>>>>> "Christoph" == Christoph Dalitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Christoph> AFAFIK, these terms do not apply to classical music notation but to
Christoph> mensural notation, which is currently not supported by
Christoph> abc at all.
No, I think the way Morley and Dowland use them is quite classical.
They wouldn't occur as often later (although double whole notes (breves) do
happen even in modern notation), because usually the barlines would
prevent them happening if you're using barlines. If you aren't using
barlines, they're much more readable than a bunch of whole notes tied
together, especially if the "beat" is a longer value like a whole note
or even a breve.
Christoph> On the other hand it would be of not too much use, because worldwide
Christoph> only a handful of people can read it.
I think most people who have ever played band or orchestra music have
run into breves.
Christoph> When transcribing medieval or early Renaissance music, the note values
Christoph> need to be matched to modern time values. The common practice is:
Christoph> brevis -> a) half note or b) quarter note
Christoph> longa -> a) whole note or b) half note
Christoph> maxima -> a) double note or b) whole note
No, it's double this.
breve = double whole note (in Britspeak what Americans
call a whole note is a semibreve.)
Longa = double breve or quadruple whole note.
You're thinking of the common practice of halving or even fourthing
the note values, which I don't do for my transcriptions.
The longa as used by Morley and Dowland isn't really a note length; it
happens usually at the end of the piece and can be transcribed without
doing violence to the musical meaning by a whole note with a fermata
on it. But earlier stuff (such as the Phalese Bicinia and the
Glogauer) does actually use it as a note length.
Christoph> Now my questions to Laura are:
Christoph> What do you mean with "longa"?
Christoph> Presumably a "quadruple note" which would be a kind of
Christoph> "maximissima" (does this exist??) in mensural notation.
Yes, it's a quadruple whole note, and doesn't have an equivalent in
modern notation. In 16th century notation, the breve is drawn as a
square whole note instead of the modern whole note with bars around
it. And the Longa looks like a breve with a tail. The maxima, which
I haven't run into yet in anything I transcribe, is like a breve but
twice as wide.
Christoph> Presumably a "quadruple note" would occur only on final notes.
Christoph> In most modern edition it is printed as a double note with a
Christoph> fermata. Is that not sufficient?
Yes, when it's at the end. Not when it's in the middle and needs to
be counted.
Many abc2ps relatives are unusable if you want to write abc with
breves because they silently convert the 8 quarter note length to a 4
quarter note length, thus making the music unplayable. This is what I
think the standard should explicitly forbid. I don't think it's
appropriate for the standard to enforce any particular display option,
but I think it should explicitly allow note lengths of 8 and 16
quarter notes and their dotted forms. And require that they be played
correctly, and either not displayed at all or displayed with the
correct count.
--
Laura (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] , http://www.laymusic.org/ )
(617) 661-8097 fax: (801) 365-6574
233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139
(If I haven't invited you to my party on December 16, I'm sure it's an oversight.)
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