There is a long standing, and obviously useful tradition of using
Italian terms to describe and define musical indications, and I
continue to use some of them - ritard and accel. seem more practical
than "Slow Down" and "Speed Up". But I have become increasingly
comfortable with using American English for my musical indications.
My music is certainly American, and I expect that those non-English
speakers who might want to perform it will have the intelligence to
decipher most simple, one or two word instructions. (OT wandering:
In spite of music being accepted as a universal language, my
experience tells me that in some profound way, the deepest
appreciation of it is period and culture dependent. The best
overcomes those limitations, but I wonder if it is ever received with
quite the same power and effect, when it outlives its time and
cultural circumstance.)
In the case of Darcy's dilemma, I might have written something like,
"solo", or "soloist" (Italian, I know!), "chorus - no soloist", (I
know, "senza" is tempting), and "all" or "tutti".
Dangerous ambiguity is the enemy. I try to avoid encounters with it
with the fewest and most elegant instructions. I have fun to trying
to figure that out.
Chuck
Chuck Israels
230 North Garden Terrace
Bellingham, WA 98225-5836
phone (360) 671-3402
fax (360) 676-6055
www.chuckisraels.com
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