Britten's Curlew sign in two-part contrapuntal writing
Do the down-stemmed notes with the curlew sign take an upside-down version of it?
Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.
Do the down-stemmed notes with the curlew sign take an upside-down version of it?
Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.
Comments
Curlew in contrapuntal writing...sounds scary.
I've never seen a curlew written in a score, sorry.
In reply to Curlew in contrapuntal by mike320
You'll find a Britten and two more examples here:
http://www.sibelius.com/cgi-bin/helpcenter/chat/chat.pl?com=thread&star…
I agree. In 2-part counterpoint, it sounds scary.
In reply to You'll find a Britten and two by MikeHalloran
I know what the symbol looks like, I just don't know if you turn it upside down (like a marcato) if you put it on the bottom of the staff because I have never seen an actual score with it. MS has one in the symbols. press z (for master palette), select symbols and search curlew.
I'd consider the curlew sign to be in the same category of marks/directions such as segno, coda, "Tutti". In that case, there should be no up-side-down curlew.
For what it's worth - even though I consider an upside-down-curlew to be a non-requirement - a similar symbol to an inverted curlew may be found by pressing z, selecting "Symbols" and searching for "Hold" until you find the "Hold finger in place" symbol.
In reply to For what it's worth - even by underquark
I haven't seen such a symbol, but since it exists, and, considering the name given, when would it be used for per se?
In reply to I haven't seen such a symbol, by Ragokyo
It's used when some lines of music are give leeway to move along faster than the rest. The symbol tells the faster moving part(s) to wait for the others to catch up while holding the note. The effect cannot be reproduced in MuseScore without a lot of rewriting of the score.
In reply to It's used when some lines of by mike320
It carries the same interpretation with the right-curlew sign then. Are there any published scores that contain this 'Hold finger in place' symbol?
In reply to It carries the same by Ragokyo
The only piece I know of that uses it is Benjamin Britten's opera Curlew River.
In reply to The only piece I know of that by mike320
Oh, I don't mean Britten's curlew sign; I mean the one that looks exactly as one, but it is an upside-down version of it that is given the name 'Hold finger in place' (see underquark's comment). I thought it was odd that it was named thus and not 'Upside-down Curlew Sign'.
In reply to Oh, I don't mean Britten's by Ragokyo
I see. I haven't seen that symbol before, but I don't play any stringed instrument.
In reply to I see. I haven't seen that by mike320
As a violin player I have not met this "keep your finger down" sign either, but my first idea was that the name fit the piano (keeping your finger down is necessary to keep a tone going, but bowing is the key--while on the piano keeping a finger down keeps the damper off this particular string).
In reply to As a violin player I have not by azumbrunn
I thought it might be something for a guitarist (or bowed string player) to tell them that the finger they are using on a string needs to stay there because they are about to play that note again.
In reply to I thought it might be by mike320
At least for bowed instruments straight lines are generally used to indicate a finger kept "in reserve" (e.g. 2____), a little like in figured basse.
Can somebody please post a picture of a curlew sign, not a learned dissertation on it?
I am a pretty good English speaker but the meaning of the word "curlew" (outside of music) is not known to me or at least not precisely. I am also quite familiar with notation yet I have never seen a sign called curlew. So I am sure there are plenty of people who would profit from seeing the picture.
In reply to Can somebody please post a by azumbrunn
Here is a curlew above the note. It looks like a bird which is what a curlew is.
![curlew.png]( "curlew.png")
In reply to Here is a curlew above the by mike320
Thanks!
BTW if a bird is upside down, it will fall out of the sky. We don't want that to happen, do we?
In reply to Thanks! BTW if a bird is by azumbrunn
I do believe that is possible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AeJ3aLm0UY