Excess verbal information?

[David Ward]

See the screenshot - excess verbal information?

This is from a piece in progress, three quarters written to date and due for performance in late October to accompany projections from an artist. The piece is called Arias and Cadenzas in which the arias (A) accompany projected stills (but with barely perceptible slow changes) and the cadenzas (C) accompany active video. The structure thus becomes ACACA. The conventionally written music of the arias dictates the duration of the stills. However, with the cadenzas it is the video which will control the timing, so the three musicians will need to respond appropriately, although more to beginning and end durations than to detail.

Cadenza 1 is entirely slow and pianissimo - ultra high natural harmonics on the cello, extended low trills on the piano and gentle taps from the percussion for about three minutes and fully written out, but in such a way as to allow modest truncation or expansion to fit. Cadenza 2, though, is at least seven minutes, maybe longer. It begins the same way as Cadenza 1, but with the addition of decorative arabesques in the piano RH. However after 2-3 minutes, the character of the video changes radically, and it is here that we have the page with all the verbal information as in the screenshot. It will involve something of a dissonant cacophony, before a return to pianissimo high harmonics, trills &c to conclude the second cadenza.

The pianist will play from this score (with a page turner) and the other two from normal parts, although all three will be supplied with scores for reference. Rehearsal will take place in the venue throughout the day before the performance, and again as necessary on the day itself. A fair bit of rehearsal time is likely to be spent on synchronizing with the projections (to be on a very wide screen). Because of this screen, the musicians will be on the floor below the stage, which I think means we'll probably have to use an upright piano, rather than the otherwise available grand.

Anyway, should all, or nearly all, the verbal information on this page be at the beginning of the score or is it OK to have it on the page itself as in the screensot? (The information will be edited to make it clearer and more efficient, this is an early draft.)

Elsewhere the score looks fairly normal. The cellist (around my age) is unlikely to be fazed by anything I throw at him as, amongst many other things, he was the cellist in the first performances of Stockhausen's Helicopter String Quartet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helikopte ... chquartett , had a sequenza written for him by Berio &c. The percussionist, who plays vibraphone and temple blocks in the arias, drum kit in the cadenzas, is his son, while the pianist is a young protégé of the cellist's, and is the one who'll be playing from the score, so I don't want to cause him pointless difficulties with fatuous clutter.

[John Ruggero]

Sorry, David, for this OT comment, but your example fits another issue so well. Remember the situation where the everything except the clefs, staves and text vanishes with use of the staff tool to adjust staff distance? Does this happen with this file? That this issue is connected with heavy text memory demands was just confirmed by MM.

[David Ward]

… … Remember the situation where the everything except the clefs, staves and text vanishes with use of the staff tool to adjust staff distance? Does this happen with this file? That this issue is connected with heavy text memory demands was just confirmed by MM.

Not yet in this one! It happens all the time, though, in opera scenes with a lot of stage directions - very annoying.

[OCTO]

In my scores earlier I have used prefaces to explain all in detail. Now I use "foot-notes" (precisely attached to the stave under, not page), so I never forget what I would have written if I woul have made a preface. Also, musicians get very quick explanation of what should be done. I prefer using smaller type size, about 10 - bold, never italic. My preference is to use a dry language, even limited in grammar, in order to get it as short as possible yet clear to understand.
In your examples, I would shorten the text: think you will put it on Twitter - very limited number of letters. In practice, use only the limited information needed to execute music. Everything else you can write in the preface, if you prefer longer explanations of form, style etc.

… … Remember the situation where the everything except the clefs, staves and text vanishes with use of the staff tool to adjust staff distance? Does this happen with this file? That this issue is connected with heavy text memory demands was just confirmed by MM.

Not yet in this one! It happens all the time, though, in opera scenes with a lot of stage directions - very annoying.

Sorry, I am off here. What was confirmed?

[David Ward]

Yes, I think I can make the text much shorter and still convey what's necessary.

[John Ruggero]

Thanks for the info, David.

OCTO. there is a bug where all the notes and markings disappear when you try to move the staves with the staff tool, if there is a lot of text in the file. This was confirmed yesterday by MM.

[OCTO]

Thanks for the info, David.

OCTO. there is a bug where all the notes and markings disappear when you try to move the staves with the staff tool, if there is a lot of text in the file. This was confirmed yesterday by MM.

Disappear? Permanently as it is deleted, or just visually on the screen?
And what Finale version?

[David Ward]

Disappear? Permanently as it is deleted, or just visually on the screen?
And what Finale version?

In my experience, just while dragging, nothing permanent. That makes it very difficult and time consuming to get the result you want, but is not in itself an absolute disaster. This is with 2014.5, but may happen in other versions too.