Text layout page 1

[Hector Pascal]

Hi all,
On the first page of music when there is a movement number, should the composer's name and date appear above the level of the movement number, or below the level of the movement number? I could be convinced either way at the moment!

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Cheers,
HP.

[MalteM]

To me it seems logical to place the composer name above the movement number because you’re not the composer of the first movement only, are you? (The FAE sonata should have Albert Dietrich below number I.)

Of course, many things are not strictly logical in music notation …

[David Ward]

FWIW here are three examples of my approach, each is a little different. I don't remember the logic for any of them, but each seemed to work in its own way.

[OCTO]

As far as I know, the composer's name is typically positioned at the top of the musical staff, aligned to the right. Usually, it appears affixed to the first system, maintaining a proximity that is neither overly compact nor excessively spaced. But it is usually the closest placed "introductory item". So I would say, definitely the second of @Hector Pascal 's example.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that this practice is not an absolute rule, but rather a conventional norm that allows for potential variations.
Here are some examples:

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[David Ward]

Yes, I think I agree with OCTO despite the look of the second of my examples in which the DW name looks oddly orphaned. A random sample of scores from my shelves would seem to bear this out.

[MichelRE]

count me in the opposite direction.
I far prefer the composer name to be below the title and sub-title, but higher than any other information (ie: movement number).
but that's just moi.

[John Ruggero]

The second way that you show it in the OP is the standard way, as described by OCTO and David.

Opus numbers often follow the composer name after a comma, or can be centered below the composer name or centered below the title itself. If you include the date of composition instead, it might follow one of those traditions. That is, it might be centered below the composer name or title or perhaps parenthesized after or below your name or title. I don't think I've seen the date right-justified below the composer name as you have it in your examples.

[Hector Pascal]

Thank you very much to all for the helpful advice and for the illustrations of score pages; it's appreciated!

Cheers and thanks again,
HP.

[OCTO]

I don't think I've seen the date right-justified below the composer name as you have it in your examples.

Indeed, it is customary for the year of creation to be attached to the title, typically appearing below it. @Hector Pascal example could potentially lead to the erroneous interpretation that the composer was born in the year 2023!

[David Ward]

As an addendum to this thread, I wonder how people might judge this layout when the writer of the words (who died in 1936) is given equal prominence to the (still living!) composer of the music?

It is not so common in ‘art song’ to display the writer of the words in this way, although it is standard for show songs et al. For a number of reasons, it seemed to me essential to display Kipling's name thus at the top of this piece written a year ago.

BTW (and in case anyone on the forum is interested: maybe not?) that really is the correct UK military tempo for the ‘First Post’ bugle call as given in the official instructions to infantry buglers and cavalry trumpeters. At the other end of this long ballad I have the ‘Last Post’ but at a somewhat slower tempo, such as one often hears at funerals nowadays. In 1895 when Kipling wrote the ballad, it was not yet a regular practice to play the ‘Last Post’ at funerals, rather it was a signal for the end of the military day and was played a while before the bugle call for ‘Lights Out’. However, since my piece is for a modern audience, the funeral associations are real, especially at = 116.