Klarinet Archive - Posting 000773.txt from 2001/09

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Tenuto as force
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 11:23:06 -0400

<><> Tony Wakefield wrote:
Do you not have a dictionary of music on your shelves, by your bedside,
in your pocket, on your dash-board - in each vehicle?

....yes, and also on my music stand in my back yard (in case I wake
up from my afternoon nap with a question in my mind).

But seriously, I thought it was a given that tenuto can serve both
purposes. For example: a staccato dot with a tenuto line underneath
(and I find this combination in my dictionary as well). The tenuto
must be force in this situation because 'full-duration staccato' is a
contradiction.

As always, musical dictionaries are not consistent.

New Harvard Dictionary defines tenuto as duration only (and by the
way, it says: "In music of the nineteenth century and since, the term
[tenuto] may call for a delay of the beat following."). Perhaps the
Harvard dictionary talks elsewhere about combined articulations, but I
didn't search exhaustively.

My pocket dictionary makes the following statement:

"A tenuto indicates that a note or chord is to be held for its full
value, or the intent may be to apply a slight stress (articulation of
force)." The same dictionary lists tenuto elsewhere as being less
emphatic than an accent.

....but back to my question. It was occasioned by a piece of
music that lends itself to taking a breath on a certain note (but no
breath mark), and the note has a tenuto. So I was debating whether
this means "Don't take a breath here!" or whether (since taking a breath
would shorten the note), it should be interpreted in the same manner as
a combined staccato + tenuto, and therefore it amounts to a shorter note
with slight extra force?

As with all musical definitions, I suppose, meanings are never
precise. It's art, not physics. I spent a moment thinking about
other potential confusions between the two meanings that I quoted above
--- namely, "delay the following note" vs. "apply slight stress
(articulation of force)". But this isn't the issue that occasioned my
question.

It's art, not physics.... probably I've answered my own
question. In fact, perhaps I've found my own tagline.

Thanks,
Bill

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