Musical transcriptions from the Robert ap Huw manuscript
p15 to p32 (p33 to p101 in progress)
These transcriptions were originally made for the purpose of harmonic analysis.
However, they should prove helpful to the musician who finds reading the original
notation laborious and difficult.
The transcriptions are not an adequate substitute for viewing the original notation.
Greg Lindahl's facsimile copy of the original notation can be viewed or downloaded
for free as a .pdf file at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ap_huw/facsimile/.
Although this is a transcription to stave, certain modern conventions have not been
followed.
I have not had the opportunity to consult the original manuscript in order to resolve
certain transcription problems. These transcriptions should therefore be seen as
helpful but not a definitive source. However, all the features mentioned above
maximise the reader's freedom to interpret the rhythm of this manuscript.
A form of music worth comparing to that contained in the manuscript is the Scottish
pipe music which is built around a recurring 'ùrlar' (ground) and 'siùbhlaichean'
(allegros), eg, Cumha Mhic Cruimein (MacCrimmon's Lament). Learning one or two
of these pieces may influence how the reader interprets the music of the Robert ap
Huw manuscript.
No time signatures are provided, only the bar lines of the manuscript have been
transcribed, and the notes on the stave have not been given tails.
Slurs written below the notes on the stave indicate neither musical phrasing nor
the lengthening of note values. Rather, they group the notes together in
imitation of vertical note groupings in the manuscript.
Slurs written above/beside rather than under the notes on the stave indicate any
unusual vertical ordering of the notes in the original tablature, where the
sequence of alphabetical letters does not rise or fall as one might expect.