Music Notation in the Twentieth Century

In this comprehensive and definitive survey of current notation procedures, Kurt Stone brought order to a field traditionally fraught with confusion and idiosyncrasy. The text not only describes and recommends new methods for notating modern music, thereby establishing standard procedures for the present and future, but integrates them with traditional practices still in use. The result is a guide to all forms of notation used in serious music today.

           Kurt Stone was undoubtedly one of the world's leading authorities on contemporary music notation and its problems. As head of the Index of New Musical Notation, he collected and categorized the myriad new devices appearing in published music of the twentieth century. In collaboration with professional performers and conductors, he evaluated these devices in order to determine their effectiveness in practical application. At the International Conference on New Music Notation in 1974, a consensus was sought from the eighty participating musicians from eighteen different countries. The results were incorporated into this volume in the clearest and most direct way. Traditional notation is given detailed treatment, constituting, as it does, the basis for many of the innovative devices. The book is organized to facilitate the location of specific information and for easy reference. A minutely detailed index is provided as an additional and indispensable tool.