Re: \longa problem

[Christian Mondrup]

Mats Bengtsson wrote:

> > If I don't tell lily anything about the notehead style, when I enter a
> > \longa I get a half note.  This seems wrong.
>
> It used to be that you didn't get any note head at all
> (since there is no longa in modern notation),

this is not unconditionally true. In modern editions of music from the
renaissance there are at least two occasions where a longa is needed

- if for some reason you want to keep the original note values from a piece
which in modern notation is in 4/1 meter then a note with a full measure
duration must be written as a longa

- you'll often want to notate final notes of a piece (or section of a piece,
e.g. a mass) as longas.

>From the two examples you'll recognize the problem with longas that their
meaning is ambigous: either a duration equal to 4 whole notes or a kind of
fermata with undefined duration.

[...]
--
Christian Mondrup, Computer Programmer
Scandiatransplant, Skejby Hospital, University Hospital of Aarhus
Brendstrupgaardsvej, DK 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Phone: +45 89 49 53 01