On Jul 4, 2006, at 12:42 PM, Chuck Israels wrote:
On a similar subject - is there a prevailing opinion on the use of
parentheses on courtesy accidentals?
Depends on exactly what you mean by a courtesy accidental. My usual
practice as a composer is to put in somewhat more accidentals than are
strictly required by the rules. I do not parenthesize these--but I
don't call them courtesy accidentals either.
However, every once in a while there will be a note that is liable to
cause confusion (= rehearsal delay) if an accidental is not only placed
there but emphasized in some way--and there I use a parenthesis. To me,
this kind of situation is the only legitimate use for the parens.
Some examples:
A lengthy passage is repeated exactly later in the piece--except for
one note, which is a half step different than before. That note needs a
parenthetical accidental.
Similarly, imagine a unison passage involving 5 instruments, one and
only one of which departs from unison by a half step for the duration
of a single note.
Or the one and only simultaneous cross-relation in a work that
otherwise eschews them.
You get the point.
Actually, come to think of it, I find the whole idea of a "courtesy
accidental" more than a little weird. When I write an accidental,
parenthesized or not, there is no courtesy involved! It's just me, as a
composer, doing my damnedest to get the players to play what I want
them to play instead of something else. Maybe they'll have the courtesy
to do that, but experience has taught me not to hold my breath.
Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
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