Music References

[horndude77]

Elain Gould's Behind Bars (http://www.behindbarsnotation.co.uk/) is an incredible reference for music notation and typesetting. I couldn't find a great quote, but this is from the introduction:

The mainstay of Behind Bars is to examine the complex set of rules based on unique or shared conditions. Effective communication results from establishing a convention and adopting a consistent approach. Where appropriate I have presented the rationale for certain conventions and rules, to make such conventions more memorable. Where new technical or compositional demands require new notation, I have proposed conventions that are simple, clear and, where possible, in keeping with traditional practice. Where conventions are not established, I have made my own recommendations. Not everyone will be in agreement with my conclusions, but they are based on my many years of working with composers and performers. My aim is to raise awareness of the many subtle and complex issues to be considered, and provide the tools to address them.

Gardner Read's Music Notation (http://www.composergardnerread.org/books/) is older (1979), but it feels less technical and more opinionated. It includes a brief introduction to the history and development of musical notation.

A musical score, then, is rather like an instruction manual—comparable perhaps to the playwright's script awaiting its actors or to an architect's blueprint awaiting a builder. A score can truly come to life only through the performer; its message can be translated only when symbols on the printed page are adequate for intelligent transformation into living musical reality.

Music notation is the visual manifestation of the interrelated properties of music sound—pitch, intensity, time, timbre, and pace. Symbols indicating the choice of tones, their duration, and their manner of performance form the written language we call music notation.

Most other information gets much more specific about details related to music notation. These (or parts) might be a start. Did you have anything specific you were look for in music notation quotes?

[kai-qu]

Sorry for the delay! Thanks for the sources and the quotes, which look great. I'm interested in the relationship between notation and orality, specific things that specific notations enabled people to do more easily, and dimensions of notation (as noted above: "pitch, intensity, time, timbre, pace" and how they're represented).

I was looking at "From Neumes to Notes" (http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=musicalofferings), which has some interesting quotes:

The invention of staff notation expanded the possibilities of music, but it did not eliminate the use of oral tradition. Anna Maria Busse Berger states, “The invention of writing does not automatically put an end to memorization. Quite the opposite, writing is normally used at first as a mnemonic tool. Thus, we should no longer assume that the invention of the staff…which made possible unambiguous pitch notation eliminated or reduced performance from memory.”20 She asserts that even after the creation of the staff, orality was the chosen method of learning music. Notation served as an aide by reminding singers of chants that they already memorized. As the specificity of music notation increased, it did not radically replace the use of oral tradition. Instead, orality and music notation continued in complementary roles.

...

The invention of staff notation expanded the possibilities of music, but it did not eliminate the use of oral tradition. Anna Maria Busse Berger states, “The invention of writing does not automatically put an end to memorization. Quite the opposite, writing is normally used at first as a mnemonic tool. Thus, we should no longer assume that the invention of the staff…which made possible unambiguous pitch notation eliminated or reduced performance from memory.”20 She asserts that even after the creation of the staff, orality was the chosen method of learning music. Notation served as an aide by reminding singers of chants that they already memorized. As the specificity of music notation increased, it did not radically replace the use of oral tradition. Instead, orality and music notation continued in complementary roles.

[9214]

https://llllllll.co/t/experimental-music-notation-resources/149