Re: Stem direction wrong for white mensural music?

[Phil Holmes]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Benko Pál" <address@hidden>
To: "Phil Holmes" <address@hidden>
Cc: "Devel" <address@hidden>
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 7:16 PM
Subject: Re: Stem direction wrong for white mensural music?


> > music _prints_ do use downward stems, what's more, it's not at all
> > systematical, see e.g. the example in
> > http://code.google.com/p/lilypond/issues/detail?id=1839#c13
> > so we are left to apply manual \stemUp's and \stemDown's
> > (I use a global \stemUp and hack closing longae to \stemDown).

> Thanks. On the manuscripts I'm looking at, they're all up-stem. I'm
> assuming the printed version is a later reworking of a manuscript? Do you
> think the printers adopted more modern methods, or did downstems also 
> creep
> into manuscript music?

They did, see e.g. codex Chigi from about 1500:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Chigi_codex.jpg
http://anaigeon.free.fr/mes_facs/fsbarb.jpg
I haven't found down-stems in Lucca 238 (mid-15th century).
The Eton choirbook (black mensural notation from the late 15th century)
has some down-stems:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Eton_Choirbook.jpg

p


Thanks.  Interesting and appreciated.

--
Phil Holmes