Tom Johnson, Chords; counting system on 6 sheets, undated ca. 1985

Black marker notation on green graph paper, 30 x 42 cm. The sheets include: Two-Note Chord, Three-Note Chord, Five-Note Chord, Seven-Note Chord, Nine-Note Chord, and Ten-Note Chord. All sheets have some remnants of glue on corners of verso, some bleeding through as yellow stains on recto.

Tom Johnson (1939) is considered a minimalist composer, often using formulas, permutations, and predictable sequences. In 1985 Johnson presented The Chord Catalogue at the Apollohuis, a musical listing of all the 8178 chords possible in one octave, of which this work is an example. The works derive from the private collection of Paul and Helene Panhuysen, who ran the Apollohuis in Eindhoven (NL), a space for experimental music and art. Johnson performed there in 1984 and 1985. In 1989 the Apollohuis published Johnson's 'The Voice of New Music', an anthology of articles on the evolution of minimal music in New York in 1972-1982, originally written for the Village Voice.