On May 27, 2005, at 5:45 AM, dhbailey wrote:
Do people say "at the point?" I've only ever heard people say "at the tip." I wonder what the actual Italian phrase is which tells people to play at that end of the bow.
Maybe it's because I'm living in a French province, but all the English-speaking string players I talk to say "at the point". Even the ones from outside the province, though they may have been influenced by the local dialect.
I have noticed in certain scores (sorry, no examples come to mind) that among otherwise all-Italian markings some composers use "� la pointe" (for which "at the point" is the literal English translation.) Could it be that the technique came into common practice in France? I also see "sur le pont" and "sur la touche" in similar situations for "ponticello" and "sul tasto", even though perfectly good and consistent Italian versions exist, in fact, most string players I talk to use the Italian term.
(Actual quote from a local concert master in rehearsal, to the violins: "We'll play that sord passage a little bit tasto, at the point." I giggled, and got strange looks, as if to say, "What's so funny?")
Christopher _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
