From A (Athanasius) to Z (Zarlino): Changes in Printing Technologies and their Impact on Music Notation (12th-19th c.)

Visit in person

Dates of exhibit
Wed, Oct 29th 2025 - Sat, Dec 20th 2025
Location of exhibit
Special Collections, Rm. 103, Tisch Library
Curated by

Patrick Quinn and Anna Kijas with support from Elettra Connolly and Christopher Barbour. Woodblock plates for activity were designed and created on laser cutter by Miles Donovan.

A page from Athanasius Kircher's "Musurgia universalis" featuring illustrations of various birds and their songs in music notation.
Birds and their songs in music notation. Kircher, Athanasius. Musurgia universalis (1650).

This exhibit brings together a selection of music materials from Tisch Library Special Collections, including scores and texts from the Frédéric Louis Ritter Collection. Items on display range from a handwritten illuminated manuscript with early neume notation to scientific music treatises to a Requiem Mass (aka Mass for the dead) - all representing changes in printing technology and music notation over several hundred years. The materials illustrate music printing practices in use in Europe from the early modern period through the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, including manuscripts written and decorated by hand, letterpress printing with woodblocks, and printing with engraved copper or metal plates.

A diagram from Gioseffo Zarlino's "Le istitutioni harmoniche" showing the relationship between ancient Greek chords and various deities via astronomical symbols.
A diagram of ancient Greek chords and their associated deities. Zarlino, Gioseffo. Le istitutioni harmoniche (1558).