The research project Infinizio within the LABO XIX&XX research group of the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp is led by composer Diederik Glorieux, who worked closely with Wim Henderickx as his assistant for nearly twenty years. The project investigates how Henderickx’s work can be sustainably documented, made accessible and performed.
A central question of the research is how compositions in which the score does not fully define all musical parameters can be made accessible to performers. In several works by Henderickx, including Colors (2014), Revelations (2016), the wind orchestra version of Missa Brevis (2017) and Infinizio (2017), traditional musical notation is expanded with elements that allow room for interpretation and improvisation. Within this form of controlled aleatoric practice, a balance emerges between freedom and structure: performers are given space for personal choices, while working within a clearly defined artistic framework.
This compositional approach creates specific challenges, not only for notation but also for performance. Additional information is often needed to understand and transmit the composer’s musical intentions. Building on his long collaboration with Henderickx, Diederik Glorieux aims to further document this knowledge and develop practical tools for both professional musicians and other performers.
The composition Infinizio (2017) forms the central case study of the project. Originally written for piano, the work has a flexible structure and consists of different musical ideas and textures, making it suitable for interpretation by other instruments, ensembles and voices. Together with Henderickx, Glorieux explored how a graphic representation of the score could create new possibilities for performance, including for children and people without traditional music-reading skills.
Through Infinizio, the project investigates how a traditional score can be transformed into a graphic score or a score containing graphic elements. This new form of notation aims to clarify the musical structure and broaden access to the work. The results are tested through a series of performances involving different types of performers, ranging from young musicians to professional artists.
The project contributes to a broader understanding of notation and performance, in which scores are not only considered fixed end products, but also invitations for interpretation, dialogue and new musical experiences.