Writing for percussion

In this paper we aim to discuss aspects of percussion notation in the music of the Brazilian composers of the Música Nova Group, formed in 1963. We believe that in these scores we find attempts to renew musical aesthetics determined by avant-garde thinking and experimentation. By analyzing the characteristics of the notation for percussion, we identify the use of new graphics which, incorporating elements from the visual arts, represent resources for indetermination, improvisation and exploration of new timbres. We then see the positioning of the avant-garde of the 1960s in their search for the new, which we also intend to evaluate through these composers' attempt to incorporate typical Brazilian percussion into their experimental music, verifying the problem of writing for these instruments. This analysis should help anyone interested in the issue of musical notation in contemporary music and writing for percussion.