Graphical Musical Compositions

Caleb Deupree of Néojapanisme’s staff blog files a lovely report on Takemitsu Tōru, an experimental musician and composer who created his own graphical system of musical notation, beautiful designs rather than the traditional 10-bar staff familiar to traditional Western players. In one score, “Each sheet is printed in different colors and is cut from the middle of one edge to the center of the circle, so that the sheets can be overlaid to create unique configurations for each performance.” Toru worked in collaboration with designer Sugiura Kōhei collaborated with Tōru as well. More at Néojapanisme.