Sometimes one or more parts will sing the same syllable as the other part(s), but the timing is different. My question is about proper placement of lyrics in such cases. I guess I could call them “early or late” syllables.
I have found that in all of the hymnals I have checked, the lyrics for identical syllables sung by singers of different parts at different rhythmic positions are placed at the later rhythmic position. It seems to me (a non-musician) that it would make sense to have the syllable located at the first note which any one part sings.
So my questions to the professional engravers are these:
Why would the lyric’s syllable not be centered at the first rhythmic position for which at least one part has a note (sings the syllable)?
Is it improper to place the lyric’s syllable at the first rhythmic position for which at least one part has a note (sings the syllable)?
Thank you!
Eric
Attached are two screenshots from two hymnals with a portion of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”.
It may be that the sources you’ve selected have just added the lyrics to the melody voice in their notation software, and not thought about it.
If you really think it’s better, and can’t see any advantage in the later placement, then place it earlier. There’s plenty of worse crimes in the name of personal preference committed to paper.
@billstevns,
Thanks for that. I think that @benwiggy’s example from Oxford University Press shows that the syllable was placed mid-way between the two rhythmic positions.
Edit: Correction: The example from @benwiggy is rather left aligned to the center of the first note, but also appears to me to be placed mid-way between the two notes.
@benwiggy, Oh, I see what you’re saying (finally I caught on!). Perhaps in this case it is left-aligned with the first note and also looks (at least to me) as if it’s centered between the two notes.
@EricC
I think the answer here depends on the intended users of the hymnal. If a majority of the congregation uses the hymnal to read the melody line, I’d probably align the lyrics with that (and let the part-singers figure things out since they’re already capable of singing the parts). I’d also consider whether the offset rhythm is desirable. Note that in the two examples of Hark! you gave, the first one has no offset rhythm in the first bar (and there are many times I prefer that in congregational singing).
If you want the offset rhythms, I would probably align the syllable to whichever rhythm is more prevalent and adjust the spacing to make the gaps on either side of that syllable look consistent within the line.
