Article Published by Nanhua University “Journal of Arts and Design” 南華大學「藝術與設計期刊」發表學術論文（Summer 2021）

My recent article on rhythmic notation has been published in Nanhua University’s “Journal of Arts and Design”.  Owing to its distribution being very limited, I’ve shared the paper below.  For non-Mandarin readers, here is the English abstract:

This paper considers practical and ideographic aspects of various notations of rhythms using non-power-of-two divisions of the whole note (simply called “tuplets” in this article).  The article takes an analysis of two short passages from Scriabin’s Tenth Piano Sonata as the starting point for a reflection on the necessity for notation to be “as simple as possible”, and for the evaluation of both literal and ideographic aspects of notations.  The article then elaborates the general tenets and conventions surrounding the notation of tuplets, including additive fractional duration and nested tuplets.  The author proposes certain “solutions” or “simplifications” of certain tuplet notations, and evaluates the pros and cons of both the original and the renotation.  Discussion of the aesthetic aspect of such notations draws upon examples from Michael Finnissy’s piano music, as well as personal communications between the author and the composer regarding the ideographic aspect of notation (comparing, to use Finnissy’s own formulation, the abstract-theoretical and pragmatic-empathetic aspects of notation). 

Keywords: Rhythmic notation, non-power-of-two divisions of the whole note, additive fractional duration, nested tuplets, Scriabin, Finnissy.