Game Music

Games of musical compositions in which cards, each containing a musical phrase, are put together according to special rules.

One such game, "Musikalisches Würfelspiel," was put on the market in London in 1806 and was announced as "Mozart's musical game, enclosed in an elegant box instructing in a system of easy composition by mechanical means of an unlimited number of waltzes, rondos, horn pipes, reels and minuets." Mozart had nothing to do with it, but it was still an interesting game. The players were to throw a pair of dice, and the number indicated the particular card containing a musical phrase. Because the sequence was arranged so that each card was interchangeable with other cards containing melodies in approximately the same range set in similar harmonies, there was obviously no danger of running into difficulties.

A more modern idea was suggested by the English musician William Haves in his book entitled The Art of Composing Music by a Method Entirely New, Suited to the Meanest Capacity, published in 1751. The author, with a rather crude satirical intent, explained the principle of the game: "Take a brush with stiff bristles (like a toothbrush), dip it into an inkwell, and, by scraping the bristles with the finger, spatter with one sweep a whole composition onto the staff paper. You have only to add stems, bar lines, slurs, etc., to make the opus ready for immediate performance. Whole and half-notes are entirely absent, but who cares for sustained tones anyway!"

This is indeed an anticipation of methods of composition used by the avant-garde some 200 years later! For example, using the imperfections found in a piece of paper, John Cage composed a work of music by transferring these marks to a grid. Composing by tossing dice, of course, is one of the most common of all modern techniques.

The most ambitious musical game of the modern era is Strategie by IANNIS XENAKIS, first performed at the Venice Festival in 1963. In it, two conductors lead two different orchestras in two uncoordinated works. The audience declares the winner, taking into consideration the excellence of each orchestral group, marking points on the scoreboard for most striking rhythms, best color effects, and finest instrumental solos.

Modern scores descriptive of games are numerous. ARTHUR HONEGGER wrote a symphonic movement Rugby, and ARTHUR BLISS composed a ballet entitled Checkmate. PAUL REIF selected Philidor's Defense as the title of a work for a chamber orchestra inspired by a chess game played in 1858. IGOR STRAVINSKY portrayed a poker game in his Jeu de Cartes (Card game), a "ballet in 3 deals" in which the joker is defeated by a royal flush in hearts. A more abstract score by Stravinsky, Agon, also portrays a competition. CLAUDE DEBUSSY'S ballet score Jeux (Games) depicts an allegorical game of tennis.