[smufl-discuss] Re: Breath marks -- possible anomaly?

[Peter Trubinov]

Hi Philip and all,

Thanks for a good topic, that was in my to-ask list as well.

It looks like one important character for a breath mark is missing in
the layout. That should be V-like mark, similar to "stringsUpBow"
(U+E5D1) in group "String techniques". It is very common as a breath
mark in Russian vocal music, especially in choral music. To be honest
I've never seen such a breath mark in any other publications than
Russian. However it's more than just local practice as it is been used
longer then 100 years.

Here there are few examples of its usage:

Pavel Chesnokov. Liturgy, op. 42. Edition Jurgenson, 1915.
http://notovodstvo.ru/smufl/breathMark/chesnokov.pdf

Dmitry Shostakovich. Ten Poems on texts by Revolutionary Poets, op.
88. Edition Muzyka, 1967.
http://notovodstvo.ru/smufl/breathMark/shostakovich.pdf


As you can see this mark is mainly used above staff between notes,
however it could cross some staff lines, could be placed below the
staff for the down stem voice, also could be centered above the
barline.

One of the Russian Notation guides [Kartsev, 2004] says that while
there could be two variations for the "stringsUpBow" symbol (it could
be with left side thicker than the right one, or with the equally thin
sides), however as a breath mark the version with equally thin sides
only could be used. Meanwhile this source states that this sign is
used not only in vocal parts but in wind parts as well. It doesn't
explane the difference between this sign and the comma-like mark and
double slash mark.

http://notovodstvo.ru/smufl/breathMark/kartsev.png


Another source states that comma-like sign is used as a breath mark in
vocal parts while V-like sign is used in wind parts.

http://notovodstvo.ru/smufl/breathMark/dudka.png

However this is not true. Both marks are used with the same meaning
and in the same kind of context. That's why the third source, "Writing
the notes according to Braille system" [Smirnov, 1988] states that all
the three breath (caesura) marks are written in Braille with the same
sign.

http://notovodstvo.ru/smufl/breathMark/braille.png


Of course one can say that we can use "stringsUpBow" (U+E5D1) for this
purpose because graphically it is the same. However there are many
symbols in SMuFL graphically identical but semantically different. So
it would be nice to have a separate V-like symbol for usage as a
breath mark with appropriate naming.

From other hand we have a tick-like mark "vocalBreathMark" (U+E600) in
group "Vocal techniques" which semantically is what we need, and even
graphically it is almost the same. But not the same. As Philip
perfectly stated, this mark "is in fact very common as hand-written
performance indications inserted in scores by singers, and would be
likely to be understood by them in printed music".

So what we need is to add a version of this mark which looks like a
printed one rather than a handwritten. That would be a "stylistic
alternative" to existing "vocalBreathMark". Exactly the one from above
prints. However to be honest I would vote to set this new symbol as a
main one, and to move a "handwritten" one to the stylistic
alternatives.

That was a suggestion.

All the best,
Peter

--
Dr. Peter Trubinov
 tel. worldwide: [phone]
 when in Russia: [phone]


2014-03-24 14:55 GMT+02:00 Philip Thomas <[hidden email]>:
> I think there may be an anomaly both in the naming, and in the placement in
> glyph groups, of breathing signs in SMuFL 0.85.

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