On Wed, Jun 30, 2021 at 12:02 PM Lukas-Fabian Moser <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Why is the key sharp even so high on the staff in the first place? Is there a
> point to it beside the maybe visually? If not, we will just change it all
> around the world I guess! ;)
>
> I’m not a music historian, so can’t tell you that. Once a player has some
> familiarity with key signatures, they’re not read note by note but perceived
> as a shape which says “G major” or “E minor” etc. The shape is conventional,
> and at some stage your pupil will have to switch from your chosen shape to
> the conventional one.
>
> In old sheet music it's not uncustomary to print the key signature in
> different positions from what we're now used to, and - perhaps more
> surprisingly - it's not even uncommon to find the "same" sharp in different
> octaves. For example, see the following key signatures in Heinichen:
>
> So, "three sharps" (but not in modern arrangement) for the two violins,
> "four sharps" (which are actually three) for soprano and bass. That's
> interesting insofar as today we're basically used to only counting the
> total number of flats/sharps. So, if one looks only at the soprano line,
> one might mistake the key signature for e major, but in fact it's a major.
> (As an additional twist, Heinichen's example piece is actually in e major,
> but he writes all the d-sharp's in-place.)
>
> I can't tell when the layout of the key signatures became standardised.
> But I definitely recall instances of non-standard key signature
> configuration in manuscripts by Clara Schumann, for example.
>
> Back on topic: How hard would it be in LilyPond to print \key g \major in
> treble clef with two f-sharp accidentals in the key signature (for f' and
> f'')?
>
> Lukas
>
I apologize for joining this thread so late. I can't remember if this has
been answered well or not. I *do* know that I had to solve a similar
problem when I was transposing Bartok's violin duets so I could play them
on viola as they were intended (i.e., positions, fingerings) to be played
on violin. In duet 11, the key signature for the first violin has three
flats, but not the ones I would expect (the second violin's part has no
flats or sharps, but that's just an interesting note, so to speak). Here's
the solution I used. It was a while ago, vis-a-vis Lilypond versions, but I
believe it would still work.
%%%%%%%%%%%%% Start clip %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
CradleA =
\transpose g c {
\relative c' { % viola
\set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((4 . ,FLAT)
(2 . ,FLAT)
(6 . ,FLAT))
% \clef treble
\clef alto %viola
\numericTimeSignature
\time 2/4
\override Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn.line-break-permission = ##f
R2^\markup {
\concat {
\larger \bold {"Lento, "} \tiny \note {4} #UP " = 63"
}
} |
R2 |
R2 |
R2 |
\time 3/4
df'8--\mf^\markup\italic{(rubato)} c-- bf-- bf-- c-- df-- |
df8-- c-- bf-- bf-- c-- df~ |
df2. |
\break
c8-- c-- bf2~ |
bf4. bf8--\noBeam bf-- c-- |
\time 2/4
df8--[ df-- c-- df--] |
\time 3/4
\override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text = "rallent."
c2.\startTextSpan |
bf2.*7/8 s2.*1/8\stopTextSpan |
\break
R2.^\markup\italic{a tempo} |
df8-- c-- bf-- bf-- c-- df-- |
df8-- c-- bf-- bf-- c-- df~ |
\time 2/4
df2 |
\time 3/4
c8-- c-- bf2~ |
bf4. bf8\noBeam-- bf-- c-- |
\break
\time 2/4 |
df8-- df-- c-- df-- |
\override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text = "rallent. "
c2\startTextSpan |
\time 3/4
bf2. |
\time 2/4
R2^\markup\italic{a tempo}\stopTextSpan |
\time 3/4
R2.\startTextSpan |
r4 bf2~\pp |
bf2.\stopTextSpan |
\bar "|."
}
}
%%%%%%%% end clip %%%%%%%%%%%%
I'm afraid this doesn't include the \Score instructions. Those were in a
separate file. I could provide \Score instructions, if that's necessary.
The pertinent part is near the beginning - the
"
\set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((4 . ,FLAT)
(2 . ,FLAT)
(6 . ,FLAT))
" part.
This produces a key signature with g flat, e flat, and b flat.
Hope this helps,
Ralph
--
Ralph Palmer
Seattle
USA
(he, him, his)
[email protected]
