At 7:48 PM -0400 4/20/07, Kim Patrick Clow wrote:
Hi all:
If you have a piece in D Major with 2 Trumpets, and Timpani, and in
the original manuscripts, the sources have the trumpet parts and
timpani notated in C, but in my modern edition, I have them at concert
pitch,
1. I assume that I can forgo naming this stave"Trumpet I in D Major" I
would make a note though in the preface about the original sources and
alert readers that I made this as an editorial decision.
You need somehow to inform the trumpet players that the part is in
concert pitch. Don't specify what kind of trumpet you want them to
use. Experienced orchestral players will make their own decisions.
HOWEVER, by putting the parts in concert pitch you are in effect
asking for C trumpets. Think carefully about what you actually want
to do. Again, experienced orchestral players will probably have a
bevy of trumpets to choose from, and can transpose from anything to
anything. But anyone without that experience, including a lot of
community music players, own nothing but Bb trumpets.
2. Sometimes the timpani parts in baroque notation is
confusing.Graupner will not have a key signature in the timpani stave,
when the piece is in D and the two notes typically are D/A. Someone
told me the correct method is NOT to include key signatures in timpani
in either the score the part. But most modern editions seem to have
all the brass and timpani with key signatures.
First, you have to differentiate between 18th and 20th century
practices (with the 19th century, as usual, a mess in which you can
find examples of just about ANYTHING!).
Key signatures were not used for 18th century trumpet, horn or
timpani parts because the instruments were specified and could not
play any other notes than the ones they could play.
20th century music, on the other hand, is intended for fully
chromatic instruments, INCLUDING timpani, which are sometimes written
as "rock 'n' roll" timp parts (a phrase used by a percussionist
friend) in which pitch changes are made continuously in real time.
Key signatures are called for, unless the entire composition is
written without key signatures. In other words, trumpets, horns and
timpani are treated just like any other instrument.
If your edition is a study or "urtext" edition, critical notes are
fine. If it's a performing edition, give the players what they need
to see!
John
--
John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
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