At 12:52 PM +0100 2/26/10, dc wrote:
There are countless places where one has to make such choices. On what basis does one choose the note that's moved?
On the same bases that govern every other choice we make: Clarity first (leave nothing to chance); artistic presentation second (beauty IS nicer than ugly!). Life is a balance, and no set of rules can ever cover everything without allowing for exceptions. Different choices may well be equally clear and elegant.
That's why I reacted badly to the non-standard slur-like symbol we've been discussing. First, it's unclear simply because it is NOT standard, and therefore should be explained in a footnote. Second, it's ugly compared with more elegant ways of conveying the information.
As an orchestral string player I can affirm that we have a whole set of pencil markings that we use, which you will never find in engraved music, and since our current conductor is both European and a string player, we've learned a number of OTHER ones that are natural to him but which we had never seen. Someone just commented that the U-shaped symbol might be one of these pencil markings, used by pianists. I guess it's just seeing it engraved--and crossing other lines and stems--that really bothers me.
John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences 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 "We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
