 Score or Art Object? Björk’s 34 Scores for Piano, Organ, Harpsichord and Celeste (2017) 
This article examines Björk’s 34 Scores for Piano, Organ, Harpsichord and Celeste (2017). It investigates the role of this songbook in the singer’s career and highlights three intriguing characteristics. The first is its role in legitimising Björk as an art musician, rather than a mere pop icon. The second is its ambiguous status: on the one hand, as a functional object (a score meant to be performed); on the other hand, as a work of art (a beautiful art book to be contemplated for itself). The third is the nature of the arrangements made by Björk and Icelandic composer Jónas Sen: they imply a great deal of composition, rather than adaptation of musical features to new instrumentation. These three characteristics converge and epitomize Björk’s will to achieve a real crossover between popular music and art music. The 34 Scores thus help define her singular place and role in the history of music during the first two decades of the 21st century.