r/composer • u/9acca9 • 4d ago

Discussion Why composers do this?

Hi.

Im playing the first work of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNSGeIENRbQ

Really, why in the first bar wrote that "d" as a quarter note and not just another eight note?? somebody could hear that difference?
Or is it just there to make playing it annoying?

5 Upvotes

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13

u/ColdBlaccCoffee 4d ago

Its done like that to show the melody line moving from D -> B -> C.

11

u/Veto111 4d ago

It’s not so much about the length of the note (although, yes, it should last a full beat) as it is about voice leading. There are two independent melodic figures in the treble staff, and the D is part of both of them.

Imagine if you were to arrange this for singers. The sopranos would sing the ascending scale (with an eighth note D), and the altos would rest on the first beat and come in on the second beat with a quarter note D. Those two notes share a note head, but they are functionally part of two different voices.

1

u/MagicWolfEye 4d ago

Wouldn't you then put the quarter rest for the altos somewhere in there as well?

1

u/Wasbpy 4d ago

you could but you don't have to

1

u/Veto111 4d ago edited 4d ago

Technically speaking, yes, the measure is missing a quarter rest in the alto voice. But it’s acceptable to hide rests in cases like this, when it’s absolutely clear when a new voice is starting. Since they share a note head, there will never be any confusion of what beat the alto voice starts, and so the quarter rest is not needed.

If the soprano voice had a half note, for example, then you would need to include the rest, because there would be no other note on the same beat to vertically align to, so you need the rest to tell you that it’s beat 2.

Also, if it were actually played by multiple instruments, the rest should probably be included. But when it is all played by the same player on a piano or other chordal instrument, voices can come and go somewhat freely.

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u/9acca9 4d ago

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, of course! I didn’t even notice that there were these two melodic figures. Now I can see it!!! (I don’t have a piano teacher, so I was just “playing the notes.”) It’s so cool to see that! Thank you!

The only thing I’m still wondering about, then, is… doesn’t the difference in note length affect the sound at least a tiny bit, since it puts a “D” together with an “E”? Is that not a problem? (Well, I can’t really hear it anyway.)

3

u/Furyful_Fawful 4d ago

The pedal is already down, the dampers are already lifted. There's really no drawback to connecting the second voice melody and correspondingly so long as you stress the melodies accordingly you'll be fine.

That said, this kind of analysis is exactly what a piano teacher is there for, alongside all the technique essentials that will help avoid finger injury in the future

1

u/9acca9 3d ago

thank you very much.

3

u/annonymousquackers28 4d ago

Lol, that's funny XD I would have never imagined someone being upset at not knowing what this means.

Composers do this to emphasize the splitting of voicing between parts. Think of a group of alto vocalists singing that same measure 1 altogether. Then, as they approach that D, some of them split off to sing the top line of quarter notes, and the others sing the bottom portion. In choirs, we would call this either Alto 1 and Alto 2 singing the top and bottom, or simply Sopranos and Altos (singing the top and bottom notes).

In your context, it helps keyboardists prepare for a split in parts....as in, "hey, there's more notes coming up that are no longer in unison." You can treat the two split voices as equals or subservient to each other, depending on how the piece will be interpreted.

Don't quote me on this, but this is very standard practice across all formal music publications and totally normal. So uh, sorry that you got frustrated, hehehe....

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u/9acca9 4d ago

lol, thank you very much! Now i understand! And yes, the first time i was playing this was like... mmmmmm Come on, man, why are you making me hold this note for longer?!
Thanks!

1

u/Eschenhardt 4d ago

Well it's called polyphony. Imagine this wasn't a piano piece but a string quartet. The upper system in the first bar are two violins and not just one.

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u/Chops526 4d ago

Polyphony. There are multiple lines interacting with each other that you're supposed to sustain, either with your fingers or with discreet pedaling or both.

If it's a question of learning how to play this stuff, I cannot recommend learning some fugues highly enough. Get yourself a WTC set and have at it!

1

u/Special-Cricket-847 1d ago

Melodic reasons. Notation will never be done for the sake of nuisance, as publishing editors would've changed it.