Graphic music scores - in pictures

In 1966, Cathy Berberian composed her first musical work, Stripsody for solo voice. Stripsody is an exploration of the onomatopoeic sounds of comic strips illustrated by Roberto Zamarin, which are used to convey a succession of engaging vignettes. The work represented a radically new paradigm of new musical composition during the 1960's. Watch her perform it. Photograph: sounduk

Cathy Berberian's Stripsody score Photograph: sounduk

Written in 1991, Tom Phillips' Six of Hearts represents an artist's fusion of the visual and sonic world. The resulting six pieces are a contemporary manifestation of ornamented medieval illustrated manuscripts, captivating to explore as visual art and composition. Six of Hearts is constructed by using pages from Phillips's A Heart of a Humument, playing cards designed by Phillips, and the songs themselves. Photograph: sounduk

Tom Phillips, Ornamentik score. More about the work, and audio of it, here. Photograph: sounduk

Cornelius Cardew's Treatise is an impressive 193 pages of graphical notation composed between 1963-67. The instructions for the ensemble note that Treatise is "for any number of musicians with any instruments, [and] may be performed in whole or in part." Inspired by political and philosophical beliefs, Cardew suggested that although the work allows for free interpretation, there should be a pre-emptive collaborative meeting before performance. Photograph: sounduk

Cardew, Treatise (1963-67) Photograph: sounduk

George Crumb's The Magic Circle of Infinity. Written in 1973, George Crumb's Makrocosmos is the exploration of a piano's seemingly infinite sounding possibilities. The Magic Circle of Infinity which completes the second part of Makrocosmos' first volume, recalls the instrument's boundless sound opportunities in its title and circular shape. Listen to a performance of volume I. Photograph: sounduk

Wadada Leo Smith's Luminous Axis for trumpet and electronics is, in the composer's words: "an Electronic Sonic Garden of Delights and Transformations." Smith has pioneered the creation of a new world music sound since the 1960s, and his adventurous use of electronics in Luminous Axis partners with trumpet in ways that truly are transformative. Watch Smith talking about his music in this 2007 clip. Photograph: sounduk

Composed on a white T shirt, Jennifer Walshe's THIS IS WHY PEOPLE O.D. ON PILLS/AND JUMP FROM THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE (2004) has the blaring block text and dense wording of a feature news article. Different instructions are given for solo performers and groups; in any case, a performer follows a "path" with directives related to skateboarding. Photograph: sounduk

Ligeti's 1958 Artikulation was one of his only two experimental electronics compositions. Two decades later, Rainer Wehinger created a visual listening score for the work; watch an animation of it here. Photograph: sounduk

Ligeti, Artikulation score Photograph: sounduk

Fred Frith, Bricks for Six score. Frith's 1992 album Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire comprised a series of performances from graphic scores that were photographs of inanimate objects, including stone pavings, brick walls, windows, stacks of logs and high-tension wires. Each photograph had instructions explaining to the musicians how to interpret the patterns in the image. More information here Photograph: sounduk