Foreword to the Manual of Braille Music Notation, American Edition, 1988
The history of the development of the braille music code is a chronicle of the various code books that have been issued, of the workings of the committees which have prepared them and, not least of all, of the consultations with readers and transcribers of braille music scores.
The present volume is the sixth in a series of manuals, and the date in its title marks the 100th anniversary of the first such key, Braille Notation, The Cologne Key of 1888.
Louis Braille completed the work on his elementary system of notation around the year 1834, but it was not officially adopted until 1852, the year of his death. In 1885, a committee was formed, composed of braille music experts from England, Germany and France, which met in Cologne, Germany, to establish some degree of uniformity of signs and rules of application. The Cologne Key was the result of this convocation.
Subsequent manuals included the following: Revised Key to Braille Music Notation, published by the Royal National Institute for the Blind in 1922; Key to Braille Music Notation, by L. W. Rodenberg, published in 1925; Braille Music Notation, based on the decisions of the Paris International Conference of 1929; and finally, Revised International Manual of Braille Music Notation, 1956, by H. V. Spanner, this last volume being the product of the third International Conference which was sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Each of these volumes has been an attempt to clarify and expand the code and to establish as much uniformity of presentation as could be achieved. The first book was 32 braille pages in length and that of the 1956 volume was 302; thus, one can readily see that a great deal of expansion has taken place. This has been brought about by three principal factors - innovations in print usage, changes in the popularity of various kinds of musical practice, in general, and a broader use of musical scores by the braille reading population. The change in musical practice may be illustrated by pointing to the single paragraph in the 1888 Key on zither music as compared to the extended section on guitar music in the present volume.
A standing music committee was appointed by the American Braille Authority in the early 1960's for the purpose of clarifying questions about the code and proposing new signs and formats as the need arose. This committee, first under the chairmanship of Edward Jenkins and subsequently under the chairmanship of John diFrancesco, developed the 1975 American Addendum. Still under Mr. diFrancesco's able guidance, a newly formed committee compiled the 1981 American Addendum, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Marjorie Hooper and the Florida State University at Tallahassee. This pamphlet was devoted primarily to music for guitar, short-form scoring (American style) of popular music and a newly devised method for transcribing figured bass. Also written during this period was Introduction to Braille Music Transcription, Library of Congress, 1970 by Mary Turner De Garmo.
The present book includes the contents of the two addenda, corrections and alterations of the 1956 Manual and previously unpublished material dealing with special signs in Twentieth Century scores, percussion music and vocal ensemble music in more than one language. An expanded index has also been provided.
In 1979 the newly organized Braille Authority of North America appointed George Bennette as Chairman of its Braille Music Technical Committee and the remainder of the membership consisted of Mrs. Sandra Kelley, Mrs. Bettye Krolick, Mr. Thomas Ridgeway and Mrs. Ethel Schuman.
No doubt, someday this book will be superseded by yet another Revised Manual of Braille Notation. One can only hope there will be enough activity to warrant it, but in the meantime, we trust this volume will be serviceable to the transcribers and readers of braille music for at least a generation.
GEORGE BENNETTE
Chairman, Braille Music Technical Committee of BANA November, 1987