American Music Review
Vol. XLIX, Issue 2, Spring 2020
By Dean Rosenthal
score, Unconfirmed Report
The following is the full score of my piece Unconfirmed Report, written for any number of players. This is followed by the performance notes and an example of an individual part.
Performance Notes
Unconfirmed Report (2011) is a piece for any number of players, for soloist to large ensemble. The instrumentation is open. There are any number of ways to interpret this score, and the players will arrange the parts in an order that pleases them, or leave any part out to suit the music. Perhaps there will be one or more group leaders who decide on a plan of action. For example, there can be solos, duos, trios, quartets, or other configurations made from the score or the parts. A group of musicians might decide to set a tempo of sixty-nine beats per minute, the rate of the heartbeat. A soloist may interpret any part at a given timing to reflect a familiar mapping of a line or a point or a shape he or she may have considered in a different score, or approach a graphic element in a completely fresh way, perhaps by employing a foreign technique in contrast with a conventional one, new rhythms, scales, tunings, and so forth.
In some performances, ensembles have prepared the approach as follows: they play in timed segments for a total length of their choosing (for example: six segments of four minutes each for a total length of twenty-four minutes). To start the piece, the performers pick any part, individually. At the end of the first segment, with a timer and a cue, performers will move on to another part of their choosing. They continue this process through the end of the piece. They may repeat parts, but not immediately after they have played them, and if they choose to repeat a part, they are instructed to interpret the part differently. Performers may also want to sit out one segment. Parts may be prepared in advance or improvised or both as performers see fit.
part, Unconfirmed Report
To understand how an EKG is read by a cardiologist is not necessary to a performance. A performer may wish to consult a physician to learn more about the EKG, watch a YouTube video of a heart beating, or reflect on unique medical experiences they or a family member or friend may have or have had. The composer may make himself available for interpretive decisions or consultation with a performer or group of performers or group leader.
The history behind the piece is as follows: the experience related to an EKG reading that came in the form of a panic attack I faced one afternoon at my studio. After making an appointment with a local clinic, an EKG was taken. There was nothing found to be wrong with me. I soon realized that this mediation between work and sickness, an exact graphic depiction of my cardiac health, might offer a unique opportunity to respond as a composer.
