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The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella . Scelta

Music is a form of human the pitch, tone, and shape of the communication as . The Chinese had a ancient as language quite sophisticated system of itself. Like written lan- notation as early as the 3rd cen- guage, the need for a more tury BC. These early systems reliable system of consisted of either symbols to communication was felt represent separate vocal sylla- very early in history. bles - a form of ; or Until very recently, the signs and instructions for play- vast majority of music ing specific instruments - a form belongs to some form of of . oral tradition. It was passed from one per- The use of letters of the alpha- former to another by rep- bet to name notes of the scale etition and memory. dates back to ancient Having no manner of and possibly earlier. This sys- visual notation, pieces of tem was well established by 500 music changed their BC. Soon after, letter names character through the were given to whole tones of the ages. Systems of signs , and inflections of and symbols for writing a or even a quarter- music developed along- tone could be expressed by rota- side written language as tion of the letter symbols. Two the need to pass along different systems of letters were consistent information used to write down the instru- presented itself. mental and the of ancient Greece. In his five text- Very little is known books on , Boethius about the applied the first 15 letters of the world, and notation sys- alphabet to the notes in use at tems are virtually the end of the Roman period. unknown to us. It is Also, their system was capable likely that the ancient of indicating rhythmic value, a Sumerians and complexity that did not reappear devised sym- until well into the middle ages. Greek on a funeral column. The bols to accompany the notation begins above the sixth line of the system of hand signs We have no written music after inscription. from St. Gall 359, ninth century. This is an example of early they used to indicate classical antiquity until the ninth , the major form of notation for medieval europe. The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

century. By the Middle ages, Christianity was the driving When Charlemagne was Pitch The position of a tone in the musi- force behind any social or artis- crowned emperor in 800, he cal scale, today designated by a let - tic advances. In sixth and sev- made it his duty to unify all of ter name and determined by the fre - quency of vibration of the source of enth century Ireland, monasti- his realm. Part of this was to the tone. An international confer- cism flourished, contributing to stabilize the liturgies of the ence held in 1939 set a standard for A above middle of 440 cycles the history of art and design church. As religious practices per second. with like the Book greatly varied from region to Tone of Kells and the Lindisfarne region, he sought to create a A tone is distinguished from noise Gospels. It was also responsi- standard that would be consis- by its definite pitch, caused by the regularity of the vibrations that pro- ble for the founding of the tent throughout his Holy Roman duce it. Any tone possesses the monastery of St. Gall in central Empire. Chant was an impor- attributes of pitch, intensity, and quality. Pitch is determined by the Europe, where a large number tant piece of any Christian wor- frequency of the vibration, meas- of early manuscripts of notated ship service. and the communi- ured by cycles per second. Intensity, or loudness, is deter- music were produced. cation of a stable repertoire mined by the amplitude, measured throughout the vast territory of in decibels. Quality is determined by the overtones (subsidiary tones), A form of notation using signs the empire required a standard- the distinctive of any instru - called neumes had developed as ized system of musical notation. ment being the result of the number and relative prominence of the over a means of writing down plain- He standardized the sys- tones it produces. . These graphic signs tem, which was still only intend- Solmization, showed the rise and fall of the ed to remind singers of relative Systems of vocal exercises employ- notes of a melody, but did not that they had already ing a series of syllables originally devised by the Benedictine monk give a precise idea of pitch or been taught. Guido d'Arezzo (c.990-1080) for . These neumes indicated the purpose of vocalization and for practice in sightsinging. These only the grouping of sounds in a Heighted neumes, neumes solmization syllables are now com- given melody, evidently to whose pitch relationship is rep- monly known in the form do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si (or ti), do. remind a singer the approximate resented on the page appeared in shape of a melody already the tenth century. This variation Tablature Non-note based systems of musical learned by ear. Neumes devel- in notation made the intervals of notation using letters, numbers, or oped into a complex system in a melody more discernible, but symbols to indicate pitch and dura - tion of tone. are used which an individual neume was still not designed to inform today to notate music for and could represent a single note or people of melodies that they had ukulele. These have vertical lines representing strings of the instru- Manuscript from Loan 239, tenth century, an example of heightened neumes. as many as four notes in a par- never heard before. The neu- ment, horizontal lines for the , ticular sequence. While this sys- matic system gave a very graph- and dots to show the position of the fingers. tem widely varied throughout ic indication of the shape of a the different parts of europe, but melody, but the addition of a Scale Any series of tones arranged in a the fundamental characteristics horizontal line removed its main step-by-step rising or falling of remained the same. drawback by fixing an absolute

2 The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

pitch as a point of reference. Guido's innovations were, how- ever, all concerned with notating pitch. The scale most used in Western until Soon after the use of a single pitch, and it was not until the the end of the 19th cent. was the line to represent an absolute 13th century that any systematic diatonic scale, a series of seven tones. (The addition of a final top pitch came about, two lines reform of rhythmic notation was note, with a frequency twice that were adopted. The lines repre- achieved. The first to tackle this of the lowest note, defines this sequence as an .) The inter- sented the pitches of C and F was , who vals of the diatonic scale were and were often drawn in differ- codified and rationalized the defined by Pythagoras in the 6th cent. .C. as five whole tones and ent colors. These two pitches existing system, and established two semitone. By the time of J.S. were most important because the relationships between differ- Bach, the chromatic scale of 12 equal (as in the white they represented the beginning ent note values. and black keys of a keyboard and middle of an eight note scale) had become established, and the scales beginning on these scale. Below the F and C lines A system similar to present-day notes, the basis of Western tonality. there were sometimes written rhythmic notation had evolved The of five whole the letters E and A to indicate from this by the middle of the tones is prevalent in Asian music. respectively, the placement of 15th century, but based on triple Whole Tone The interval of second, as those two unruled pitches. rather than duple divisions. At in moving from one white key to first, certain patternings of the adjoining white key on the further neumes were used to represent . improved the system of notating the various rhythmic modes; Semitone The interval of a minor second, as in the first half of the later, in his Ars cantus mensura - in moving from a white key to the 11th century. As well as invent- bilis (c.1280), Franco of adjoining black key on the piano.

ing his own version of solmiza- Cologne created a clear indica- Quarter Tone tion, he also suggested the use tion for each note of its exact An interval less than a minor sec - ond. Generally not found in west - of a stave of four horizontal rhythmic length and selected ern music. lines, which would not only pro- certain neumes to represent Boethius vide a pitch reference, but tones of long and short duration. (Anicius Manlius Severinus would also graphically represent In his system, the long value Boethius), c.475-525, Roman philosopher and statesman. A con- by the vertical was in principle equal to three sul (510) in , he became min - placing of notes on its lines and of the short values. These ister under Emperor Theodoric, but was falsely accused of treason, spaces. He is also placed the let- refined versions of neumes were imprisoned, and sentenced to ters C or F in their appropriate called ligatures, because of their death. His treatise on ancient music was for many centuries the places at the beginning of each appearance as individual notes unquestioned authority on Western line, further refining the accura- that had been tied together. music.

cy of the system. The letters Plainsong evolved into the signs used All early unharmonized melody in today. free rhythm, but usually synony - The very beginning of pitch delineation is evident in this manuscript from Paris, mous with , the latin 10508, twelfth century.

3 The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

This missal for Rome use c.1476, is one of the earliest examples of music printing. It characterizes roman notation with square notes, sparse ligature, and a five line staff. The square C clef is used throughout. Any color used in the book (red, blue, and yellow) was This manuscript from Passau, ca 1489 with diamond shaped notation, rich in ligature, added by hand. with a four line staff, characterizes gothic notation. The C clef is seen throughout. 4 The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

Mensural notation, in which each note has a specific time liturgical music of the Roman value, became a necessity Catholic Church. Texts are taken from the mass, the bible, and with the development of . . In the 14th cent. Rhythm , author of Basic element of music concerned , which expands the with the duration of tones and the stresses or accents placed upon system of Franco, codified the them. The formulation in the 12th duple divisions of the long century of basic rhythmic patterns (modes) led to the development of and short notes. At the various meter, the division of a composi- rhythmic levels of a given tion into units of equal time value. piece, a rhythmic relationship Charlemagne was implied. This was shown (742-814) The first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire, graphically by different com- Emperor of the West (800-814), binations of a dot inside a cir- and Carolingian King of the Franks (768-814). cle or half circle. Not coinci- dentally, the symbols for Chant General name for one-voiced, Perfect Tempus, or 9/4 time unaccompanied liturgical music, and Imperfect Tempus, or 6/4 usually referring to melodies of the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and time are the same alchemical Anglican branches of Christianity. symbols used at the time to Its melodies, unlike the Roman Catholic plainsong, are harmo- represent Gold and Silver, the nized. perfect and near perfect met- Clef als. Both 9/4 time and 6/4 A symbol prefixed to a five-line time were considered prefer- stave indicating the pitch range to which the written notes apply. The able in music. The modern C clef is now comparatively rare, symbol for common time or except for , , and bas - soon; for most other instruments 4/4, may have also derived the G and F clefs are standard. from this form of rhythmic Polyphony Printed manuscript from Venice, 1552. When compared to the first printed Italian missal, the evolution and standardization of the notation, which was a half cir- printed symbols is evident. Music which contains more than cle with no dot in the center. one composed part at a time. Early chant, though sometimes sung by In addition to these time sig- many voices, contained only one nature symbols, a system of part. signs and colored notes devel- oped for indicating which These alchemy symbols for gold and silver are the same as those for Perfect Tempus and Imperfect Tempus, respectively. The cor- relationships were in use or relations between the disciplines are not surprising. The Music of the Spheres was the term given to the harmonies or dissonances were being temporarily of the planets in motion. All of the universe was theorized to operate on musical terms. altered.

5 The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

This piece from Mikrokosmos by Bela Bartok shows basic modern notation as we know it today. As the printing process got more refined, so did the symbols used in notation.

6 The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

In the 15th century, numbers extra symbols such as acciden- with the appearance of frac- tals were solved comparatively Dynamics Symbols indicating relative loud- tions, indicated that one pro- rapidly. Eventually the modern ness, changes in loudness such as portionality of rhythmic val- version of music notation was crescendo and diminuendo, or loudness in accentuation such as ues was temporarily being established with the help of rinforzando. substituted for another. widespread music printing prac- Accidentals Modern signatures evolved tices. Despite its drawbacks, Symbols used to raise or lower a from these numbers. Bar particularly in notating non-dia- tone by a half step or more. Sharps, flats, double sharps, double lines, expression signs, and tonic pitches and complex flats, and naturals are accidentals. Italian terms to indicate , conventional modern and dynamics came notation is also being used out- into use in the 17th century. side of Western music. Music of With the adoption of equal previously oral traditions is temperament and the major being transcribed, and even clas- and minor modes, signatures sical traditions such as Chinese indicating a major key or its music now make use of Western relative minor became con- notation. ventional. The notation is By about 1700, the modern one of continual evolution, and system of notation, using a the 20th century is no exception. stave of five lines as As have found new opposed to the four used in means of expression, they have plainsong, had become firm- developed new means of writing ly established. A stave of them down. Methods of indicat- five lines for vocal music ing microtones, intervals less was adopted in France and than a semitone, were found one of six lines in Italy. early in the century, and sym- Signs for chromatic alter- bols borrowed from mathemat- This piece from The Banshee by Henry Cowell shows more avante garde forms of ation of tones appear almost ics have been used to notate modern notation. As new ways of playing instruments are experimented with, new ways of notating must be found. The letters correspond to written directionals. The from the beginning and had complex rhythmic relationships. lines tell the to pull their fingers across the strings of the open piano instead assumed their present Some composers, such as John of striking the keys. shapes by the end of the Cage and Karlheinz 17th century. The essential Stockhausen, virtually aban- problems in pitch notation, doned conventional notation in the use of both lines and favor of graphic representations spaces to indicate successive or even passages of text; others, scale degrees and the use of such as Pierre Boulez and

7 The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

Luciano Berio, have attempted to refine it and improve its accu- Term applied to compositions racy. There have even been whose sounds are either produced attempts, particularly in the first or modified electronically. The early examples of electronic com- half of the century, to invent positions, called concrete music, completely new systems, but were taped montages of electroni- cally altered sound obtained by these have not been enthusiasti- microphone from nonelectronic cally received. sources, such as voices and street noise. In software synthesis a computer mathematically repre- Graphic representation of sents sounds, which are manipulat- ed by various techniques, includ- sounds that began with medieval ing filtering (which affects loud- plainchant originally aimed at ness), time delay (which affects reverberation), and frequency recording the real inflection of a shifting (which affects pitch). voice. In 1940 Villa- Lobos composed New York Skyline based on the outline of a photograph projected onto graph paper and thence to . Percy Grainger's proposed Free Music Machine 1948, applies optical sound prin- ciples on a larger scale, a tech- nique continued in digital syn- A computer generated visual interpretation of an audio file shows purely sound quality as it relates to frequency. This entirely new thesizers today. Development of and different way of visualizing music may be the precursor to a new era in musical notation. the sound spectograph in 1944 by engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratories introduced a much improved projection of audio events in pitch and time. Much of modern day electronic music is composed with graphic repre- sentations of sound on computer screens.

Musical symbols, as with any form of graphic communication, is ever-changing. With the advent of global communication

8 The History and Evolution of the Musical Symbol Gabriella F. Scelta

and technology, advances in non diatonic music, and acceptance of non western musical tradi- tions, the musical symbol will adapt to the needs of society, as it has done through the ages.

Sources Apel, W. The Notation of Karkoshka, Erdhard. Notation in The Toledo Museum of Art. Polyphonic Music, 900-1600. New Music: a critical guide to The Printed Note: 500 Years of Cambridge: Medieval Academy interpretation and realisation. Music Printing and Engraving. of America, 1953. New York: Praeger Publishers, Toledo: The Toledo Museum of 1972. Art, 1957. Atlas, Allen. : Music in Western Read, Gardner. Music Notation: Williams, C.F. Abdy. The Story Europe, 1400 - 1600. New A Manual of Modern Practice. of Notation. New York: Charles York: W. W. Norton & 3rd ed. New York: Taplinger Scribner's Sons, 1903. Company, 1998. Publishing, 1972. Yudkin, Jeremy. Music in Burkhart, Charles. Anthology Ross, Ted. The Art of Music Medieval Europe. Upper Saddle of Musical Analysis. 5th ed. Engraving and Processing. River: Prentice Hall, 1989. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Miami Beach: Hansen Books, College Publishers, 1992. 1970.

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