At 9:13 AM +0100 3/23/10, dc wrote:
What's the clearest way to write an |:A:|BACA piece if I don't write
out in full the three A sections (to avoid page turns). The original
simply has "Da Capo" at the end of B and C, and a fermata on the
last note of A.
Thanks,
Dennis
Ah!! The famous French Baroque Rondeau form, perfectly clear if you
know the secret, perfectly confusing if you don't!!! (And by the
time Mozart adopted it as the Rondo form, he was writing everything
out without repeats.)
When I edited a Rameau rondeau (and I'm making up these bar numbers),
I followed the baroque notational layout but added instructions: the
A section (without repeat marks in this case); at the end of the A
section a note "To 64 2x" (which was the C section); at the end of
both the B and C sections a "da capo" (actually I wrote in the 1st
bar of the da capo. so it was a da segno to bar 2, as in the
original); and the fermata at the end of the A section. I could have
used a Coda sign at the end of the A section and the beginning of the
C section but I still would have had to include a text instruction.
The fact is that our modern system of repeat marks and signs CANNOT
cover every historical eventuality.
The "ne plus ultra" of confusing repeat marks and overlapping repeat
schemes is found in the 13th and 14th century "Estampies" in several
French, Italian, and English manuscripts. These dance pieces are
constructed of a number of repeated sections, each with an "ouvert"
and "clos" ending (our 1st & 2nd endings on a half cadence and a full
cadence). But the BEGINNING of each section is new, while after each
new beginning the balance of each section repeats parts of previous
sections. And since velum was expensive and valuable, they saved as
much space on the page as possible, using 4 to 6 different repeat
marks to lead the eye through the underbrush and complete each
section. (Our fermata and our da segno sign are just two of those
signs that have made it into modern notation.) It's perfectly clear
once you figure it out, but perfectly obscure if you don't understand
what they were doing! And the only comparable modern notation I've
ever played was a Strauss Waltz (or perhaps Polka), with multiple
overlapping repeats to keep track of.
Another example of late Medieval/early renaissance roadmaps are the
many secular songs written to poetry in rondeau form. (And yes, it
was a poetic form long before it became a musical form.) These were
always laid out in 2 musical sections (although the dividing point
between the A and B sections was not always clear), and usually only
the first verses of the text were underlaid, but the form of the
piece was complex and required repetitions of the A and B sections,
sometimes in order, sometimes not, in a very particular scheme, and
if you don't understand the form you can't perform the chanson as it
was intended. Fortunately, since this repeat scheme is text-driven,
modern editions always number the verses, so the singers can follow
those numbers, but instrumentalists playing the chanson as an
instrumental piece will tend to ignore these hints, and of course if
they are playing from facsimiles of the original manuscript there ARE
no hints.
I used overlapping repeats in one modern vocal arrangement. Once!
Never again!!! I was rushed and had to have it ready for an
impending rehearsal (and this was in the days of strictly hand
copying, and I didn't want to have to letter in all the repeated
lyrics!), and the song itself was constructed of repeated sections.
(Something about "Man In Motion" from some movie.) But I wasted much
more time in rehearsal than I saved in preparing the manuscript, and
learned my lesson!
So our repeat schemes are not just clearly notated in one and only
one way, but they are culturally influenced by what is/was expected.
Even the seemingly simple question of whether to observe repeats in
da capos (in minuets and marches in particular) is never clearcut.
Playing a minuet in concert? Sure, omit the repeats. Playing for
dancing? Different answer, and very likely a repeat scheme that
extends the music to a more desirable length.
Dennis, the one place I can think of where compound endings may still
be used regularly is in military marches that would be published in
"quickstep" size suitable for using in lyres while marching. Page
space was always at a premium, and even one additional bar could make
a difference, so a good many shortcuts had to be used. And we still
have marching bands and they still use those small-format parts, so
the engraver still has to use shortcuts that may be less than
perfectly clear.
All the best,
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.
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