Artist’s Corner – Kevin Baldwin: Composition No. 2

In visual art, there is most often a directness of communication to the audience. The painter creates a work, and the audience views the work. By contrast, the composer writes the score, and the audience hears that interpretation. Because the focus is on creating sound, the physical work that I, the composer, create is viewed as a tool to produce art. but I always wondered, why can’t the score be the work? Why can’t the intricate and detailed notations be appreciated for their visual properties? Why can’t the score be notated purely for notation’s sake? As a composer, a saxophonist, and a visual artist, my love and distain for the score acts as the catalyst to my Composition series.