[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> What's a shortphrase symbol?
>
From the abc draft standard 1.7.3:
$ !shortphrase! vertical line on the upper part of the staff
$ !mediumphrase! same, but extending down to the centre line
$ !longphrase! same, but extending 3/4 of the way down
In that case, *phrase shouldn't be taken strictly; as I understand
them, they stand for three degrees of articulation that might not be
clear without some hint.
In gregorian chant, for instance, the first is used to signal a point
where the singers may take a quick breath if needed, without killing a
unit of a phrase or phrase member. In non-melismatic pieces, it
generally also matches the literary syntagmatic structure; in
melismatic
ones, where it occurs inside a neume, it is both a cue to phrase
dynamics
and to allowed breathing. The sample below (optimized for abcm2ps,
'cause it renders !*phrase!; irrelevant matter skipped) might make it
clear:
X:1
T:Rorate caeli desuper
T:I Modo
C:Canto gregoriano - Dom�nio p�blico
% .. headers and remarks skipped ...
L:1/8 % relevante para nota��o tradicional; para nota��o
% quadrada gregoriana, esse cabe�alho deve ser desprezado
M:none
U: T=!tenuto! % = episema
K:C
F GA TA d c c_B A A2!mediumphrase!G2 A _B A GF E FE D2 ||
w:Ro-r�-*te ca�-li d�-*su-per *et nu-bes plu-*ant
ju-*stum.~~Rep�titur:~Ror�te.
F G A AG A A_B A !shortphrase!A2 A A A A A A A
w:1.Ne i-ra-sc�-*ris D�-*mi-ne, ne ul-tra me-m�-ne-ris
G _B A AG !longphrase!F2 A _B c c c c Tc c c c c c !shortphrase!Tc
w:in-i-qui-t�-*tis: ec-ce c�-vi-tas San-cti fa-cta est de-s�r-ta:
c c c cd c c_B A !mediumphrase!A2 F GA A TA G_B A
w:S�-on de-s�r-*ta f�-*cta est: Je-r�-*sa-lem de-*so-
AG F !longphrase!F2 A A A A A A A A A A TA A A G c
w:l�-*ta est: do-mus san-cti-fi-ca-ti-�-nis tu-ae et gl�-ri-ae
c_B !mediumphrase!A2 F GA A A A_B A TA GF E FE D2 ||
w:tu-*ae, u-bi *lau-da-v�-*runt te pa-*tres no-*~~~stri.~R/.~Ror�te.
% ... three more parts skipped ...
In ordinary choral scores, it plays a similar role when the notation
doesn't give a cue to the structure (e.g., when a phrase ends in a
relatively short note immediately followed by others that might be
mistaken for the continuation of the phrase). When missing on the
score, they're often added by the choirmaster in a vain attempt to
get the group (who generally can't read notation, forget about
analysing structure) not to break the phrasing for breath.
Paulo E. Tib�rcio
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