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Literature

If you need to know more about music notation, here are some interesting titles to read. The source archive includes a more elaborate BibTeX bibliography of over 100 entries in Documentation/bibliography/. It is also available online from the lilypond website.

Banter 1987

Harald Banter, Akkord Lexikon. Schott's Söhne 1987. Mainz, Germany ISBN 3-7957-2095-8

Comprehensive overview of commonly used chords. Suggests (and uses) a unification for all different kinds of chord names.

Gerou 19xx

Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, Essential Dictionary of Music Notation. Alfred Publishing, Van Nuys CA ISBN 0-88284-768-6

A concise, alphabetically ordered list of typesetting and music (notation) issues which covers most of the normal cases.

Hader 1948,

Karl Hader, Aus der Werkstatt eines Notenstechers. Waldheim-Eberle Verlag, Vienna 1948.

Hader was the chief-engraver of the Waldheim-Eberle music publishers. This beautiful booklet was intended as an introduction for laymen on the art of engraving. It contains a step by step, in-depth explanation of how to cut and stamp music into zinc plates. It also contains a few compactly formulated rules on musical orthography. This book is out of print.

Read 1968

Gardner Read, Music Notation: a Manual of Modern Practice. Taplinger Publishing, New York (2nd edition).

A standard work on music notation.

Ross 1987,

Ted Ross, Teach yourself the art of music engraving and processing. Hansen House, Miami, Florida 1987

This book is about engraving, i.e. professional typesetting. It contains directions on good typesetting, but the sections on reproduction technicalities, how to use pens and history are interesting.

Stone 1980

Kurt Stone, Music Notation in the Twentieth Century Norton, New York 1980.

The most important book on notation in recent years: it describes music notation for modern serious music, but starts out with a thorough overview of existing traditional notation practices.

Wanske 1988,

Helene Wanske, Musiknotation -- Von der Syntax des Notenstichs zum EDV-gesteuerten Notensatz. Schott-Verlag, Mainz 1988. ISBN 3-7957-2886-x

I. A very thorough overview of engraving practices of various craftsmen. It includes detailed specs of characters, dimensions etc. II. a thorough overview of a anonymous (by now antiquated) automated system. EDV means E(lektronischen) D(aten)v(erarbeitung), electronic data processing.

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