Eye music (often referred to in English by its exact German translation ''Augenmusik'') describes graphical features of scores which when performed are unnoticeable by the listener.

Difficulties in defining eye music

By simple definition eye music is when the graphic notation of music is altered in some meaningful way visible to the performers. Often the changed "meaning" of the altered notation is enhanced by the music having compositional elements of melody and form such as

word painting Word painting, also known as tone painting or text painting, is the musical technique of composing music that reflects the literal meaning of a song's lyrics or story elements in programmatic music. Historical development Tone painting of words ...

and

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

. Moreover, the concept is demonstrated by sometimes differing perceptions of composer, performer, and listener.Dart, Thurston. "Eye music." New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stanley Sadie, ed. London:Macmillan, 1980.

Eye music and puzzle-solving

The difficulty in definition is also apparent with border-line cryptographic

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

works such as puzzle canons, which appear in the score entirely as a bare line of notes with

clefs A clef (from French: 'key') is a Musical notation, musical symbol used to indicate which Musical note, notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff (music), stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to ...

, rests,

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

s, or

key signatures In Western culture, Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of Sharp (music), sharp (), Flat (music), flat (), or rarely, Natural (music), natural () symbols placed on the staff (music), staff at the beginning of a section of music. ...

as clues to reveal multiple lines of music in canon. (Closer to true cryptographic works would be those with

soggetto cavato Soggetto cavato () is an innovative technique of Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez that was later named by the theorist Zarlino in 1558 in his '' Le istitutioni harmoniche'' as ''soggetto cavato dalle vocali di queste parole'', or literally, a ...

, where letters are embedded in the work using their

solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, Western music. Solfège is ...

names.) As an example, a puzzle canon might be notated as one line of music with two key signatures and clefs, where the worked-out result will be a two-voice canon with one voice the retrograde (reverse) of the other. In itself the score with the clues alone is not eye music. But represent the same work "graphically spelled out," however, say with a drawing of the clued score facing a mirror, and the score/drawing becomes eye music. The ''type'' of puzzle canon is also a factor. A four-voiced circular canon, when notated as a puzzle canon, may remain an un-worked-out single line of notes, and be inadmissible as eye music. When that single line of notes is inscribed in a graphical shape it becomes eye music, even if the

puzzle remains unsolved. An even finer use of graphical conceit is when the canon does not have any musical way to end, and are in a sense "infinite"—classically referred to as ''canon perpetuus,'' more commonly as "circular canons," and even more commonly as " rounds." When an infinite (circular) canon is inscribed in a circle, and the ''circle itself'' is a clue that means "play me as a round," a different type of eye music entails.

Eye music for the performer

Another class of eye music is when the score is purposely made difficult for the performer. For example, in

Benedetto Marcello Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher. Life Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of a noble family and in his compositions he is f ...

's cantata ''Stravaganze d’amore,'' the continuo part is written entirely in

enharmonic In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written n ...

chords, that is, "puns" of chord indications spelled with no regard to the key of the rest of the ensemble, but (in

equal temperament An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, wh ...

) indistinguishable audibly from those spelled in the appropriate way. Here, the perverse spelling (whether humorous or annoying to the trained continuo player) is not unusual graphically, but represents a score writing unmotivated except as an inside joke between composer and performer, and is unhearable by the listener. The ''Gulliver Suite'' by

Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...

discussed below, shows a combination of three eye music features. The score is made difficult "unnecessarily," is eye-catching for its graphics, and has a clever external reference, all unnoticeable to the listener.

The Renaissance

Two examples of eye music from the early Renaissance are from

Baude Cordier Baude Cordier () was a French composer in the style of late medieval music. Virtually nothing is known of Cordier's life, aside from an inscription on one of his works which indicates he was born in Rheims and had a Master of Arts. Some scholar ...

(ca. 1380-ca.1440). Cordier's chanson about love ''Belle, bonne, sage'' is in a heart shape, with red notes ( coloration) indicating rhythmic alterations. Eye-music-within-eye music is in the small group of notes hanging like a locket in the upper left, also all in red and in the shape of a heart. Another work of Cordier, this time inscribed in circles, ''Tout par compas suy composés'' ("With a compass was I composed"), goes out of its way to identify itself as eye music.

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

, the most important composer of the next generation, used black note notation eye music in his well-known ''Nymphes des bois,'' a lament over the death of the composer Ockeghem, as well as another lament, this time for the composer

Jacob Obrecht Jacob Obrecht (also Hobrecht; 1457/8

, ''Absolve, quaesumus, Domine.'' It can be seen that words of death and lament are associated with black notes, a

mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

made even simpler to achieve in light of the contemporaneous simplification to white note notation. This feature of eye music would extend through the

Humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

period. Another instance of eye music in the Renaissance is apparently unique—the representation of a triangle for a canonic piece, which appears in juxtaposition with an anonymous canon written in a circle—in

Dosso Dossi Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542), was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early T ...

's ''Allegory of Music.'' (It has been suggested that both the technique of canon itself as well as its representation—the circle and the inherent symbolism of the tenets of Christianity in the triangle—also imply a "sense of the infinite.") The work represented in the triangle, is part of a "rough" version of a puzzle canon in Josquin's Agnus Dei II from his ''

Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales The ''Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales'' is the first of two settings of the Ordinary of the Mass by Josquin des Prez using the famous '' L'homme armé'' tune as their cantus firmus source material (for the other, presumed later, setting ...

'' canonic mass. It has the superscript "trinitas in un m ("three in one") as a clue to its solution, is a

mensuration canon In music, a prolation canon (also called a mensuration canon or proportional canon) is a type of canon, a musical composition wherein the main melody is accompanied by one or more imitations of that melody in other voices. Not only do the voice ...

of 3:1, and has one voice take part at the interval of a fifth, that is, 3:2. Its relation to the Christian

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

is clear, suggesting the use of a triangular representation. The representation is unique, although possibly from a copy used by Dossi.

Humanism

With the significant shift of style of composers of the

movement—the rediscovery and translation of Greek texts in the mid-16th century—eye music flourished. The change in musical practice, particularly with the madrigalists and their focus on text declamation, at a word-by-word basis, was fertile ground for eye music. Words that suggest "blackness," such as "death" or "night," receive "black" notes (e.g.

quarter note A quarter note (American) or crotchet ( ) (British) is a note (music), musical note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless ste ...

eighth note 180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest. 180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together. An eighth note (American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...

s); "white words" such as "light" or "pale" receive "white" notes (e.g.

whole note A whole note (American) or semibreve (British) in musical notation is a single note equivalent to or lasting as long as two half notes or four quarter notes. Description The whole note or semibreve has a note head in the shape of a hollow ov ...

half note ''Half Note'' is a live album by saxophonist Clifford Jordan which was recorded in 1974 and first released on the SteepleChase label in 1985.Einstein, Alfred. "Augenmusik im Madrigal." ''Zeitschrift für internationazional Musikgesellschaft,'' XIX (1912–13), pp. 8–21; partly trans. in The Italian Madrigal, transl. Krappe,

Sessions Sessions may refer to: * Sessions (surname), a surname * Sessions (clothing company), an American apparel company * Sessions Clock Company, an American clock manufacturer in the early 20th century Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Sessions' ...

, and Strunk. 3 Vol. Princeton:Princeton University Press, (1949) 1971. With the Italian madrigalists from the 1580s until the early 17th century (whose style was almost literally imported to England), eye music reached its apogee until its transformation in the 20th century.''See'' Einstein, Alfred. The Italian Madrigal, transl. Krappe,

, and Strunk. 3 Vol. Princeton:Princeton University Press, (1949) 1971.

Luca Marenzio Luca Marenzio (also Marentio; October 18, 1553 or 1554 – August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the fo ...

is considered the composer most fond of eye music. For example, in the madrigal ''Senza il mia sole'' from his ''Madrigali a quattro, cinque e sei voci'' (1588), black notes are used for "chiuser le luci" ("close their eyes") Reaction by theorists of the time was mixed. A leading musical humanist,

Vincenzo Galilei Vincenzo Galilei (born 3 April 1520, Santa Maria a Monte, Italy died 2 July 1591, Florence, Italy) was an Italian lutenist, composer, and music theorist. His children included the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei and the lute virtuoso and ...

(the father of the physicist), was opposed to it but

Zarlino Gioseffo Zarlino (31 January or 22 March 1517 – 4 February 1590) was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He made a large contribution to the theory of counterpoint as well as to musical tuning. Life and career Zarlino w ...

approved. In the 20th century,

Alfred Einstein Alfred Einstein (December 30, 1880February 13, 1952) was a German-American musicologist and music editor. He was born in Munich and fled Nazi Germany after Hitler's ''Machtergreifung'', arriving in the United States by 1939. He is best known for b ...

, a groundbreaking scholar of the Humanist madrigal, wrote that eye music is "the most extreme and (for our aesthetic convictions) most horrible testimony of naturalism, of ''imitazione,'' in the madrigal."

Baroque

's ''Gulliver Suite'' for two violins the note values in the

chaconne A chaconne (; ; es, chacona, links=no; it, ciaccona, links=no, ; earlier English: ''chacony'') is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short rep ...

are " Lilliputian", and, in the

gigue The gigue (; ) or giga () is a lively baroque dance originating from the English jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th centuryBellingham, Jane"gigue."''The Oxford Companion to Music''. Ed. Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online. 6 July 200 ...

, are "Brobdingnagian" ones. Because the Lilliputian movement is written in the bizarre

of , and the Brobdingnagian one in the equally obtuse (which is doubly humorous because gigues are generally light and brisk), the time signatures reduce to and , perfectly normal ones for each movement, as are the tempos associated with them and the type of dance of each.

20th century

Post-tonal music has seen an expansion of eye music in line with its expansion and experimentalism of musical techniques. The last examples using a rigorous scoring system rooted in standard practice are the finely turned circles and spirals (as well as a peace symbol and a crucifix) in the works of

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

Graphic notation

The beauties of many examples of graphic notation are not, in fact, a feature of eye music. As novel and attractive as the graphics may be in these scores, they function entirely as performance indications or true records of compositional method (such as the Steiner score shown here). Also often seen are graphical or

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

works that use the symbols of music notation but are not performing scores at all, such as

Erwin Schulhoff Erwin Schulhoff ( cs, Ervín Šulhov; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the N ...

's 1919 ''In futurum (Zeitmaß-zeitlos)''Third movement of and

Cornelius Cardew Cornelius Cardew (7 May 193613 December 1981) was an English experimental music composer, and founder (with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons) of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected experimental music, ...

Treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye Music Musical notation