Do you read music? Not an unusual question at all, is it? And yet think of the implications. We take it for granted that music can be written down, not just played; read, not just heard. We assume, in other words, that visual symbols can represent sounds. Moreover, we assume that such symbols will correlate not approximately but precisely with particular sounds, and that their meaning will be clear to all who read music, no matter where they’re from, what language they speak, or what instrument they play. And it follows that someone can “compose” music on paper, and that even if the composer is long dead, or just not around, the composition can be preserved and performed accurately on the basis of the written text. It was not always this way. The system of notation that’s now standard throughout the world of Western music has existed only since the early 1600's. Before that, going back to the first attempts four or five thousand years ago in Egypt, all systems of musical notation were either approximate or variable. But more on notation tomorrow…
A Minute with Miles - a production of ETV Radio made possible by the JM Smith Corporation.
