Centering a rest in a bar

[Andrew Bernard]

Greetings All,

Is there a way to centre a rest in a bar - an ordinary rest, not a multi measure rest?

The following vastly oversimplified snippet shows rests sitting at the left, as indeed they should, entirely correct. But my composer wants them in the middle. How does one achieve this, without simply specifying a move offset, as this has to be continually adjusted as the score is being developed and bars change width and so on.

Having asked this, the same applies for notes. How can I get a chord to sit in the middle of a bar? 18c composers very often did this.

Is there a way to address this topic in Scheme? I am sure I could write the Scheme, I just need to find a foothold somewhere to start.

\version "2.19.19"

\paper {

  ragged-right = ##f

}

treble = \relative c'' {

  \clef treble

  \time 4/4

  r4 r r r

}

bass = \relative c {

  \clef bass

  \time 1/4

  c c c c

}

\score {

  <<

    \new Staff \treble

    \new Staff \bass

  >>

  \layout { }

}

Andrew