Who would have thought that one of my scores would be transcribed into braille? And, above all, that my score would be the first braille score for castanets... I am very excited, not only for being the first but for expanding the horizons that Concert Castanets can reach, being in this case accessible to blind people. Thanks to the Marrakesh Treaty, it contributes, not only to their inclusion, but to the dissemination of the very Spanish culture and instrument anywhere in the world.
More than two years have passed since my student Bárbara MARTÍN, EBU’s 1st VP and visually impaired herself, proposed to me the idea of giving a score composed by me to ONCE so that its Bibliographic Service could transcribe it into braille. I was pleased to approach an institution like ONCE and to know in depth its commendable work.
When I composed the castanet score ORCHESTRAL SUITE Nº 2 IN B MINOR, BWV 1067: VII Badinerie by Bach in 2014, I never imagined the very particular path it would have.
It is a relatively simple composition, although you have to know how to read it and interpret its different parts and components to be able to play it with the castanets. It seemed most appropriate to me to donate it to ONCE in the first instance because it covers a wide spectrum of rhythmic and technical issues, while at the same time it is very motivating to study and amusing when playing it.
Bárbara told me that braille is not the same in all languages, but it is universal when it comes to music. This caught my attention because it was when I realised how blind people read music and how difficult it is for them, not only to compose, but also to learn the work by heart, since they need their hands to read the score and to touch it. It is not like those of us who see, we simultaneously read the score while we play it. It is a much slower process, but it does not mean it is of lower quality, and if not, tell Joaquín Rodrigo, Ray Charles, Ignasi Terrasa (whom I have the pleasure of knowing personally), Steve Wonder or Louis Braille himself, who designed it almost 200 years ago.
Teresa Laiz
Concert castanets soloist
You will find the original source at the following link.