Asking for advice on an uncertain score marking
In the attached screen capture from an IMSLP score of Puccini's Il Tabarro, it's not clear to me if the intent is to tie the 8th notes together, or if they should be slurred.
If tied, why didn't the engraver simply use a quarter note instead of two tied 8th notes?
I listened to a number of You-Tube recordings of the piece, and they seem to be tied not slurred (although it's hard to be certain).
I looked at a piano reduction, but it's no help, showing the same two tied-or-slurred 8th notes.
It's measure 20 in my attached score.
As always, thanks for all the help!
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Capture.PNG | 105.27 KB |
| Il Tabarro- Nulla, Silenzio.mscz | 81.99 KB |
Comments
I don't know the answer, but when slured the hairpin works (with some additional dynamics) in MuseScore, it won't when tied, maybe that helps making the decision ;-)
In reply to I don't know the answer, but by Jojo-Schmitz
That's what I've been thinking as well. Also, the lower dynamic on the second note might be why I can't pick it out on the recordings.
(I don't have any definitive answer, but...) Contrast the piano with any breath instrument (woodwinds, voice, whatever). On the piano there is an absolute difference between a tie (hit the strings once) and a slur (hit the strings twice). But for woodwind, it's all a continuous stream of air, so phrasing like this can be interpreted as "feeling" two notes, but slurring them together. The listener may barely be able to distinguish this from a single note, but it makes a difference to the "pulse" of the music. You can certainly do this in singing: "dah-ah" as opposed to just "daaah". In other words, for a breath instrument there is no completely clearcut disctinction between a tie and a slur -- which is probably to do with the fact that they are indistinguishable marks.
The piano transcription is just that: someone was probably paid to do it, so they produced something which strictly speaking cannot be played on the piano at all.
In reply to (I don't have any definitive by Imaginatorium
I think your analysis is spot-on. I wonder if Puccini's original manuscript is available on-line; it's possible this is just a copy error by the original engraver.
In reply to I think your analysis is by marty strasinger
This is the link to the IMSLP scores.
http://imslp.org/wiki/Il_tabarro_(Puccini,_Giacomo)