Hemiole
alessi...@yahoo.de
about the subject "hemiole" for educational purposes.
Since the subject is quite enormous (already the meaning of the word
"hemiole" changes quite a lot through the centuries) I would be happy
about any piece of information from the group wisdom.
Thanks in advance
Alessio Nocita
Sybrand Bakker
You need to be aware of the many situations where the hemiola isn't
qualified as such, or is indicated only by a temporary change of
mensuration, often by so-called 'color'.
I would also recommend trying to get hold of Putnam Aldrich Rhythm in
17-th century music. In early 17-th century it was quite common the
mensuration didn't indicate the 'mesasure'.
This particular book was, IIRC, published in 1968, so you need to go
to a library for it.
John Howell
>I am trying to write a list of all renaissance and baroque sources
>about the subject "hemiole" for educational purposes.
theorists. A shift of meter like hemiola requires a steady triple
meter to begin with. Now where you WILL find references is in
renaissance dance step patterns and dance manuals, and in particular
the galliard step combinations which do use hemiola steps matching
the hemiolas in the music. They are not exactly subtle! The four
books by Negri and Caruso are packed full of galliard choreographies,
although the renaissance Italian is daunting even for a native
speaker. Julia Sutton may have published a translation of at least
one of those books. I'm not sure you will find much in Arbeau's
"Orchesography," since he gives basic steps rather than lots of
variations. And Mabel Dolmetsch's books are not quite to be trusted,
since she approached just about everything through traditional ballet.
A good start might be Robert Donnington's book, "The Interpretation
of Early Music," which while rather old in terms of the most recent
research is excellent on the basics. He does a pretty good job of
separating his interpretations and opinions from the translations
from original sources.
John
--
John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:John....@vt.edu)
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
Greg Lindahl
John Howell <John....@vt.edu> wrote:
> The four books by Negri and Caruso are packed full of galliard
> choreographies, although the renaissance Italian is daunting even
> for a native speaker. Julia Sutton may have published a translation
> of at least one of those books.
3 books.
Negri's 2nd edition is the same as the 1st, and Yvonne Kendall's PhD
thesis has a translation of it (order from UMI).
Caroso's 1600 book is translated by Julia Sutton, the book is in print
and quite cheap.
Caroso's 1580 book is translated here: http://jducoeur.org/IlBallarino/
There's also Santucci, Compasso, Lupi, etc. all not yet translated.
-- greg
bill
difference between 3/4 and 6/8 time. the example given was bernstein's
"i like to be in a-mer-i-ca - ok by me in a-mer-i-ca." is it right to
think of hemiole as a rhythmic option, to be used where applicable and
at the discretion of the musician?
- bill
Roman Turovsky
"bill" <billkil...@virgilio.it> wrote in message
news:1138891089.3...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
is found.
You'd find them in closings of halves of courantes where there is a clear
switch from 3/4 to 2/4,
while the "bernstein" thingy is often found in Iberian music for Baroque
Guitar. See Paulo Galvao's Canario in d-minor at
http://polyhymnion.org/adc/music-download.htm
RT
Laura Conrad
bill> found hemole mentioned on the mandolin.cafe site in relation
bill> to the difference between 3/4 and 6/8 time. the example
bill> given was bernstein's "i like to be in a-mer-i-ca - ok by me
bill> in a-mer-i-ca."
Another example from American pop music is "E- vry- thing's- com- ing-
up ro- ses- and violets- from "Everything's coming up Roses" in Gypsy.
bill> is it right to think of hemiole as a rhythmic option, to be
bill> used where applicable and at the discretion of the musician?
It's certainly notated by the composers. I'm not saying you couldn't
improvise other places to use it.
--
Laura (mailto:lco...@laymusic.org , http://www.laymusic.org/ )
(617) 661-8097 fax: (501) 641-5011
233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139
Flavio FB
Hi Bill,
with regards to early music, I think you have to follow
what the music looks like. You can clearly see hemioles
in Handel: once you spot them, it is very clear where
and when to do them.
Just my two cents,
Flavio
John Howell
used at the discretion of the composer. The performer may choose to
emphasize it or deemphasize it. Corelli used it widely and Handel
only slightly less so. Corelli's uses are clearcut and must be
brought out. With Handel there is more of a choice. And yes, the
Bernstein is a textbook example.
bill
usually performed by clapping hands. it's ok for the first run through
but clapping only twice, then only once and then not at all during
subsequent repetitions - i find - can be a crowd pleaser.
you don't suppose mucking around with these pieces will bar me from my
celestial reward, do you? ...
- bill
Arthur Ness
"John Howell" <John....@vt.edu> wrote in message news:mailman.343.113889...@lists2.wu-wien.ac.at...
eugene braig
I wasn't saying that "America" is an example of hemiola, but was "like"
hemiola in its shifting of the pulse.
alessi...@yahoo.de
>is found.
>You'd find them in closings of halves of courantes where there is a clear
>switch from 3/4 to 2/4,
It's just my opinion, but I think that early music (both in 17th and
18th century) is full of passages where you can just (and even have to)
DECIDE whether to play hemiola or not.
Just in French courantes it's in very many cases not at all clear from
the score if an hemiola is "written in" from the composer. Each
musician has to take his own decision...
I think that makes the existence of different interpretation even more
fascinating, and gives new material and occasion to improvisation (one
of the souls of early music, my own opinion as a continuo player)
Alessio Nocita
Alain Naigeon
bcpEf.5977$J81.3212@trndny01...
>
> "bill" <billkil...@virgilio.it> wrote in message
> news:1138891089.3...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > found hemole mentioned on the mandolin.cafe site in relation to the
> > difference between 3/4 and 6/8 time. the example given was bernstein's
> > "i like to be in a-mer-i-ca - ok by me in a-mer-i-ca." is it right to
> > think of hemiole as a rhythmic option, to be used where applicable and
> > at the discretion of the musician?
It depends, IMHO. Once you've discovered the concept, you begin to
see many hemioles, and I've heard some teachers advising" don't
play hemioles everywhere".
This said :
- hemioles happen often at a cadence ;
- in old notation, hemiole could be explicitely shown by "coloration",
for instance if you write three black breves (whole notes) instead
of two perfect (ternary) breves, then it does mean 3 x 2 instead of 2 x3.
unfortunately, this information has been often lost by some editors in
modern transcriptions.
But in renaissance dance, the alternance between 2x3 and 3x2 is so
idiomatic that it was rarely notated explicitely, and you have to play it
nevertheless (I left open, for more expert persons, the question whether
you still call them hemioles when it happens every two bars, for example ;
in modern editions the time signature is often written 6 4 / 3 2, for
instance, but it is left to you to decide where you play each rhythmic
pattern ; words can be a good hint :
is it an hemiole, is it an hemiole ?
. . . - - . . . - -
:-)
--
Français *==> "Musique renaissance" <==* English
midi - facsimiles - ligatures - mensuration
http://anaigeon.free.fr | http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/anaigeon/
Alain Naigeon - anai...@free.fr - Strasbourg, France
Arthur Ness
"Alain Naigeon" <anai...@free.fr> wrote in message news:43e3c4af$0$17431$626a...@news.free.fr...
Matthew Peaceman
'hemiolisch' though the bass line does not support the hemiole. These
moments cannot really be classified as real hemiola. This makes them
interesting moments left open to interpretation though. My favorite is
the first menuet in the first orch. suite by JS Bach.) Here Bach writes
the top voices in such a manner that it is possible, in the first half,
to play three hemiola in a row and then suddenly find oneself in the
middle of the first REAL hemiole in the cadenza to the first double bar.
Due to the melodic/rythmic ambiguity it is possible to accentuate the
hemiole aspect of the first 6 bars or not, but definitely accentuating
the only real hemiole in the whole menuet: bars 6&7. By real I mean of
course a hemiole that is supported in the bass line (harmonically) as
such. In the second part of the menuet Bach continues to play with this
ambiguity to the bitter end, but then completely leaves out the expected
hemiole in the last cadence of this menuet. A study in rhythmical
layering not without a touch of bemusement I think. An ensemble can have
a lot of fun with it. Ignoring this aspect always seems to miss the
point of the movement. It is an exception though.
If there is a hemiole in the bass then it IS a hemiole. What the
performer chooses to do with it is is another thing. If a seeming
hemiole in the upper voice(s) is not supported by a hemiole in the bass
then it is not a REAL hemiole. If one consciously decides to accentuate
the ambiguity, it is an artistic decision, if the performer doesn't know
one way or the other whether or not there is a true (harmonically
supported) hemiole, he or she hasn't done his/her homework yet.
Decisions made on that sort of basis are a little arbitrary for my taste.
Matthew
>It's just my opinion, but I think that early music (both in 17th and
18th century) is full of passages where you can just (and even have to)
DECIDE whether to play hemiola or not.
Just in French courantes it's in very many cases not at all clear from
the score if an hemiola is "written in" from the composer. Each
musician has to take his own decision...
I think that makes the existence of different interpretation even more
fascinating, and gives new material and occasion to improvisation (one
of the souls of early music, my own opinion as a continuo player)
Alessio Nocita<
--
Email: mpea...@mpeaceman.com
Web: http://www.mpeaceman.com
Gilles Radenne
<43e3c4af$0$17431$626a...@news.free.fr>, a écrit :
> But in renaissance dance, the alternance between 2x3 and 3x2 is so
> idiomatic that it was rarely notated explicitely, and you have to play it
> nevertheless (I left open, for more expert persons, the question whether
> you still call them hemioles when it happens every two bars, for example ;
> in modern editions the time signature is often written 6 4 / 3 2, for
> instance, but it is left to you to decide where you play each rhythmic
> pattern ; words can be a good hint :
> is it an hemiole, is it an hemiole ?
In renaissance lute music, where notes durations are not written in
tablature and there is no words to help, it can be tricky to decide
whether it's an hemiole. Dowland's galliards are a good example. (and are,
in my opinion, some of Dowland's more difficult work to play, because of
all those rythmic breaks, which do not always follow a regular patter of
two or four bars.)
--
Gilles