Is it planned. that “Bars by Text” will be added? It is really missed after switching from Finale and extremely helpful in big opera ensembles. Syllables over two notes are normally with bar, but otherwise there are no bars.
Welcome to the forum.
Do you mean beaming to syllables?
Yes, that old-fashioned practice has been asked for 
, and the developers have acknowledged that it is on the list to be added.
Great! 
I took the liberty of modifying the title 
What exactly is “old fashioned”?
Thank you - i wrote this in a hurry
There has been a move away from syllabic beaming towards rhythmic beaming in vocal music over the past 70 years or so; though it is still used in some places.
Rhythmic beaming provides more information to the singer, and modern engraving shows the placement of the syllables without ambiguity.
I included the smiley face to indicate that I was being deliberately provocative in my description.
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So I understood it right 
, but I really asked for the information.
I never have heard that argument and actually I have never seen an opera score or a more complex structure for classical singers in the way you use it.
Someone form switzerland wrote me today, that it is better without beaming to the text if you treat the singer more percussive. I found that a good argument.
Interesting discussion.
+1, this is definitely the current standard, and has been for long time now.
Carl Rosenthal, Practical Guide to Music Notation, pg 24 (1963):
“It has, therefore, become increasingly customary to use ligatures instead of flags, wherever possible, in vocal and choral music in the same manner as in instrumental music.”
Gardner Read, Music Notation, pgs 293-5, (1979)
“But with the increasing rhythmic complexity in the music of the present century – vocal as well as instrumental – the tradition of flagging vocal notes has become outmoded. Practically all progressive vocal publications now print the voice parts with beams instead of individual flags, a much-needed revision in notational practice.”
Kurt Stone, Music Notation in the Twentieth Century, pg 293 (1980)
“The traditional system of beaming and flagging vocal music according to text syllables has been replaced almost universally with instrumental beaming, i.e., beaming according to beat-units or other metric divisions, with slurs indicating whenever more notes that one are to be sung on one syllable.”
Elaine Gould, Behind Bars, pg 435 (2011)
“Until well into the twentieth century, a separate tail was used for each syllable in vocal music, and notes within a beat were beamed only to indicate that a syllable took more than one note. In syllabic setting, this notation makes all but the simplest rhythms difficult to read, a problem compounded by the fact that text underlay often distorts note-spacing (see p. 440). Instrumental beaming (i.e. beaming into beats) is now used in vocal music together with syllabic slurs”
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Here’s a snippet from a relatively recent (2013) choral score (G. Schirmer). If I were a singer (which no one would want!), I’d be very glad for the clear rhythmic beaming.
The alto part seems to be written for a quite biologically modern interpretation of that voice range…
Yes. In this style of modern and rhythmical comlexity it definitely looks clearer and easier to read.
I would not see it in opera music or Lied. In my opinion it flattens the representation of the text and its intensity.
See here a page of an arrangement of La Boheme:
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That is very interesting. Thank you Fred.
Gardners argument for me is convincing.
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I haven’t seen the score, but I would guess that modern beaming is used in Elliott Carter’s What Next? — and, again, I’d be very glad for it!
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Doesn’t the third bar in your example prove the advantage of modern beaming?
On first glance, what’s the meter? It’s not immediately apparent. There’s no beat structure for the eye to latch on to. Professionals don’t read left to right like amateurs, but instead process rhythms in “chunks” of information. This type of beaming forces the pro to read literally left to right like an amateur and greatly slows them down.
By contrast …
… with modern beaming the meter and rhythm is instantly apparent to the performer and is easily sightread.
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Yes, according to our result, that modern beaming is much better, if rhythmical complexity is highly advanced.
But how ugly would it look in such a clear structure like Schuberts Krähe:
Only if the familiarity brings one comfort. Otherwise, it probably is not as important as it might be to those familiar with the music edition beforehand.
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While I’m in no way dismissive of — and certainly not opposed to — considerations of the visually pleasing aspects of scores, we should remember that they are first and foremost there to communicate clearly musical ideas and relationships to performers.
“Modern” beaming to rhythm needs an additional “layer” of slurs. That’s not always easier to read.
It depends a lot on the musical style and also on the language used.
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