NOTATIO

One thing that might force the oboe part to be in a smaller size is the double notes for the unisons. Are they really necessary when it says "a 3", or how to explain that? I can't recall having seen this notation before.

Thank you, John for your valuable explanation. I see now that the C is more than just a conventional harmonic choice. For me it gives the theme a decidedly 'dominantic' quality. For me 'dominantic' isn't just a technical term - referring to a group of harmonies that interact with other harmonies acc...

I already feel that I have to nuance what I said in the previous post: Especially with Beethoven the dominant tone generally takes on a greater significance than otherwise, since his harmony is so strongly dominant-oriented. On the other hand, I'm not convinced that the beginning of this sonata is a...

In "the case of the missing staccato" I think there ar four kinds of argument presented here: 1. Structural analysis (pointing out the importance of the note C at the start). 2. Period practice. 3. Interpretation. 4. Respecting the composer's own notation. After some thought, I'm less convinced by N...

Thank you John for pointing out all these details of Beethoven's notation. It's really thought-stimulating. So, in the case of the missing staccato, I'm wondering: It's very convincing that the C has a structural significance in the main theme section (and others), but would that in any way be weake...

Maybe the last example could be interpreted the other way round: that the upstemmed notes at the end are the more important ones, letting the sonata end poetically hanging in the air. And closing at the starting point of the whole work as well as of this movement: the third. Just an idea. I can see ...

After having reflected a bit, I think that the idea of 'modern-looking' scores is quite related to a specific time, the 'positivist era' of the 60's and 70's. As in the example by Ligeti/PWM in my previous post. (1982, late in that era.) In later scores I've found a much more traditional, 'pragmatic...

My guess is that the composer intended to draw a 'hypnotic slur'. The character given for the music: 'nostalgic, very smooth and hypnotic'. Maybe there are no real rules for 'hypnotic slurs'. (I haven't found any with Gould.)

Thanks for letting me know, and for directing me to the manuscript. The examples given above with different-sized notes all seem to be more or less about saving space. Do you know of any intentional, expressive/structural use of sizes between the two traditional ones (regular and grace-note/cadenza ...

At a first glance it looks like the slur is meant mainly for the sixteenth sixtuplets (and triplet), but then it isn't quite consistent. During the first two quarters it wouldn't have had to be placed above the notes at all, and just at the end it should have gone below the notes if following the pa...