^ is for 1/4-tones!

Hello all,

A copy of Jörg Mager's _Vierteltonmusik_ has finally arrived
at my local library, all the way from the library of the
University of Göttingen in Germany. I had hoped to receive
it in time for my Microfest lecture in April, but am glad
to finally have it in any case.

The book is very short (only 15 pages of text), and the only
musical illustrations are a page of examples and a 1-page
score at the very end.

Upon opening the book and seeing the scores, I was *stunned* to
see the accidental that Mager uses to notate 1/4-tones: ^ !!!

That's not simply an ASCII adaptation... that's *exactly*
what Mager's symbol looks like.

The first illustration, which compares the notations of
Möllendorf, Stein, and Mager, shows the 1/4-tone accidentals
as up and down arrows, and as single upward- and downward-
pointing angled "hooks" at the top or bottom of the
sharp and flat signs.

Except for that first musical example, the musical
illustrations don't use the arrow pointing downward, so
Mager apparently decided not to make use of 1/4-tone
enharmonic equivalents, so that his version of 24-EDO
notation would only need one new accidental sign.

Pretty cool, I think... and that also puts the historical
precedent for using ^ (and, by extension, other types
of upward-pointing arrows) for 1/4-tones all the way back
to 1918, when this book was published.

My Interlibrary Loan request also did a thorough search
of libraries all over the world for the 2nd edition of
Richard H. Stein's _Zwei Konzertstücke_, but with no results.
A record for it turns up in one OCLC listing, but the
actual copy was not found. Does anyone have any idea where
a copy of this might be hiding?

Mager's illustration of Stein's notation shows that Stein
used:

1/4-tone sharp: a sharp sign with only one vertical line
3/4-tone sharp: a sharp sign with 3 vertical lines
1/4-tone flat: a backwards flat sign (something like a d)
3/4-tone flat: a double backwards flat sign (dd)

Of the three (Möllendorf, Stein, Mager), Mager's arrows
are by far the easiest to read and the quickest to comprehend.
Or maybe that's just my bias...

Interestingly enough, the dedication page says:

> Dem Andenken
> Leo N. Tolstojs

I imagine that that's the same Leo Tolstoy we all know
as the great Russian writer.

I'll make this into a webpage once it's been translated.

-monz
http://www.monz.org
"All roads lead to n^0"

--- In tuning@y..., "monz" <joemonz@y...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_26036.html#26036

>
> Hello all,
>
> A copy of Jörg Mager's _Vierteltonmusik_ has finally arrived
> at my local library, all the way from the library of the
> University of Göttingen in Germany. I had hoped to receive
> it in time for my Microfest lecture in April, but am glad
> to finally have it in any case.
>
> The book is very short (only 15 pages of text), and the only
> musical illustrations are a page of examples and a 1-page
> score at the very end.
>
> Upon opening the book and seeing the scores, I was *stunned* to
> see the accidental that Mager uses to notate 1/4-tones: ^ !!!
>
> That's not simply an ASCII adaptation... that's *exactly*
> what Mager's symbol looks like.
>

Well, of course, Monz... everybody knows that "pointy arrows" have
been used by MANY, many composers to denote quarter tones. After all,
quarter tones are the first thing that anybody THINKS about when going
xenharmonic...

However, it's hard to dispute the fact that the arrows look MOST like
the Sims/Maneri symbols for 1/12 tone, and that the PRACTICE of 72-tET
has gone back with Sims/Maneri for over 20 years!!

The point is (pointy arrows) that there is ALREADY a PERFORMANCE
PRACTICE for 72-tET, and anyone going against that performance
practice is...

well, going against that performance practice! :)

________ _____ _______
Joseph Pehrson

I would only arg about that pretty little symbol that it is quiet hard to
place in a score.

The most practicable solution to keep it, is to change the stem upward for
quarter-tone low and downward for quarter-tone high...

Anyone has a better idea !?

Vincent-Olivier.

-----Message d'origine-----
De : jpehrson@rcn.com <jpehrson@rcn.com>
� : tuning@yahoogroups.com <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Date : 6 juillet, 2001 12:39
Objet : [tuning] Re: ^ is for 1/4-tones!

>--- In tuning@y..., "monz" <joemonz@y...> wrote:
>
>/tuning/topicId_26036.html#26036
>
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> A copy of J�rg Mager's _Vierteltonmusik_ has finally arrived
>> at my local library, all the way from the library of the
>> University of G�ttingen in Germany. I had hoped to receive
>> it in time for my Microfest lecture in April, but am glad
>> to finally have it in any case.
>>
>> The book is very short (only 15 pages of text), and the only
>> musical illustrations are a page of examples and a 1-page
>> score at the very end.
>>
>> Upon opening the book and seeing the scores, I was *stunned* to
>> see the accidental that Mager uses to notate 1/4-tones: ^ !!!
>>
>> That's not simply an ASCII adaptation... that's *exactly*
>> what Mager's symbol looks like.
>>
>
>Well, of course, Monz... everybody knows that "pointy arrows" have
>been used by MANY, many composers to denote quarter tones. After all,
>quarter tones are the first thing that anybody THINKS about when going
>xenharmonic...
>
>However, it's hard to dispute the fact that the arrows look MOST like
>the Sims/Maneri symbols for 1/12 tone, and that the PRACTICE of 72-tET
>has gone back with Sims/Maneri for over 20 years!!
>
>The point is (pointy arrows) that there is ALREADY a PERFORMANCE
>PRACTICE for 72-tET, and anyone going against that performance
>practice is...
>
>well, going against that performance practice! :)
>
>________ _____ _______
>Joseph Pehrson
>
>
>
>You do not need web access to participate. You may subscribe through
>email. Send an empty email to one of these addresses:
> tuning-subscribe@yahoogroups.com - join the tuning group.
> tuning-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com - unsubscribe from the tuning group.
> tuning-nomail@yahoogroups.com - put your email message delivery on hold
for the tuning group.
> tuning-digest@yahoogroups.com - change your subscription to daily digest
mode.
> tuning-normal@yahoogroups.com - change your subscription to individual
emails.
> tuning-help@yahoogroups.com - receive general help information.
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>