Alain, I agree with you entirely, although I always have to go back to my music dictionary to look up continuo (abbeviation for basso continuo, a notation of numbers for the intervals above the bass for accompanyment).
It may not be of help to your project but may I suggest a book that shows a great deal of the process. "Composers at Work, the Craft of Musical Composition 1450 - 1600", by Jesse Ann Owens. Lots of facsimiles of original notations, and their translation into modern notation. I think I paid about $10 US for it, if you are interested I'll look up the web site of the seller, but it is Oxford University Press as publisher. Coming back to the continuo, in the sense of figured bass, I am being quite honest with you when I say that I can play continuo on the guitar without a "fake book" (yeah, sometimes it takes a few passes). And I guess the chording "fake book" would be the modern equivalent of the figured bass. But even so the setting and interpretation can be different. I'll use a trivial example, as it is a familiar modern "traditional piece". The song "Scarborough Fair" by Simon and Garfunkel is a variation on a traditional song - whether they wrote the variation or picked it up from someone else I don't know. The traditional is in a major key (and not as interesting, or as saccharine). Their varation on the melody can be played in the relative minor (Aolian) quite reasonably, but it sounds a lot better in the Dorian. Were one to cast the old melody in C major their melody would play off it in either Aolian or Dorian, and either would stay on the "white keys". And that is where you are right, the "continuo by ear" may be satisfactory (and usually perfect if the melody is simple) but not always best. And there I see a problem for your proposed software. My harp ensemble sometimes uses music from "fake books", and the chording is often less than optimal for the sense of the piece. But then I may be misreading your intent - as you do speak of the original continuo figures. As you say, the number of interpretations is staggering. More power to you, and I'd love to see your progress. Best, Jon > Jon, > Thank you for your comments - I agree with them on the whole. Your > remark on the C# in particular is interesting. Still, even if the > transcription was done for keyboard or a more modern harp than Carolan > would have used, the arrangements are interesting for what they are: > late 18th century Irish harmonizations of tunes familiar to those people > at that time. I am sure that there is much more to the engraved music > than I can actually personally dig with my meager musical education, > hence my interest in sharing them with potentially more knowledgeable > people. > I should say that I am primarily concerned in this work as a software > developer who is trying to build tools to make it easier for people to > make their own arrangements, rather than provide final documents. From > that point of view, the applications are rather wider than just a > transcription of a couple of pieces of Irish music. Anyone dealing with > music from the 17th century all the way to the classical era will know > what I am talking about. Even when you are given the continuo figures, > the range of possible interpretations is truly staggering. One way of > resolving that problem is to actually use an actual realization from the > period, even though it may be for another instrument. In that type of > situations, I see three phases of work: the plain transcription of the > realised continuo, a quick and dirty adaptation for your instrument done > by the software, and the final and most important phase, the reworking > of that adaptation done by the player on the instrument to fit the > natural qualities of his instrument and own personal skills. My goal is > to minimize the time and effort needed for the first 2 phases, so that > musicians can go as directly as possible to the third phase. > Of course, real continuo players don't need software - or pen and paper > - to play their part, or at least that is what they will claim if they > are not very honest with you. .. But there is much to be learned from > that exercise anyways. Even if O'Carolan never played a gig with a luter. > Alain > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
