Separate text

A \markup or \markuplist block can exist by itself, outside of any \score block, as a “top-level expression”. This syntax is described in File structure.

\markup {
  Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...
}

[image of music]

This allows printing text separately from the music, which is particularly useful when the input file contains several music pieces, as described in Multiple scores in a book.

\score {
  c'1
}
\markup {
  Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...
}
\score {
  c'1
}

[image of music]

Using \markuplist, separate text blocks can be spread over multiple pages, making it possible to print text documents or books entirely within LilyPond. For a description of this feature and the specific syntax it requires, see section Text markup introduction.

Predefined commands

\markup, \markuplist.

Selected Snippets

Stand-alone two-column markup

Stand-alone text may be arranged in several columns using \markup commands:

\markup {
  \fill-line {
    \hspace #1
    \column {
      \line { O sacrum convivium }
      \line { in quo Christus sumitur, }
      \line { recolitur memoria passionis ejus, }
      \line { mens impletur gratia, }
      \line { futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. }
      \line { Amen. }
    }
    \hspace #2
    \column \italic {
      \line { O sacred feast }
      \line { in which Christ is received, }
      \line { the memory of His Passion is renewed, }
      \line { the mind is filled with grace, }
      \line { and a pledge of future glory is given to us. }
      \line { Amen. }
    }
    \hspace #1
  }
}

[image of music]

See also

Notation Reference: Formatting text, File structure, Multiple scores in a book.

Snippets: Text.

Internals Reference: TextScript.


LilyPond Notation Reference v2.25.15 (development-branch).