Hello Julia and others, I like this reply very much. This has been a good thread and a great endorsement of the varied interests which emerge from and return to the discussion of our favourite instrument.
It's also a good demonstration of both the value and the disadvantages of this list medium. The disadvantages are obvious. Searching for topics in the list archives would be unsuccessful in the present instance since the header is 'Deaf/Dead' . . the discussion has now migrated far from that original idea. For sequence of topics and responses the Forum medium is far superior. On the other hand, the present list facility is excellent for immediate conversational responses. And I must say, I thoroughly enjoy the odd and interesting mutations that emerge in these discussions! Francis On 21 Jun 2011, at 10:05, Julia Say wrote: > On 20 Jun 2011, Gibbons, John wrote: > >> "stacc. abbreviated form of staccato (Italian: detached, separated) >> staccare (Italian) to detach, to separate each note" >> The word has its natural meaning, in other words. > >> Stacatissimo is what some people think it means, but it doesn't! > > I believe I read (probably in the online dolmetsch.com music theory site > since > that's what I tend to use) that in classical / art music terms these days, a > note > with a staccato dot should be played half length of what is printed, (so a > crotchet > becomes a quaver, for instance), whilst staccatissimo means the note should > be > played one quarter of the written value. > > I have more than a suspicion that the precise meaning of these terms varies > from > instrument to instrument (different characteristics and all that) as well as > through historical and musical time. > > Maybe an exploration of the relevance and meaning of such terms for the nsp > is > worthwhile. Tenuto also appears to mean separated, but only by a hair's > breadth, > which I think we should appropriate, as it describes exactly what we > sometimes > want. Reading (this time on Wikipedia) legato can be either separated or > joined > (slurred legato?) depending on instrument and context. What / which do we > (nsp-ers) > mean by it? And under what circumstances? > > I once played classical flute - where staccato dots often (but not always) > meant > tongueing, slurs meant no tongueing. And so on and so forth. Each of us is > coming > to the nsp with a slightly different perspective and experience and we have > to bear > this in mind in discussions > > We have staccatissimo marks in Peacock on Meggy's Foot - and all seem agreed > that > this is a highly exaggerated staccato tune. > > So, in our case, staccatissimo could be said to be "as short as you can > possibly > make it", whilst "staccato" is with the bounce that most players seem to > apply to > (for example) the first of a pair of repeated notes. Not something that's > ever been > pointed out to me formally but "most" players do it, almost by instinct. > Which > makes it traditional in my book. > > If we can find a consensus on how these terms are / should be used in > nspiping, > discussions might be a little less confrontational. > > Julia (who has been told off by both Chris O and I- Adrian for playing "too > staccato" - yeeeeees!) > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
