On Jun 30, 2005, at 8:48 AM, Gerald Berg wrote:
Anyone ever read Paul Creston's Rational Metric Notation? He advocates replaces 6/8 with 6/12.
I read another book of his on rhythm (I forget the name now) and liked what he had to say on the subject. There is so little written on the theory of rhythm, compared to harmony and form, that one might start to think that harmony is the most important aspect of music!
I don't know the passage you mentioned, but he might be suggesting 6/12 instead of 6/8 for passages where the pulse changes from a quarter to a dotted quarter in the SAME tempo (formerly "l'istesso tempo"), or instead of writing eighth-note triplets. This would agree with Ferneyhough's (and others') use of so-called "irrational" metres.
For me, there would have to be some greater clarity achieved than in the example I gave. Triplets, or a simple Q=Q. over the barline, would be perfectly clear for that example. No use complicating things for such little gain. On the other hand, I STILL like 2 over Q. for 6/8, as it clarifies things perfectly.
Christopher _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
