Re: "Hymn template" snippet

[Trevor]

------ Original Message ------
From: "Dan Eble" <dan@lyric.works>
To: "lilypond-devel" <lilypond-devel@gnu.org>
Sent: 08/08/2022 22:46:32
Subject: "Hymn template" snippet

> "Hymn template"
> https://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=703
>
> I don't see any way to find the author of a snippet.  I'd like to ask the author of this snippet 
> about the reason for using \breathe and \bar "||".  Are they intended to communicate two 
> different things, or was it merely a stylistic decision to use \bar "||" at the end of a 
> system and \breathe in the middle?
>
> I would like to revise it to use \caesura but stay faithful to the original 
> intent.
>
> Thanks,
> Dan
Hi Dan
I'm pretty sure I was the author of this snippet. It is used in NR 2.1.7 
(without comment about the comma).

A comma is the standard way of writing a breathing point in vocal music. 
It is used extensively in Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard. Gould 
writes on page 436 in the Vocal Music chapter: "When a note should be 
sung for its full duration, with extra time for the breath, add a comma 
above the stave - this adds a short pause to the bar in which it 
occurs." No mention here of a caesura. She also says on page 187, "The 
comma rather than the caesura is now more commonly used" (for allotting 
extra time for a short break in sound.)

If you change this snippet to use a caesura and render it as a comma in 
this section of the NR ("Chants, Psalms and Hymns") that would be OK I 
suppose (although \breathe seems the appropriate LP command), but "//" 
is definitely a no-no. I've never seen that in a hymnal.

Trevor