,限制了音樂的發展,因而提倡這種以圖像記譜的方法。」楊嘉輝在活動的小冊中解釋說。在圖像記譜之中,樂譜突破了紀錄數據的角色,成為了描繪作曲家情緒、喜樂、表演者台上動靜的畫像。

Notating Beauty That Moves除了樂譜外,還展出一系列能勾起觀眾對音樂的想像的畫作、影像、攝影等。另外,也將舉行多場音樂表演,將樂譜解讀後再現。

活動日期:即日至3月29日
地點:香港太古坊ARTIS TREE

Having no understanding of how to read sheet music, I was surprisingly drawn to the photocopy of music score by Samson Young Kar-fai. The little tadpoles are connected by jumpy lines and patterns, as if they are the hands of the conductor and the bows of the performers on stage. Music notations are not merely signs that are waiting to be decoded, but at the same time an abstract painting that can provoke emotion.

Samson Young Kar-fai recently collaborated with the curator Yang Yeung in curating an event for the Hong Kong Sinfonietta named Notating Beauty That Moves. It showcases music manuscripts by renowned composers including John Cage and Igor Stravinsky. In the event brochure, Samson wrote, “Graphical Notating is a comparatively young field in the world of contemporary music. It was generally known to first appear in the post-war time, when the avant-garde artists believed the traditional sheet music had too many rigid rules that restricted music from developing; they, therefore, introduced a graphical system to musical notation.” The system of graphical notating allows sheet music to break through the boundary of being a pure record of factual data; it has the capacity to also depict the emotion of the composers and to imagine the motion of the performers on stage.

Apart from music manuscript, Notating Beauty That Moves also exhibits a series of drawings, moving images and photography that can stimulate audience’s imagination on music. The event as well features performances that interpret and represent the music scores.

Date: 3 – 29 March 2018
Venue: ArtisTree, Taikoo Place

 

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