Gestural modelling and compositional constraints: the Articulation of Accident as Creative Method

A discussion of physical constraint processes and multi-planar movement schemata in two recent works. Both works—Second String Quartet (2010) and A painter of figures in rooms (2012)—employ a newly developed multi-colour tablature notation that allows for unusual and often unpredictable combinations of sound-producing actions. In particular, the talk investigates the crucial role that restriction plays in creativity and the relationship between accident and invention.