A TRUE RENAISSANCE MAN

The visions of R Murray Schafer
by GORDON RUMSON

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For Schafer the visual aspect of the scores is of two essential kinds: first, the representation of sound events that otherwise could not be notated conventionally. Second, the use of decorative images not strictly related to the musical expression, though clearly intended to interact with the performer and the interpretation.

Conventional notation is flexible enough for certain practices and Schafer's scores are elegant and refined.

Example 1: Beauty and the Beast [Opera for solo voice, masks and string quartet], libretto and music by R. Murray Schafer, after Madame Leprince de Beaumont, French version by Gabriel Charpentier (Indian River, Ontario: Arcana Editions,1983), page 33. Reproduced here with permission.

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