On 6 Jun 2010 at 16:31, John Howell wrote: > At 2:35 PM -0500 6/6/10, Noel Stoutenburg wrote: > >dc wrote: > > > >>I know Ted Ross says this is "used very seldom in published music", > >>and I wrote out the whole part myself. But this is a suggestion I've > >>been asked to follow... > > > >If the one making the suggestion is the one who is going to be > >realizing the part, I'd ask him or her exactly what they want to see > >and do it that way for them. Otherwise, I perceive the sign as a way > >either to save time for the engraver or typesetter on the one hand, > >or paper on the other, and the change in tools, and price of paper > >make either one of such little concern today, that in the absence of > >a specific request from a performer, publisher, or composer, I'd just > >do as you did, and copy the whole thing out. > > Ah, both Noel and David seem to have assumed that you're talking about > a realized continuo part, where I assumed that you simply meant a bass > line. Which is it? If it's a continuo part then of course any > harmony changes should be indicated, as David suggested.
I did *not* assume a realized part -- I assumed a bass line for the continuo player, with figures. If the harmony changes and the figures are not identical for all repetitions of the ground, then it needs to be written out. In the case I described, the harmonies were *not* the same, but I knew the piece backwards and forwards, having played one of the gamba parts several times in performance, so I didn't need the figures -- my ear knew where the harmonies varied (as well as where to reduce the number of voices for dynamics and where to put large agogic articulations and so forth). The part for the solo bass continuo player is a different animal, and I haven't a clue what is best. Personally, I prefer having the figures when playing the bass line, but that's because the implications of the harmonies clue me into what to do musically (e.g., 6 is almost often a strong chord leading to its resolution, so quite often benefits from a crescendo). -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
