A lot has been written about the insufficiency of our notation system, and a lot more could be written. (For a great essay about it, check the last chapter of The Anatomy of Melody by Alice Parker.)
But there is one particular notation that I feel increasingly in need of in my own writing, and in the scores I conduct. If I could add one marking to our current notation, it would be a universally recognized mark for voice crossing.
Singers of all ages struggle when voice crossing. Particularly experienced singers, who are accustomed to where their voice part fits in the voicing of the choir. (Tenors know they’re generally third from top – above basses and below altos.) The result is that when there is voice crossing, they second guess themselves, sing wrong notes, stop singing, or just lose confidence. It makes for slower reading and a stop-start rehearsal pace, since I as a conductor stop to point voice crossing spots out to the affected parts.
There are good reasons for voice crossing, including:
- better counterpoint.
- more linear, less static voice parts.
- chord voicings that take advantage of typical timbres to affect balance.
Voice crossing has been used throughout choral music, and it’s never not going to be a struggle. So let’s give our singers a hand and add notation to help them. Here’s my proposal:
Maybe this isn’t the best notation – I’m open to alternatives! But the point remains that if we were all trained to recognize voice crossing as readily as we are to staccato or marcato, we would find sight reading much more effective in a surprising number of cases.
If you could add one marking or other notational element to standard notation, what would it be?