extremes of music notation

[David Petrou]

hi everyone.  i'm forwarding along some info i read on another mailing
list that i thought would be of interest to lily developers and users:

An article by Don Byrd at
http://php.indiana.edu/~donbyrd/CMNExtremes.htm has many examples of
extremes in common practice music notation.  e.g.:

* Highest written and sounding pitches: D8 in Scriabin: Piano Sonata no. 6,
Op. 62 (1911?), last page

* Most repeated notes in a melody (without rhythmic variety--all notes the
same duration): 32 in Prokofieff, Toccata, Op. 11, m. 1

* Shortest notated duration: p. 1 of Anthony Phillip Heinrich, Toccata
Grande Cromatica from The Sylviad, Set 2 (c. 1825), uses 1024th and even two
2048th(!) notes

* Longest notated duration, including ties: Verdi, Othello, Act I, opens
with a tone cluster(!) in the organ of C2,C#2,D2, lasting 243 measures of
4/4 (=972 quarters)

* Most notes/chords in one beamset: 132 in Liszt, Transcendental Etude no. 4
("Mazeppa") (Baerenreiter Neue Ausgabe ed.). This has 15 secondary beam
breaks(!) and 28 segments.

* Longest movement (excluding dramatic works): In measures: Alkan, Etude no.
8 ("Concerto, Premiere Partie") from Douze etudes dans tous les tons mineur,
Op. 39, is 1342 bars

just some things to stretch lily...

david