The Aesthetic of Impermanence: A Performer's Perspective of Four Systems and Tracer

Abstract

This text offers a side-by-side examination of Four Systems and Tracer from the performer's perspective. After a brief overview in which the influence of Alexander Calder's work upon Brown's compositional style is examined, the article provides a detailed description of the author's ensemble's approach to these two scores. There is also a consideration of how Brown's use of spontaneity in performance helped to free music from its historical context, paving the way toward the eclectic music world of the early twenty-first century.

Keywords:

• Aesthetic
• Earle Brown
• Calder
• Form
• Four Systems
• Graphic
• Impermanence
• Notation
• Open
• Tracer