Carl Peterson <carlopeter...@gmail.com> writes: > On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 4:53 AM, Phil Holmes <m...@philholmes.net> > wrote: > > > > > I have to my right hand "Hymns and Modern, New Standard" and > behind me "Songs of Praise, New Standard". Both of these use > separate voices for Sop and Alto; Tenor and Bass. I strongly > believe this is the best way of setting 4 part voice - merging the > notes into chords is just wrong, IMHO - it can confuse which voice > is singing which part. What happens when the voices cross? FWIW > Elaine Gould agrees with me: "Ideally each voice takes separate > stems". This rule is only broken in her view where space is > limited. > > Ultimately, for what I'm doing, "right" or "wrong" is irrelevant. Much > like those who are creating custom style sheets to match Henle or > Breitkopf or even (cringe) Finale or Sibelius, it doesn't really > matter what my sensibilities are or to large degree the way *I* think > it ought to be...this is the way it is, and I decide how closely I > want to match to it. The fact is that for my target audience, combined > stems are the norm, which the noted exceptions of rhythmic > differences, small intervals, or crossed voices (see below).
I'm in the same situation if I need to transcribe any hymns (which I usually don't need but whatever) - "customary" trumps "correct". Caution: wild assumptions in the following paragraph. :) In practical terms, Carl's and my hymn books may in fact be considered correct, because in many churches and/or church-music traditions, the congregation is expected to sing in unison most of the time, the choir in SATB if there is a choir, and there will (almost invariably) be an organist/keyboard player. It may be that the notation chosen is a compromise to minimize inconvenience for everyone, according to how much they use the notation and how closely they read it - i.e. "all those notes" are primarily for the keyboard, and a choir will have little trouble reading four-part keyboard music. This might not be the case in traditions where the custom is for everyone to sing SATB without instruments. -- David R _______________________________________________ lilypond-user mailing list lilypond-user@gnu.org https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user