NOTATIO

You are very welcome, Knut. I agree; Piston's statement is not thought through. But he is probably right that players of instruments that lack control over the sustain of single tones are less sensitive to such effects for single tones and should probably take up a second or third instrument or do s...

I don't think of these markings in such a clear-cut way, so a > might vary in meaning depending on the situation. Also I have always considered sf and ^ as markings relative to the prevailing dynamic. A sf in the midst of pp can be seen in the Beethoven op 7 example that I just posted at http://nota...

Very interesting! I just listened to a variety of recordings of the passage, and with the exception of Wilhelm Kempff, all of them seemed to hold the long r.h. notes in the second and fourth measures by their full value. The shorter notes seemed to vary more, but, in my estimation, only due to vari...

Thank you, Ere, for an excellent presentation of the situation. Your system of ten. and — is certainly clear, but I think a less cumbersome system that preserves the visually logical — to mean "long note" as opposed to the . for a "short note" with the combination of — and . to m...

Thanks, David. I just meant that the big folk-like legato melodies of 19th century opera had a tremendous effect on musical style. And of course, good musicians have always used clear declamation in all styles. Here is a way that one might actually play the first few measures of the third movement o...

In the Baroque and Classical styles, articulation was a primary means of expression and this music comes to life when players use a great variety in the lengths of notes and degrees of silence between tones. One of the reasons that Bach et al didn't write in many markings was that the articulation u...

I said the same thing, in so many words, in a post prior to yours, which is why I got confused by your reaction. I thought I made it clear that I considered the tied notation fine if used appropriately. If not, I am very sorry for the confusion. I'm guessing the reason for this is the now establish...

David, your solution to tie something over would certainly be the best one and works particularly well in this case, since the "orchestral hell" would cover the release. Knut, as usual I don't think we are far apart. If precision is required, then by all means notate it. But if precision i...

Thanks for the clarification, David. I thought you were talking about the negative effect being a keyboard player had on the quality of those guys' orchestration. Yet they all orchestrated marvelously in my opinion. And I think there is world of difference between a composer who knows what he asks w...

David Ward wrote: ↑21 Oct 2017, 09:56 I find myself troubled by this in reverse when trying to concoct (and that is the best word) a piano reduction vocal score, but needs must…

Brahms gave a good piece of advice about piano reductions; leave out as many notes as possible.