I’m trying to imitate a unique staff arrangement found in the Michael Praetorius Gesamtausgabe (image attached), and between Dorico’s ossia, divisi, and additional staff features (which are, it is worth repeating, brilliant at what they are designed to do), I can’t seem to find a way to make it work.
The Gesamtausgabe gives two tenor lines, each with a simple version and an elaborated version. The simplex is on a smaller staff above the main staff, suggesting the ossia feature might be of use. However, the ossia feature isn’t designed for staves that last for the entire flow. Furthermore, ossia staves don’t repel system text or measure numbers. And at the beginning of a system, the staff label remains affixed to the main staff, and won’t center between the two staves. To get the staff label to center between the two staves, I can use the divisi feature. However, neither divisi staves nor added staves allow their sizes to change independently of the main staff.
So, is there any way to produce a set of two staves grouped together, with the label centered between them, that are independently sizable?
