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braille-scores home nederlands About
Braille
Braille was invented by Louis Braille
(1809-1852) who became blind as a young child. As a teenager he developed
braille notation for the blind who can read it with their fingers. Each
braillecel is formed from a combination of 6 possible dots. These dots are
numbered top down and left to right. The letter k is thus formed by dots 1
and 3. Because in braille we only have 64 different signs, all these signs
have several meanings. The meaning is determined by the context. Below you
find all 64 signs in Standard Braille
Order.
The first 10 signs not only refer to the
first 10 letters of the alfabet, but also to the 10 numerals. To indicate the
difference, numbers may be preceded by the number sign (dots 3456). Since in
French the letter w did not exist, it takes a strange position in the system.
Letters d till j also indicate the musical notenames CDEFGAB. Music always
starts with an octave sign (combinations of dots 4, 5 and/or 6). Note values
are indicated by dots 3 and 6. Absence of 3 and 6 indicates the eighth note.
In Gregorian chant dots 3 and 6 are used to indicate neumatic forms. It was
Louis Braille himself who devised a system for text, music AND chant. A
facsimile of his 1829 paper can be found here. The introduction of the braille bar made
eight-point braille more common. Dots 7 and 8 are mainly used for lay-out and
context. Since all braille signs have several meanings, for the reproduction
of braille it is important to use the right settings. The Standard Braille Order above enables
you to check your settings. The image above shows the corresponding braille
signs in Standard Braille Order.
These braille signs become visible when you select the SimBraille font, that
you can download here. Scanned Braille Scores
Between 1934 and 1940 at the Electric
Braille Press St. Henricus in Grave the Graduale Romanum has been printed in
15 volumes double sided Braille (2066 pages). Below you can find the digital
files. First you see the most common special textsigns for Dutch and Latin,
then follow the seperate chants of volume 15 and then the table of contents
for all volumes with links to the digital braille files. The most important
mistake that still may be found in these files is that somtimes one dot was missed
or added. This way an r without dot 1 becomes a 6, and an o with dot 2
becomes a r. # number sign; : sch; ? ch; ] ï; = é; 8
opening quotation mark; 0 closing quotation mark; * á; < é; % í; ? ó; : ú; > ae; Gregorian chant with
liturgical text, taken from the Vatican edition and rythmed by the reverend
benedictines of Solesmes. Electric Braillepress St. Henricus, Grave, 1934-1940 Graduale - Proprium
de Tempore Vol. 1. 1st Sunday of Advent till 6th Sunday after
Epiphany. 1935, 132 p. [5] Vol. 2. Septuagesima till Palmsunday. 1935, 158 p. [3] Vol. 3. Maundy Thursday till Octave of Easter. 1935, 144
p. [10] Vol. 4. 2nd Sunday after Easter till Saturday after
Pentecost. 1935, 142 p. [3] Vol. 5. Trinity Sunday till the 7th Sunday after
Pentecost. 1936, 114 p. [3] Vol. 6. 8th till last Sunday after Pentecost and Christ
King. 1936, 136 p. [1] Graduale - Proprium
Sanctorum Vol. 7. Special Masses and Feasts of the Holy Virgin
Mary. 1937, 164 p. [6] Vol. 8. Feasts of the Lord, the Angels, All Saints, John
the Baptist, and other. 1937, 148 p. [19] Vol. 9. The Apostels, Evangelists and Churchfathers.
1937, 166 p. [3] Vol. 10. Bishop-Confessors, Confessors (non Bishops),
Abbots. 1940, 220 p. [13] Vol. 11. One Martyr outside and during Eastertide. 1940,
140 p. [19] Vol. 12. Common of Martyrs. 1940, 108 p. [13] Vol. 13. Common of Holy Women. 1940, 108 p. [12] Liber Usualis Vol. Kyriale. The ordinary chants of the Mass. 1934, 144
p. [11] Vol. Mass of the deceased and ceremonies for the
funeral. n.d., 42 p. [12]
Gregorian
Chant and Braille
Geert Maessen, Transcription of
Gregorian Chant in Braille (Amsterdam 2002), gives a summary of existing methods
for transcribing Gregorian chant into braille and an alternative to process
the achievements of the semiological movement into braille. The booklet can
be ordered in braille at Dedicon (two braille volumes and one volume
with tactile graphics). From the 2nd till the 4th of October
2002 in Marburg an international workshop was held about Gregorian chant and
braille, in search for a standard to transcribe chant into braille. The
participants were: Ulrich Mayer-Uhma (Germany), Bettye Krolick (USA), Bernard
Morin (France), Christian Waldvogel and Lia Cariboni (Switzerland), Claire
Gailans and John Armstrong (United Kingdom) and Geert Maessen (the
Netherlands). Maessen's booklet was one of the pieces to discuss. Although on
some points there were different opinions, the booklet has been launched as
the standard for transcribing chant into braille. At the international
conference on braillemusic from the 23rd till the 25th of September 2004 in
Zürich this was once more confirmed, although for simpler liturgical chants
an alternative was presented by Barbara Williams from Melbourne. Five
Gregorian Chant Masses (Vijf Gregoriaanse Missen)
Based on the dutch text of Transcription of Gregorian Chant in Braille
in 2001 Dedicon transcribed five Gregorian masses: Christmas, Easter,
Ascension, Pentecost and the Requiem, consisting of the proper chants
according to Graduale and Offertoriale Triplex, with all
associated verses. Vijf Gregoriaanse Missen can be ordered
in braille (nine vomules) at Dedicon. For the contents of Vijf Gregoriaanse Missen see: Preface and Contents. Braille Music Notation
For a general introduction to
braillemusic see: Bettye Krolick, How to
Read Braille Music: An Introduction (Second Edition 1998) Translated into Dutch by Dedicon as: Inleiding tot het lezen van het
Braille Muziekschrift The international standard for braillemusic is: Bettye Krolick (ed), New International Manual of Braille Music
Notation (Amsterdam 1996) In German translation this book is online, searchable on
terms and braillesigns: http://www.braille.ch/musik/index.html The American standard for transcription of scores to
braillemusic is: Mary Turner De Garmo, Introduction
to Braille Music Transcription (Second Edition 2005) Along with several other relevant texts on braillemusic
downloadable from: https://www.loc.gov/nls/music/ |
