1. A Prediction by Arnold Schoenberg
In an article with the title, Eine neue Zwölftonschrift, 'A New Twelve Tone Notation' (English translation published in Chroma Report Vol. 1, No. 2), Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) expressed the sentiment that aspiring musicians of the future might be required to be familiar with two different types of music notation:
"I am not of the opinion that all music written and printed to date will have to be reprinted. ... But just as any school child can read and write current script (old German script, not in use any longer) and Latin script, ... so the ability to master two different music notations equally well will have to be acquired."
Schoenberg's article was published in 1925, four years after he had formulated the basic principles of his twelve-tone system and following the completion of his now famous group of twelve-tone compositions. The Piano pieces, Op. 23 and Serenade, Op. 24, both completed in 1923 contain twelve-tone elements, while the Dodecaphonic method of composition came to maturity in the Piano Suite, op. 25 (1921-23) and the Wind Quintet, Op. 26, of 1924. [A publication of Piano Piece, Op. 11, No. 3 in Chromatic Notation can be found in Chroma Report Vol. 2, No. 1]
Schoenberg's influence on the other two members of the new Viennese School, Alban Berg (1885-1935) and Anton Webern (1883-1945), as well as many other composers of the twentieth century is confirmed by history.
2. Towards an alternative Notation system
Although the history of Equal Temperament can be traced back to the late 16th century, the division of the octave into 12 equal semitones took nearly 200 years to become a generally accepted tuning method. By the end of the 19th century it had become the accepted norm of tuning keyboard instruments especially, but the notation composers used, was still firmly based on the archaic methods of tuning. Composers of the 20th century, (e.g. Arnold Schoenberg) realised the potential of Equal Temperament in their compositions, but were not yet ready to adopt a more suitable notation system.
In 1904, some twenty years before Schoenberg developed the twelve-tone system, another Austrian, Johann Ailler, devised and published a notation system suited to the twelve semitones of the equally tempered octave. Very little is known about Johann Ailler. Albert Brennink, the developer of the notation system under discussion, managed to trace Ailler's descendants to a family farm in the Village of Stetteldorf am Wagram, where he lived at the beginning of the century. Except for cursory references in Franz Diettrich-Kalkhoff's study, Geschichte der Notenschrift, (1907), and in Gardner Read's book, Source Book of Proposed Music Notation Reforms, (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1987, p 47.) little or no attention was taken of Ailler's suggested notation system. What is significant is that Ailler's preoccupation with the twelve chromatic notes of the scale as a separate notation system, occurred well before Schoenberg finalised his dodecaphonic system. In fact, during the years 1902-1907, Schoenberg was still working within the post-Wagnerian sphere, as works such as the Symphonic poem, Pelleas und Melisande, the First String Quartet and the Kammersinfonie remind us. Although highly chromatic and with extensively postponed tonal centres, these are in essence not Dodecaphonic.
3. The Ailler-Brennink Chromatic Notation
Albert Brennink was born in the Netherlands in 1924 and currently lives in Canada. Although an architect by profession, he is also an accomplished musician and composer. He began his musical studies at the age of five by studying the piano and later also the organ, harpsichord, cello, singing and composition. During the last twenty years he has mainly concentrated on composition as well as the refinement of his notation system.
After thirty years of research and experimenting with notation systems, Albert Brennink published his first book on notation in 1976 under the title, Die Halbton-Schrift/The Chromatic Notation (Montreux, Switzerland: Edition Chroma, 1976, 32 pages), in which he illustrates his Dodecaphonic notation system. At this stage he was unaware of Ailler's notation system and published a second book, Chromatic Notation, The Results and Conclusions of the International Enquiry 1979-1983 by the Chroma Foundation (Victoria, B.C., Canada: Edition Chroma, 1983, 48 pages), on the subject, before he discovered the work of Ailler. Realising that his own system and that of Ailler had certain basic elements in common he renamed his notation to the Ailler-Brennink Chromatic Notation in acknowledgement to Ailler's work. A complete description of the notation and how he arrived at the final version is explained in his book, Equal Temperament Music Notation (Victoria: Edition Chroma, 1992, 96 pages). Albert Brennink also has in print a number of his own compositions as well as transcriptions of some of the major works of the existing repertoire, i.e. Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 1 and 2 by J.S. Bach (Duncan: Edition Chroma, 1994, 128 pages and 1996, 148 pages). [To see the complete list of publications, please click on the following link: Publications]