Notation
Contemporary works
Definition
A short, concentrated instrumental piece, typically presenting a single musical idea or gesture in a highly compressed form. Boulez's Douze Notations (1945) established the term in the post-war avant-garde lexicon: each of the twelve pieces is constructed from a single twelve-tone row and its transformations, presenting a distinct character or process.
Historical Context
The Notation as a defined form is largely a creation of the post-war European avant-garde. Boulez's Douze Notations were composed as technical and expressive exercises, and later served as source material for his orchestral Notations (1978–97). The form's brevity and conceptual clarity made it a useful vehicle for exploring serial processes without the formal obligations of larger structures.