Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)"Notations21" is gorgeous, and worth the wait. It was announced in early 2008, and I had ordered a copy through Amazon in May 2008 and it arrived today (May 9, 2009) -- almost exactly 40 years after John Cage's legendary "Notations" collection, which has been on my shelf since then.
The design of "Notations21" is spectacular ... subtle, lovely, comprehensive, with a wonderful feel, in full color and full-size. Each page is full of ideas from scores and essays through the design of the page itself. (The word "full" keeps coming to mind.)
The Moller/Shim/Stabler "SoundVisions" (published in 2005 and quickly out of print) was an attempt to fill the years since Cage's "Notations", and kept to the square, monochrome format. I was pleased to discover "SoundVisions", but "Notations21" is a very special book, taking advantage of both the technology and the expectations that have changed since 1969.
With 165 composers represented, "Notations21" is at last a worthy and thorough successor to "Notations".
(Disclaimer: I am one of the composers in this book. But whether I had been selected or not, I would still feel this book is remarkable.)
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Drawing inspiration from John Cage's Notations, Notations 21 features illustrated musical scores from more than 100 international composers, all of whom are making amazing breakthroughs in the art of notation. These spectacularly beautiful and fascinatingly creative visual pieces make not only for exciting music, but for inspiring visual art as well. The scores are accompanied by written contributions from the artists that explore every facet of their creative processes, from inspiration to execution. Contributors include the likes of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Earle Brown, Halim El-Dabh, Joan La Barbara, and Yuji Takahashi, as well as emerging composers whose compositions are visually astounding and important. In the spirit of honoring the 40th anniversary of Cage's seminal book, while furthering it in a 21st century context, a portion of the sales will be donated to the Foundation for Contemporary Performing Arts.
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