Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
Stephen Lamb wrote: I'm currently working on editing a piece for orchestra and narrator, and a question came up about standard practice. Often, when the narrator is delivering his line, there are rests in the orchestra with fermatas over them. I've inserted cues, the last line the narrator reads, in all the parts. Currently the score is set up the same way, with the conductor seeing the last line, like the orchestra, with plans to include the full narration on a separate page at the beginning of the score. How is it usually done? Is it better for the full narration to be in the score, even at a small print size, or would that just clutter up the score? Speaking with my conductor's hat on now, I will side with all those who have expressed an opinion that the score should contain the full narration. It is so important to know just how long any section of the narration is, rather than simply waiting for the last couple of lines. -- David H. Bailey dhbai...@davidbaileymusicstudio.com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
And a great gift for a conductor! Thanks, Ryan; good to know. I was thinking rental only since it isn't in the Luck's Catalog. John At 10:14 PM -0800 1/11/10, Ryan Beard wrote: The score to Lincoln portrait is readily available from Boosey Hawkes in their affordable masterworks study scores series. It's in an anthology with a few other tunes. Makes a great tax deduction! On Jan 11, 2010, at 9:32 PM, John Howell john.how...@vt.edu wrote: At 8:39 PM -0600 1/11/10, Robert Patterson wrote: I'm not sure there is standard practice. The two std. rep. pieces for orchestra with narration that come to mind are Peter and the Wolf and Mendelssohn's MIdsummer Night's Dream. The Prokofiev includes the entire narration in the score, as I believe also does the Mendelssohn. (The parts for both only have excerpts of the narration as needed.) If it were me, I would include the entire narration in the score in the pauses where they are to be delivered. At the very least I would look at both those scores before making a final decision. Fortunately, both are available from Dover and hence in the public domain. Copland's Lincoln Portrait is another to look at, although getting ahold of it might be more difficult. There is a concert band version that might be easier to track down. John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html We never play anything the same way once. Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html We never play anything the same way once. Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
At 8:26 AM +0100 1/12/10, Jari Williamsson wrote: In addition to the works already listed by others, Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra has the full cues listed. The cues are with music, sometimes the cue is at one single fermata, sometimes the cue spans over multiple fermatas. Thanks, Jari. I've always found that using multiple fermatas creates more confusion than it saves. There's one place in The King I where the Kind's statement: Is a puzzlement! is spread over 2 measures for no good reason, and it threw our orchestra every time. John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html We never play anything the same way once. Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
I'm not sure there is standard practice. The two std. rep. pieces for orchestra with narration that come to mind are Peter and the Wolf and Mendelssohn's MIdsummer Night's Dream. The Prokofiev includes the entire narration in the score, as I believe also does the Mendelssohn. (The parts for both only have excerpts of the narration as needed.) If it were me, I would include the entire narration in the score in the pauses where they are to be delivered. At the very least I would look at both those scores before making a final decision. Fortunately, both are available from Dover and hence in the public domain. On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 7:19 PM, Stephen Lamb jstephenl...@jslweb.com wrote: I'm currently working on editing a piece for orchestra and narrator, and a question came up about standard practice. Often, when the narrator is delivering his line, there are rests in the orchestra with fermatas over them. I've inserted cues, the last line the narrator reads, in all the parts. Currently the score is set up the same way, with the conductor seeing the last line, like the orchestra, with plans to include the full narration on a separate page at the beginning of the score. How is it usually done? Is it better for the full narration to be in the score, even at a small print size, or would that just clutter up the score? Thanks for the help. Stephen Lamb Nashville, TN ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
At 7:19 PM -0600 1/11/10, Stephen Lamb wrote: I'm currently working on editing a piece for orchestra and narrator, and a question came up about standard practice. Often, when the narrator is delivering his line, there are rests in the orchestra with fermatas over them. I've inserted cues, the last line the narrator reads, in all the parts. Currently the score is set up the same way, with the conductor seeing the last line, like the orchestra, with plans to include the full narration on a separate page at the beginning of the score. How is it usually done? Is it better for the full narration to be in the score, even at a small print size, or would that just clutter up the score? Thanks for the help. Stephen Lamb Nashville, TN Personal opinion: It is essential for the full narration to be in the score, and at a size that the conductor can read. Just as it is essential for an instrumental cadenza to be in the score of a concerto (unless it is being improvised, of course). This is NOT a good place to save a few pages! Having the cues lines in the individual parts is an option and completely up to you. I probably would not include them, simply because no orchestra member is going to come in on hearing the cue without the conductor's direction. Yes, I know that in musical theater it's common just to have the last sentence as a cue for the conductor, but guess what, I've had people mess up their lines, or even stage directors change the cues without informing the Music Director. It happens! And it leaves everyone waiting when the promised cue is not delivered. Among the conductor's jobs is to serve as a traffic cop in coordinating a large number of people. That makes it essential for him or her to follow the narration (or the cadenza), and even more essential to know what's happening in case the performer messes up and changes something or mixes things up! There should be a separate part for the narrator, of course, perhaps with musical cues (even though some narrators will not be able to read music). Coordination between conductor and narrator takes great care on both of their parts, just as it does with a concerto. As just one example, the score to Peter the Wolf includes the full narrations--in about 3 languages! John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html We never play anything the same way once. Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
At 8:39 PM -0600 1/11/10, Robert Patterson wrote: I'm not sure there is standard practice. The two std. rep. pieces for orchestra with narration that come to mind are Peter and the Wolf and Mendelssohn's MIdsummer Night's Dream. The Prokofiev includes the entire narration in the score, as I believe also does the Mendelssohn. (The parts for both only have excerpts of the narration as needed.) If it were me, I would include the entire narration in the score in the pauses where they are to be delivered. At the very least I would look at both those scores before making a final decision. Fortunately, both are available from Dover and hence in the public domain. Copland's Lincoln Portrait is another to look at, although getting ahold of it might be more difficult. There is a concert band version that might be easier to track down. John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html We never play anything the same way once. Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
The score to Lincoln portrait is readily available from Boosey Hawkes in their affordable masterworks study scores series. It's in an anthology with a few other tunes. Makes a great tax deduction! On Jan 11, 2010, at 9:32 PM, John Howell john.how...@vt.edu wrote: At 8:39 PM -0600 1/11/10, Robert Patterson wrote: I'm not sure there is standard practice. The two std. rep. pieces for orchestra with narration that come to mind are Peter and the Wolf and Mendelssohn's MIdsummer Night's Dream. The Prokofiev includes the entire narration in the score, as I believe also does the Mendelssohn. (The parts for both only have excerpts of the narration as needed.) If it were me, I would include the entire narration in the score in the pauses where they are to be delivered. At the very least I would look at both those scores before making a final decision. Fortunately, both are available from Dover and hence in the public domain. Copland's Lincoln Portrait is another to look at, although getting ahold of it might be more difficult. There is a concert band version that might be easier to track down. John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html We never play anything the same way once. Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Narrations in score
In addition to the works already listed by others, Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra has the full cues listed. The cues are with music, sometimes the cue is at one single fermata, sometimes the cue spans over multiple fermatas. Best regards, Jari Williamsson ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
