Phrase bar lines in hymn tunes

The \caesura command can be configured to create phrase bar lines that interact well with other automatic bar lines (see Automatic bar lines).

In the following examples, the source code for the tune in old-hundredth-example.ly uses \caesura between poetic lines and \fine at the end. There are no \fermata or \bar commands; those symbols appear in the output because of the caesura configuration.

The Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music (1830) has a thick bar after each phrase. For this tune, it also has fermatas over the bar lines:

\layout {
  \context {
    \Score
    caesuraType = #'((bar-line . ".")
                     (scripts . (fermata)))
    fineBarType = ".."
  }
}
\include "old-hundredth-example.ly"

[image of music]

J.S. James’ Original Sacred Harp (1911) has a thick bar when a line is broken in mid-measure at the end of a phrase.

\layout {
  \context {
    \Score
    caesuraType = #'((underlying-bar-line . "x-."))
    fineBarType = ".."
  }
}
\include "old-hundredth-example.ly"

[image of music]


LilyPond Notation Reference v2.25.22 (development-branch).