MUSIC PRINTING. Printed music originated soon after the invention of typography and the year 1465 is given as the earliest date of any record of its existence. At first the method was only used for printing the staves in red ink from a woodcut, the notes being written in by hand. Later the staves and notes were engraved separately on wood blocks and printed respectively in red and black. Then followed the practice of cutting both the staves and notes on one block for printing in black. There are no records of music being printed from separate characters before 1473 when a theological work by a German printer named Gerson was issued containing five notes of music evidently so printed. This may be regarded as the foundation of music printing.
In 1482 William Caxton, the first English printer, published a work entitled Polychronicon, in which there are a few notes of music, though apparently filled in to the printed stave lines by hand. Wynkyn de Worde, who succeeded Caxton, reprinted this work in introducing both the notes and stave lines by type characters, so that he must be given the credit of being the first English printer of music from moveable type. The Mainz Psalter of 1490 contained type-printed music. In isoo Ottaviano Petrucci, in Venice, produced music with the staves and notes printed from type by separate operations.
Thenceforward the system of printing the stave lines separately fell into disuse. Pierre Attaignat, in Paris (1529), was the first to print the words of songs under the notes. In 1530 music began to be printed in England with type similar to that used by Petrucci, and it was done in two printings, but in 1539 a London printer named Gough issued music from type characters with the staves and notes printed at one impression. In 155o Richard Grafton printed in London the Booke of Common Praier noted, the musical part being executed in type with red stave lines.
From that time printing from type became general and by 1700 it had assumed the appearance of present day music.
Music printed from plates dates from 1525, when Pierre Hautin, a French engraver, cut punches for the notes and stamped them into metal plates, which were finished by engraving. This style of work became general in England and continued to hold the field until about 1710, when music printed from punched plates began to appear.
Lithographic music printing dates from 1799, being first applied by Senefelder, the inventor of lithography, who drew the music direct on stone, or on transfer paper. Typographical music printing recovered its position with the production of better music type by the English letter-founders and came largely into use for hymnals, song books, and other musical works for which large editions in a cheap form are required. The work of setting-up music type is however very tedious as the staves and notes have to be built up from a large number of small pieces. A fount may con tain from 400 to 500 characters.
At the present day the bulk of music printing, at least for sheet music, orches tral parts, etc., is done by lithographic printing, the original plates being made partly by punching and partly by engrav ing on pewter.
The method of engraving starts with ruling the staves on the plate with a five-pointed rake-like tool, called a "score"; then the spacing between the notes (previously determined by marking-off the manuscript) is set out by a method called "pointing," which is done with a small compass. The character of the notes and their position on the stave are roughly indicated on the plate with a blunt steel point called a "marking pin." During the punching the plate is laid on a stone slab and the punches are held in con tact with the plate whilst a smart blow is given with a steel mallet. A set of punches usually consists of 5o to 53 pieces as a rule. Only the heads of the notes are punched, the hooks, ties, etc., being finished by gravers and other engraving tools. All the usual signs are punched and the words of songs are filled in with letter punches. Photo-lithography has been largely used for repro ducing out-of-print music, the plates of which have been de stroyed. Collotype has been found very effective in reproducing old music in facsimile.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Robt. Steele, The Earliest English Music Printing (1903) ; Andrew Deakin, Musical Bibliography (Birmingham, 1893) ; F. Kidson, British Music Publishers, Printers and Engravers (1900) ; William Gamble, Music Engraving and Printing (1923) ; John South ward, Modern Printing, 5th ed., 1921 ; Article in Grove's Dictionary of Music (3rd ed.). (W. GAM.)