[pics] Musical Score: Can It Be Played?

[6Foot2]

I do not have any musical ability that I know of (untested in all departments except voice and that is bad)

 

I certainly cannot read music but I have seen other musical scores and this one looks chaotic:

 

http://www.findmyed.com/files/deathwaltza.jpg

 

So my question here is can this be played/has it been played?

 

Thanks.

[tech_guy]

Hang on, I'll have a go on my ukulele....

[skell]

Not by a human

 

YouTube - john stump - death waltz

[tech_guy]

My fingers and other appendages are bleeding but I did it....

[AngryTechnician]

I love the annotations on the score, which start off bizarre and get more ridiculous as they go on. Some of my favourites:

 

• "insert peanuts"
  
• "light explosives now... and... ... now"
  
• "slap thigh"
  
• "Play ball!"
  
• "release the penguins"
  
• "remove cattle from stage"
  
• "rests are imaginary"
  
• "balance your chair on 2 legs"
  

[Mr.Ben]

I like 'Moon walk' and 'Whole arm on black notes'

[jedmondson]

"release the penguins"

"remove cattle from stage"

[witch]

Apparently it was a collaborative effort - but this lot had a go..

YouTube - "Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz" presented by CSMTA

[theriver]

It looks like a spoof, it is to notation what Stanley Unwin is to English. All the bits are real, but you'd never put them down like that. The scoring breaks a lot of rules - easy example, the first bar should be four beats but there's more than that in it. Plus, clearly it's taking the p, a lot. In fact, you could say it's taking the ppp.*

 

 

Notation is like writing, it's set of rules that govern the noises you make. The fact that the letter A makes an 'a' sound is just a convention, and in the same way it's just convention that a circle with a hole in the middle is worth a count of four beats. over the years people have developed alternative ways of writing music down (check out Graphic notation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for an example), and given that the score here is 'wrong' from a technical point of view you have to treat it more like a graphic score, which is more like a statement of intent rather than a clear and unambiguous set of instructions on how the tune should sound. And that's pretty much how Witch's Youtube choir have performed it.

 

 

* Did that work? I'll get my coat.

[witch]

in other words - like a lot of very modern music - atonal carp AFAIC

But then again, what do I know? I don't even like Benjamin Britten much!

[jedmondson]

[sister_annex]

Hang on, I'll have a go on my ukulele....

 

Did you tune up as instructed at the end of bar 2??

 

Plus, clearly it's taking the p, a lot. In fact, you could say it's taking the ppp.*

 

* Did that work? I'll get my coat.

 

Only for those who know about music lol

 

It looks like someone did a really bad cut and paste job from some of the worst written music in history and a really bad joke book...

[witch]

Only for those who know about music lol

 

FF (F)

Edited February 27, 2011 by witch

[sister_annex]

Just noticed the ICT mention towards the end of the piece