Re: Gregorian chant documentation

[David Kastrup]

"Phil Holmes" <address@hidden> writes:

> In
>
> http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.19/Documentation/notation/working-with-ancient-music_002d_002dscenarios-and-solutions#transcribing-gregorian-chant
>
> the second illustration shows notes with stems, which I'm 99% certain
> is wrong.  It's been like this since 2.12, at the very least.  Can
> anyone suggest why the stems are so deliberately there?

Why not read the actual explanation?

    However, in some transcription styles, stems are used occasionally,
    for example to indicate the transition from a single-tone recitative
    to a fixed melodic gesture. In these cases, one can use either \hide
    Stem or \override Stem.length = #0 instead, and restore the stem
    when needed with the corresponding \once \override Stem.transparent
    = ##f (see example below).

And later

    This works fine, as long as the text doesn’t span a line break. If
    that is the case, an alternative is to add hidden notes to the
    score, here in combination with changing stem visibility:

So it is abundantly clear that the stems are intentional.  The notation
quite clearly is _not_ Gregorian chant (which has four staff lines, no
fixed durations and much more complex noteheads) but rather the kind of
chant approximation used in some hymnals.

-- 
David Kastrup