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Hey all,
So I'm learning an original piece. The key is D Major. At one point the composer has moved to an E diminished chord and has requested a trill on E. The melody part has both F naturals and F sharps in it and I'm a little uncertain which note to trill too.
I WOULD have expected to trill to the F#, given that it's in the key signature but actually the F natural seems to work too.
Does anyone have any advice about which would be the correct option? I know it's difficult given that only a handful of people have heard or seen it.
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It's difficult to say without the score in front of us. Could you post an image of that passage?
But in any case, normally if you don't get a natural above the trill, then it should be an F#
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Ask the composer!! That's the great thing about working with living composers. You can just ask them questions.
Heather Reichgott, piano
Working on: Mel (Mélanie) Bonis - Sevillana, La cathédrale blessée William Grant Still - Three Visions
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Absolutely and, naturally, I can and will do this eventually but I'd like to go into the rehearsal room with a 'correct' choice.
It actually opened up a bigger question for me which is "how do you know whether to trill up a semitone or a tone" ? I've always just thought that you go for the note in the key signature but, maybe, this isn't correct?
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"It's difficult to say without the score in front of us. Could you post an image of that passage?" Yes! I will try and do this later on
Last edited by fatar760; 06/20/16 08:56 AM.
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Ask the composer!! That's the great thing about working with living composers. You can just ask them questions. Why would you think it's a living composer?
Regards,
Polyphonist
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Ask the composer!! That's the great thing about working with living composers. You can just ask them questions. Why would you think it's a living composer? Maybe because Fatar said it was an original work?
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Ask the composer!! That's the great thing about working with living composers. You can just ask them questions. Why would you think it's a living composer? Maybe because Fatar said it was an original work? So if a composer dies, his work is no longer original?
Regards,
Polyphonist
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Ask the composer!! That's the great thing about working with living composers. You can just ask them questions. Why would you think it's a living composer? Maybe because Fatar said it was an original work? So if a composer dies, his work is no longer original? I would think anyone claiming to play an original work is the composer and therefore, alive.
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Unless he's died throughout today, the composer is very much alive hence: "Absolutely and, naturally, I can and will do this eventually but I'd like to go into the rehearsal room with a 'correct' choice. "
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Anytime you're the first performer to work on a score there is an unavoidable element of proofreading. Composers will be the first to acknowledge this if they're being honest. There's nothing wrong with asking for clarification on a point that is not clear. Sounds like this one isn't.
Heather Reichgott, piano
Working on: Mel (Mélanie) Bonis - Sevillana, La cathédrale blessée William Grant Still - Three Visions
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I would assume the trill stays in key, unless marked otherwise.
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Ask the composer!! That's the great thing about working with living composers. You can just ask them questions. Why would you think it's a living composer? Maybe because Fatar said it was an original work? So if a composer dies, his work is no longer original? I would think anyone claiming to play an original work is the composer and therefore, alive. Then I'd find it rather worrying that he refers to himself in the third person and doesn't know how an ornament he wrote himself is supposed to be played.
Regards,
Polyphonist
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Ask the composer!! That's the great thing about working with living composers. You can just ask them questions. Why would you think it's a living composer? Maybe because Fatar said it was an original work? So if a composer dies, his work is no longer original? I would think anyone claiming to play an original work is the composer and therefore, alive. Then I'd find it rather worrying that he refers to himself in the third person and doesn't know how an ornament he wrote himself is supposed to be played. That is curious, but it could be he is a novice composer and was seeking advice concerning the proper use of trills above and beyond the evidence of his own ears. Mind you, I don't believe any of what I said is the case and find it odd that it is referred to as an original work at all. The question seems to be lacking in detail.
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Wait... you mean to tell me that non novice composers do NOT make errors?
I will have you corrected that very seasoned composers can deliver scores that are FILLED with ambiguous notations issues, or questionable notation elements, all of which have to be corrected by the engraver, and editor, and then proof readers, etc.
Which is why most self published scores lack this level of polish.
And I would like to back up Heather, that indeed one can simply ask the composer, if he is alive. When she was working on my Kiev Toccata, she did ask a few questions, I think, so it's all good! ^_^ and I prefer it that way, to be honest!
BTW, I'm NOT talking about this specific composer.
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That is curious, but it could be he is a novice composer and was seeking advice concerning the proper use of trills above and beyond the evidence of his own ears. Mind you, I don't believe any of what I said is the case and find it odd that it is referred to as an original work at all. The question seems to be lacking in detail. My, what a suspicious mind you have. If I was the composer, I'd have said so and certainly wouldn't be questioning what I was being asked to play (?!) The composer IS a novice though (I could show you many note groupings and multiple ledger line writing that would make you want to pull your hair out!) and it is certainly an original work. As stated, I could easily ask him what he'd like for the trill but was looking for confirmation on a wider question which was how ANYONE ever knows if it's a tone or a semitone that is to required (I tend to agree with Rubberfingers on this point). Also, as I'd be the one playing the piece in rehearsals I wanted to have an 'solid' idea and reasoning behind my choice.
Last edited by fatar760; 06/22/16 05:37 AM.
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The trill will be in the key that is in that particular bar.
So for example, if the F has not been made natural in that bar, you will trill E and F#. If it has been in the same bar, then trill it E and F.
If in the same bar the F has been made natural, then back to sharp, then the trill comes, of course you trill the F#.
I thought that was a standard rule, unless contemporary works follow some other rules that I don't know about, I'm not sure how the question turned to if the composer is alive, or if the player is the composer...
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Agree, the trill should be in key unless marked otherwise.
Yamaha U1 Yamaha CLP 545
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Those were my instincts, thank you to those who helped clarify!
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