LilyPond Notation Reference: 2.9.5 Typesetting Kievan square notation

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2.9.5 Typesetting Kievan square notation

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Kievan contexts

As with Mensural and Gregorian notation, the predefined KievanVoice and KievanStaff contexts can be used to engrave a piece in square notation. These contexts initialize all relevant context properties and grob properties to proper values, so you can immediately go ahead entering the chant:

% Font settings for Cyrillic
\paper {
  #(define fonts
    (set-global-fonts
     #:roman "Linux Libertine O,serif"
   ))
}

\score {
  <<
    \new KievanVoice = "melody" \relative c' {
      \cadenzaOn
        c4 c c c c2 b\longa
        \fine
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
      Го -- спо -- ди по -- ми -- луй.
    }
  >>
}

Known issues and warnings

LilyPond supports Kievan notation of the Synodal style, as used in the corpus of chantbooks printed by the Russian Holy Synod in the 1910’s and recently reprinted by the Moscow Patriarchate Publishing House. LilyPond does not support the older (less common) forms of Kievan notation that were used in Galicia to notate Rusyn plainchant.

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Kievan clefs

There is only one clef used in Kievan notation (the Tse-fa-ut Clef). It is used to indicate the position of c:

  \clef "kievan-do"
  \kievanOn
  c'

Kievan notes

For Kievan square notation, the appropriate note head style needs to be chosen and the flags and stems need to be turned off. This is accomplished by calling the \kievanOn function, which sets the appropriate properties of the note head, stems, and flags. Once Kievan note heads are not needed, these properties can be reverted by calling the \kievanOff function.

The Kievan final note, which usually comes at the end of a piece of music, may be selected by setting the duration to \longa. The Kievan recitative mark, used to indicate the chanting of several syllables on one note, may be selected by setting the duration to \breve. The following example demonstrates the various Kievan note heads:

\autoBeamOff
\cadenzaOn
\kievanOn
b'1 b'2 b'4 b'8 b'\breve b'\longa
\kievanOff
b'2

Known issues and warnings

LilyPond automatically determines if the stem up or stem down form of a note is drawn. When setting chant in square notation, however, it is customary to have the stems point in the same direction within a single melisma. This can be done manually by setting the direction property of the Stem object.

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Kievan accidentals

The kievan style provides a sharp and a flat sign different from the default style. There is no natural sign in Kievan notation. The sharp sign is not used in Synodal music but may occur in earlier manuscripts. It has been included primarily for the sake of compatibility.

\clef "kievan-do"
\set Staff.alterationGlyphs =
  #alteration-kievan-glyph-name-alist
bes' dis'

Kievan bar lines

In a KievanStaff, there are no measures, but the \caesura command creates a phrase bar line, and the \section and \fine commands create a special section bar line.

\new KievanStaff {
  c'4 4 4 4 4 4 \caesura  % \bar "."
  d'4 4 4 4 4 4 \section  % \bar "k"
  e'4 4 4 4 4 4 \fine
}

Kievan melismata

Notes within a Kievan melisma are usually placed close to each other and the melismata separated by whitespace. This is done to allow the chanter to quickly identify the melodic structures of Znamenny chant. In LilyPond, melismata are treated as ligatures and the spacing is implemented by the Kievan_ligature_engraver.

When the KievanVoice and KievanStaff contexts are used, the Kievan_ligature_engraver is enabled by default. In other contexts, it can be invoked by replacing the Ligature_bracket_engraver with the Kievan_ligature_engraver in the layout block:

\layout {
  \context {
    \Voice
    \remove Ligature_bracket_engraver
    \consists Kievan_ligature_engraver
  }
}

The spacing between the notes within a Kievan ligature can be controlled by setting the padding property of the KievanLigature.

The following example demonstrates the use of Kievan ligatures:

% Font settings for Cyrillic
\paper {
  #(define fonts
    (set-global-fonts
     #:roman "Linux Libertine O,serif"
   ))
}

\score {
  <<
    \new KievanVoice = "melody" \relative c' {
      \cadenzaOn
        e2 \[ e4( d4 ) \] \[ c4( d e  d ) \] e1 \fine
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
      Га -- врі -- и -- лу
    }
  >>
}

Known issues and warnings

Horizontal spacing of ligatures is poor.

[ << Specialist notation ]	[Top][Contents][Index]	[ General input and output >> ]
[ < Kievan bar lines ]	[ Up : Typesetting Kievan square notation ]	[ Working with ancient music -- scenarios and solutions > ]

2.9.5 Typesetting Kievan square notation

Kievan contexts

See also

Known issues and warnings

Kievan clefs

See also

Kievan notes

See also

Known issues and warnings

Kievan accidentals

See also

Kievan bar lines

See also

Kievan melismata

See also

Known issues and warnings

LilyPond — Notation Reference v2.23.82 (development-branch).