Embodied music

The notion of gestural notation refers to those semiographic systems that encode physical action as a primary musical parameter, foregrounding the performer’s embodied engagement with the instrument. This approach responded to the growing exploration of extended techniques and experimental art practices that exceeded the descriptive capacity of
traditional notation.

Mario Bertoncini’s artistic research originates in the exploration of unconventional physical interactions with the piano, transforming the instrument into a resonant field of spatial actions. He expanded the concept of prepared piano as it was intended by John Cage: his preparations included nylon cords knotted between the lid and the strings, DC motors and many other self-made artifacts. In his works, gesture is not merely a means of sound production but becomes the primary carrier of a musical thought.

The graphic layout of Bertoncini’s scores reveals how embodied experimentation is translated into visual form. In works like Cifre or Suite “colori” the concept of composition itself is questioned: composing, in a post-serial point of view, doesn’t imply anymore a process of structurization of pre-determined materials but, rather, it means shaping an innovative gesture.

By examining the relationship between this experimental approach and Bertoncini’s usage of the magnetic tape as a type of fixed media, this paper wants to present my own ongoing research project as both a pianist and a composer on “piano-transduced feedback”.

Moreover, this paper frames gestural notation as an example of an experimental artistic practice that foregrounds minoritized and potentially endangered forms of knowledge transmission.
In an era of increasing digital uniformity, his work asserts the centrality of corporeality and material interaction. Gesture emerges as both a symbolic and practical device: a trace of research, a tool of resistance, and a medium through which musical knowledge is enacted, preserved,