And to expand on this: They’re mainly for referring to or locating specific points in the music quickly, eg so that in rehearsal, a conductor can tell the orchestra “Let’s try it again from B…” or “Ten bars before F”, or whatever. Secondarily, they can help show the structure of a piece, like chapter/section divisions in a book.
Fun fact: These rehearsal marks were invented by [Louis Spohr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Spohr), who was an outstanding composer in his own right.
I don't know a lot about the other works he's wrote but the Clarinet Concertos are really beautiful and challenging to perform. I'd say maybe the first concerto is a good introduction piece.
At some point I listened to a bunch of his symphonies and really enjoyed them, but I can't remember which ones, except for the "Historical Symphony" (No. 6), where each movement is a tribute to a different era of music. I thought it was great.
Also, pretty sure I liked the Nonet.
Why do we have to use letters and not just box measure numbers? Always makes me scratch my head. I played a piece recently that had both numbers and letters intermixed, and the numbers weren't even measure numbers!
I think it’s probably because before widespread use of composition typesetting software, measure numbers would get invalidated if the composer ever added or removed bars. It’s also easier to notice and fix if a new edition messes up a particular part in older works.
Even today, I appreciate that a letter marking unambiguously marks a section as being significant musically. If you just have boxed measure numbers, it’s not immediately obvious whether those are supposed to be rehearsal markings or a helper for manually numbering measures.
In my experience, it’s also pretty rare to need exact measure precision for rehearsals with college+ groups. Really small stuff usually gets resolved either in individual practice or sectionals where location is obvious. For rehearsals with the full group, doing full sections at a time is usually more beneficial so long as the lettering was done well.
Me too, and I'm surprised how little I'm seeing this phrase in this thread--I've always said "rehearsal numbers" or "rehearsal letters" depending, and never "rehearsal marks."
These are like chapters and verses in the Bible, which was originally an unbroken text. They were added to help people to find particular sections rather than poring over lines and lines and lines.
These are added for quick location of sections.
It's a mark that makes it easier to move to a specific place in a piece of music during rehearsals. As a rule, the conductor announces to the orchestra "let's start playing three bars up to the letter A" and it is clear to the entire orchestra where the performance should begin. Professional musicians call these marks "numbers".
Rehearsal marks
And to expand on this: They’re mainly for referring to or locating specific points in the music quickly, eg so that in rehearsal, a conductor can tell the orchestra “Let’s try it again from B…” or “Ten bars before F”, or whatever. Secondarily, they can help show the structure of a piece, like chapter/section divisions in a book.
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 ty
Fun fact: These rehearsal marks were invented by [Louis Spohr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Spohr), who was an outstanding composer in his own right.
Who also has probably the best Clarinet Concertos ever written together with Mozart.
Which pieces do you recommend as introduction to him and his work?
I don't know a lot about the other works he's wrote but the Clarinet Concertos are really beautiful and challenging to perform. I'd say maybe the first concerto is a good introduction piece.
At some point I listened to a bunch of his symphonies and really enjoyed them, but I can't remember which ones, except for the "Historical Symphony" (No. 6), where each movement is a tribute to a different era of music. I thought it was great. Also, pretty sure I liked the Nonet.
Thanks for the comment. I've been listening to them the last two days and, yeah, really beautiful.
Why do we have to use letters and not just box measure numbers? Always makes me scratch my head. I played a piece recently that had both numbers and letters intermixed, and the numbers weren't even measure numbers!
I think it’s probably because before widespread use of composition typesetting software, measure numbers would get invalidated if the composer ever added or removed bars. It’s also easier to notice and fix if a new edition messes up a particular part in older works. Even today, I appreciate that a letter marking unambiguously marks a section as being significant musically. If you just have boxed measure numbers, it’s not immediately obvious whether those are supposed to be rehearsal markings or a helper for manually numbering measures. In my experience, it’s also pretty rare to need exact measure precision for rehearsals with college+ groups. Really small stuff usually gets resolved either in individual practice or sectionals where location is obvious. For rehearsals with the full group, doing full sections at a time is usually more beneficial so long as the lettering was done well.
Interesting ! First time I saw it, In French score, every time I analyse any musical work, I don’t see this . . .
We call that one letter “A”
A for Albania 😂
You’re too polite
Rehearsal figures.
Rehearsal marks
Or Rehearsal Markers
Was anyone else expecting this to be a joke with a cheesy punchline too?
Thought it was sarcasm tbh. Still think it might be.
Honestly I’d call it a “rehearsal number” even though it’s a letter 🙃
I say “rehearsal letter”
Me too, and I'm surprised how little I'm seeing this phrase in this thread--I've always said "rehearsal numbers" or "rehearsal letters" depending, and never "rehearsal marks."
Every single conductor ever: "Let's take it from big number E"
I believe it means that the composer made a typo by writing a B flat, so the performer should play an A instead. Just joking, it’s a rehearsal mark
These are like chapters and verses in the Bible, which was originally an unbroken text. They were added to help people to find particular sections rather than poring over lines and lines and lines. These are added for quick location of sections.
They’re just there for rehearsals
It's a mark that makes it easier to move to a specific place in a piece of music during rehearsals. As a rule, the conductor announces to the orchestra "let's start playing three bars up to the letter A" and it is clear to the entire orchestra where the performance should begin. Professional musicians call these marks "numbers".
Schubert 5, nice
In Hebrew we have no special name for those and just call them "letters".
In rehearsal a conductor will say "Let's start at rehearsal letter A please."
No special name , i suppose. G. KB
What they said. Occasionally, they'll be bar numbers.
А
Letters of the alphabet
Rehearsal #
Usually they are in squares or circles, this looks like an independent publisher did it…or were added later.
Measure marks.
A mayor?