Music Notation 1a
The New School · Mannes School of Music
Music Notation 1a
Instrumental & vocal engraving — score study and practical projects
Semester at a glance
03
9/15
Guest: Coleman Itzkoff
Cello — visiting session
06
10/6
Midterm Review I
Student presentations / instructor critique
07
10/13
Midterm Review II
Student presentations / instructor critique
08
10/20
Midterm Review III
Student presentations / instructor critique
09
10/27
Traditional notation: timpani, marimba, vibraphone, non-traditional instruments
10
11/3
Advanced techniques: bowed vibraphone, electroacoustic, part types, indeterminacy
—
11/10
No class
Instructor away
12
11/24
Advanced techniques: IPA, microtonality, spoken text, electronics, graphic notation
13
12/1
Final Review I
Final presentations / critique
14
12/8
Final Review II
Final presentations / critique
15
12/15
Final Review III
Makeup day — final presentations / critique
Week 19/1
Keyboard I
Pedaling, ornamentation, multiple staves
Principles of good notation; Henle plate-engraving video; syllabus review.
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debussy | Preludes, Book 1 | Pedalling, Basics—dynamics, voices | ScoreVideo |
| Beethoven | Sonata No. 31 | Una Corda | Score video |
| Knight | Abide with Me | Pedalling, Contemporary Model | Score |
| Ades | Traced Overhead | Pedalling Extreme | ScoreVideo |
| Unsuk Chin | Six Piano Etudes | Sost. Ped. | ScoreVideo |
| Sciarrino | Piano Sonatas 1-5 | Sost. Ped. | ScoreVideo |
| Berio, Luciano | 6 Encores for Piano Solo (leaf sost peda) | Sost Ped. | ScoreVideo |
| Cage | Two Pieces for Piano | Sustain notation | ScoreVideo |
| Thomas Ades | Mazurkas Op. 27 | Ornamentation | ScoreVideo |
Week 29/8
Keyboard II
Extended techniques: prepared piano, inside piano, harmonics, speaking pianist
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copland | Piano Variations | Silent Depressing | ScoreVideo |
| Rzewski | The People United Will Never Be Defeated | Cross Staff Beaming (Variation 2) | ScoreVideo |
| Cowell | Aeolian Harp | Inside the Piano Glissando | ScoreVideo |
| Rzewski | Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues | Cluster, Repeats | ScoreVideo |
| Crumb | The Sleeper | Harmonics, glissando, harmonics, plucked harmonics | ScoreVideo |
| Crumb | Music for a Summer Evening (p 18) | Similar Techniques Fleshed out | ScoreVideo |
| Cage | The Unavailable Memory Of… | First Prepared Piano | ScoreVideo |
| Lachenmann | Guiro | Extended Techniques | Score video |
| Pesson Gerard | La Lumiere n a pas de bras pour nous porter | Extended Techniques | ScoreVideo |
| Michelle Magalhaes | Mobile for Prepared Piano | Extreme Prepared Piano | ScoreScore video |
| Rzewski | De Profundis S Voice | Speaking Pianist | ScoreVideo |
| Wohl | Aorta | ScoreVideo | |
| Cage | Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano | More advanced Prepared Piano | ScoreVideo |
| Ligeti | Continuum | Harpsichord | ScoreVideo |
| Mazzoli | Orizzonte | Electronics Notation | ScoreVideo |
| Akiho | Vickiy | More advanced Prepared Piano | ScoreVideo |
| Harvey | Tombeau de Messiaen | Electronics Notation | ScoreVideo |
| Rzewski | Piano Piece No. 4 (indeterminacy) | Indeterminacy | ScoreVideo |
Week 49/22
Strings I
Basic techniques: pizzicato, bowing, harmonics, parts & cues
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ravel | String Quartet in F Major | Pizzicato, Slurring, Arco, Bowing, Clefs | Score |
| Ravel | Quartet violin1.pdf | Part, Cue | Score |
| Ravel | Alborada del Gracioso-O | String Orchestra Layout (bass transposition etc), Divisi, Abbreviations of names | ScoreArchive |
| Saariaho | Sept Papillons | Harmonics | Score |
| Artificial Harmonics Guide | Reference | artharms.gif | |
| Natural Harmonics Guide | Reference | natharms.gif | |
| Furrer | Lotófagos | Bass Harmonics | ScoreVideo |
| Norman | The Companion Guide to Rome | Sul pont, flautando, glissando (1, 2), harmonic pizz (4) | Score |
| Maurice Delage | Poemes hiduous – full score | Scordatura | ScoreScore video |
| Corigliano | String Quartet | Use of Mutes | ScoreVideo |
| Negron | Marejada | Indeterminacy | Score |
Week 59/29
Strings II
Advanced techniques and orchestral applications
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ravel | Mallarme Songs | Harmonics, natural | ScoreVideo |
| Cerrone | High Windows | Harmonics, natural and artificial | ScoreVideo |
| Cerrone | The Air Suspended, mvmt 2 | Black Diamond | ScoreVideo |
| Sciarrino | Quaderno di Strada | Harmonics with parenthetical | Score |
| Paganini | Capriccio 24, Var 9 | LH Pizz | ScoreVideo |
| Ruth Crawford Seeger | String Quartet | Cresc. Notation | ScoreVideo |
| Ligeti | Atmospheres | Extreme Division of Orchestra | ScoreVideo |
| George Crumb | Black Angels | Glissando/Trem, Col Legno Tratto, Bowing other things, overpressure, wrong side of the strings | ScoreVideo |
| Penderecki | Threnody | Extreme registers, Indeterminacy, pizz on the "wrong" side | ScoreVideo |
| Lachenmann | Pression | "Music Concrete Instrumentale" | ScoreVideo |
| Dennehy | Tessellatum | Microtonality 1/8th tones | ScoreVideo |
| Janulyte | Elongation of Night | ScoreVideo | |
| Smith | Carrot Revolution | Contemporary Percussive | Score |
Week 910/27
Percussion I
Traditional notation: timpani, marimba, vibraphone, non-traditional instruments
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shostakovich | The Nose | Traditional Percussion Notation | ScoreScore video |
| Varese | Ionisation | More contemporary notation — assignment of players | ScoreScore video |
| Cage | Second Construction | Incorporation of non traditional instruments—4 line staves | ScoreVideo |
| Schwantner | Velocities | Marimba Notation | ScoreVideo |
| Takemitsu | Rain Tree | Vibraphone Notation, Crotales | ScoreVideo |
| Xenakis | Rebonds | Multi-Percussion Setup | ScoreScore video |
| Xenakis | Psaapha | ScorePsappha | |
| Cuong | Water Wine Brandy Brine | Non traditional instrument notation | ScoreVideo |
| Cerrone | Memory Palace | Score videoVideo |
Week 1011/3
Percussion II
Advanced techniques: bowed vibraphone, electroacoustic, part types, indeterminacy
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reich | Sextet | Vibraphone | ScoreVideo |
| Cole | Postludes | Bowed Vibraphone | ScoreVideo |
| Saariaho | Six Japanese Gardens | Electroacoustic | ScoreVideo |
| Lucier | Silver Street Car | Triangle | ScoreVideo |
| Kirsten | May the Devil Take Me | Triangle 2 | ScoreVideo |
| Feldman | King of Denmark | ScoreVideo | |
| Alvarez | Temezcal | Maracas | ScoreVideo |
| Applebaum | Aphasia | ScoreVideo | |
| Applebaym | Straightjacket | ScoreVideo |
Week 1111/17
Voice I
Piano-vocal, vocal score vs. full score, solo vs. ensemble, stage directions
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Little | Soldier Songs (PV excerpt) | Piano vocal, dynamic placement, stage directions | ScoreVideo |
| David Little | Soldier Songs (FS) | Instrument labeling | Score |
| Bartok | Bluebeard's Castle Full Score (scene 6) | Vocal reduction — what to choose? | Score |
| Bartok | Bluebeard's Castle (Vocal Score) | ScoreVideo | |
| Cerrone | Last Message Full Score | Score | |
| Cerrone | Last Message Vocal | SATB / chorus vs opera | ScoreVideo |
| Britten | Curlew River | Non alignment / chamber dramatic context | ScoreVideo |
| Chin | Akrostichon-Wortspiel | 1, 4, 5 — unusual techniques / noteheads | ScoreVideo |
| Monk | Atlas | Choosing companions — approximate pitches, foreign languages etc. | ScoreVideo |
| Cerrone | Beaufort Scales | Spoken text notation | ScoreVideo |
| Hearne | Animals | IPA, unusual techniques | ScoreVideo |
Week 1211/24
Voice II
Advanced techniques: IPA, microtonality, spoken text, electronics, graphic notation
| Composer | Work | Focus | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monk | Atlas | Choosing companions — approximate pitches, foreign languages etc. | ScoreVideo |
| Cerrone | Beaufort Scales | Spoken text notation | ScoreVideo |
| Berio | O King | IPA | ScoreVideo |
| Berio | Sinfonia | IPA (expansion) as well as third mvmt spoken text, whispering etc | ScoreVideo |
| Hearne | Animals | IPA, unusual techniques | ScoreVideo |
| Ligeti | Clocks and Clouds | IPA microtones | ScoreVideo |
| Lamb | Parallaxis forma | Microtonality | ScoreVideo |
| Alex Dowling | Reality Rounds | Electronics and live processing | ScoreVideo |
| Berberian | Stripsody | Graphic notation | ScoreVideo |
| Davies | Eight Songs for a Mad King | Listen |
Course information
Description
How do you translate musical ideas into notes and rhythms performers can read — and why does presentation matter? The first half of this yearlong course introduces engraving, notation, and score-preparation concepts across contemporary and historical practice, applied in Dorico, Sibelius, and Finale. The emphasis is on instrumental chamber music, treating printed music in the language of graphic design. The one prerequisite is some familiarity with a notation program. Beginners welcome.
Grading
Attendance 17%
Participation 17%
Midterm 33%
Final 33%
- Midterm & FinalEngrave 5+ min · extract 1 part · present
- Alternate20-min presentation on a notational topic
- RequirementAt least one of the two must be an original engraving — not two presentations
- DueOn your assigned presentation date
- Grad onlyOne-page written analysis of the engraving
Required & software
- TextBehind Bars — Elaine Gould
- NotationSibelius or Dorico (rec.)
- FinaleDiscontinued — migrate
- MuseScoreVersion 4 or higher accepted
- HandwrittenNot accepted
Optional: Adler, The Technique of Orchestration; Schirmer Manual of Style; Using Sibelius Effectively.
Resources
| Scoring Notes | scoringnotes.com ↗ |
| Notation Central | notationcentral.com ↗ |
| nkoda | Free for TNS students ↗ |
| Composition Portfolio Formatting | Video |
| Harmonics, Waveforms, Overtone Series | Lanzilotti Blog |
| Henle Verlag | Listen |