Capturing Music: The Story of Notation

Kelly's (musicology, Harvard Univ.; Music Then and Now) very engaging book covers an arcane but fascinating topic: the development, during the medieval era, of the Western system of music notation. This subject has bedeviled music students for generations, but through the author's witty and reader-friendly prose, the story becomes not only accessible but practically a page-turning historical thriller. Kelly breathes life into such ancient innovators as Guido d'Arezzo, Leoninus, and Franco of Cologne, while putting their notational breakthroughs into the context of their time and place. The book is enriched by full-color illustrations of medieval manuscripts and a companion recording of the musical examples. Compared with the definitive text in this area, Carl Parrish's The Notation of Medieval Music (1958), Kelly's book is shorter and less comprehensive but more approachable and up to date. The chronology ends with the mannerist movement of the late 14th century and only cursory mention is made of notational innovations of the 20th and 21st centuries—a worthy exploration for a possible companion volume.