30 points to the person who correctly identifies the variety of clef used by Bach in the soprano parts of his B minor mass (BWV 232).

trehbull cleff?

Mr. Fluffy

Do you have the sheet music for us to look at?

alto clef?

butt clef

Treble *Nods*

 

50-50 guess? :D

Soprano I or Soprano II (just kidding, they both use the same clef ;) )

 

It is Treble, indeed.  I'm assuming you are referring to the opening movement Kyrie (which is in B minor), as that is one of the most famous parts and has a soprano part (there are some sections with no soprano I or II voices.)

 

 

and a more modern printing

 

http://www.musicroom.fr/images/catalogue/fullsize/GS30132.jpg[/img]

 

 

Heh, heh.

 

I'm dividing the points between Claire and Empy for this one. They both got the answer nearly right.

 

The alto clef is a specific case of C clef (the treble clef is a specific case of G clef). When the C clef is centered on the middle line, that is the alto clef - when it is centered on the lowest line of the stave, that is the soprano clef.

 

So, Empy was on the right track, and I award him 20 points.

 

Claire gets 10 points for effort - she was completely wrong in saying it was the treble clef, as it was the  soprano clef, but she posted Bach's original manuscript which shows that it was the soprano clef indeed. And that must've taken some effort so she gets my admiration and a consolation prize. :D

 

As for Schirmer's edition - well, you've stumbled into the messy world of Bach performance and editorial practices, there.

Doh I didn't think to try and make out the scribbled clef in the Bach original.  I could only make out the C that denoted common time ;)  So much for modern transcriptions.

heh. Schirmer's notes there are actually a hilariously Romantic ideal of what people thought Bach meant by his basso continuo part back in the 1930's. Bach wouldn't've meant anything like that.

Music is so much more difficult than mathematics...

I don't follow either one lol