Klarinet Archive - Posting 000306.txt from 2000/10

From: alevin@-----. Levin)
Subj: Re: [kl] how long does a note last?
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2000 12:06:10 -0400

I think you'll find that it had to do with the changing style of the music
that was being notated. Older music - church music, in particular - had
melodic lines against sustained single or double harmonic tones. (Drones,
if you will.) This was the first serious departure from unison plain
chant. There were no measure lines. As additional voices (or instruments,
since they were interchangeable) were given something to do, it became less
necessary to use the large-value notes and easier to perform parts with
small-value notes (and still no bar lines). Try it some time. All note
durations are relative anyway.
Allen

At 07:54 PM 10/5/00 -0700, you wrote:
> <><> A longer note than the breve (or brevis) was, of course, the
>longa (or long).
>
> I wonder to what extent this "speeding up" was the result of
>improved instruments that could articulate faster? Or did tempo
>markings slow down over the centuries?
>
>My dictionary defines the original notes this way:
>
>Imperfect longa = 2 breves
>Perfect longa = 3 breves
>Imperfect larga = 2 longas
> (perfect or imperfect? it doesn't say)
>Perfect larga = 3 longas
> (the longest note, called a 'maxima')
>
>
>Cheers,
> Bill
>
>
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