Listsibs:
I want to transcribe a late Renaissance choral piece for small brass ensemble of advanced beginner to early intermediate level. This piece starts with duple prolation and continues that way for about half the piece, at which oint it changes to triple prolation for about a quarter of the piece, and then returns to duple prolation for the last quarter. The character of the piece suggests that two beats of the duple prolation and three beats of the triple prolation should have the same duration
I'm having a problem, though, where the change from 2/2 to 3/2 happens. The cadence in the duple prolation section just before the change ends with a whole measure--two beats, but the triple prolation section has an upbeat, so that where S and W are strong and weak beats in double prolation, and s and w are strong and weak beats in triple prolation, the pattern is
S W S W w s w w s w w ^ ^^ ^ ^
My first inclination is to start the piece with a meter signature of 2/2 and to put a double bar and a change to a meter signature of 3/2 at ^^, (with regular bar lines at ^).
What say ye?
Dear Noel,
IMHO, this sounds like a canzona such as those of Gabrieli where sections in triple meter follow sections in duple. In just about every case I know (in reputable editions) when 2/2 (or 4/4) is used for the duple section and 3/2 is used for the triple, a half note in the duple = dotted whole in the triple - half of the duple "measure" = all of the triple "measure." If the triple section begins with an up-beat, I would put a double bar at the end of the 2/2 measures, change the meter to 3/2, put a bar line after the up-beat, then continue with ordinary bar line position for the rest of the 3/2 measures. It should be obvious to players that the "short" bar" is an up-beat. However, if the cadence is really strong, a little space might be allowed before the up-beat, in which case I would begin the 3/2 section with two half rests, allowing the up-beat to reside in a full bar. In my head I can hear one of Gabrieli's canzonas that does just that.
I have seen some editions where a whole note in the 2/2 section = a dotted whole in the 3/2 section. I think this makes the triple section move much too slowly.
Again, IMHO.
Hal
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