Yasunao Tone

Topic: Yasunao Tone

Student name: Chan Yik Fei

Student ID: 60169927

https://www.youtube.com/live/T7r0kx8aUKc?si=nR75sgFNt7nB9sm5  The performance "Anagram"

This week, let’s explore Yasunao Tone. He is born in Japan and was part of the early noise music collective Group Ongaku, as well as being associated with Neo-Dada organisers. Hence, safe to say that Yasunao was no stranger to opposing commercial arts and elitism. Yasunao was most recognised for his work in Fluxus, which is also a rebellion to the commercialised, conventional and elitism of art.


In the performance “Anagram”, the musicians plays the score “Anagram for Strings” by Yasunao. The score itself does not follow the usual five rows of straight lines with music notations strung on it. Instead, it’s more like a constellation chart or map, with dots either filled or hollow, big and small, scattered on it. In addition, there are some numbers on the left and top of the paper, resembling an excel sheet. Befitting of the name “Anagram”, which itself means a word or phrase existing via the rearrangement of letters from another word or phrase. I do think the “Anagram for Strings” does look like music notations being redistributed all over the page.


This unconventional score leaves how to interpret the music up to its readers, as its instructions are vague and open ended. It’s just each symbol means a certain duration of glissando or glide from one pitch to another. Making each piece that’s played out unique, while the often screeching and undesirable sounds challenges the conventional music.


To me, the “Anagram for Strings”  perfectly represents how Fluxus rebel against the norm and commercialisation of art. Here, every iteration of the anagram is different, the music score has no clear definition. Therefore, this makes “Anagram” and every time someone plays “Anagram for Strings” completely unique, yet un-purchasable and difficult to copyright or “own” it in any sense. The only thing that can be commercialised is the “Anagram for Strings” itself. Not to mention, almost all versions played out should be at least a little ear grating like the performance “Anagram”, therefore it makes you rethink what defines music? What separates sound, music and noise? I think, “Anagram” is a wonderful piece that pushes the boundaries of conventional music.

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