Brief Guidelines/Suggestions for Inputting Texts (original) (raw)

Last updated: Feb. 18, 1997

Note: These are just suggestions from my own experience at typing out libretti from scores and comparing existing printed formats. I will be modifying them from time to time.

• Please note that no copyrighted texts will be posted here or directly linked from here without permission of the copyright holder
• Templates
• For operas, oratorios, cantatas
• For song cycles
• For individual selections (songs, anthems, motets, etc.)
• Paragraphing and other formatting (these apply primarily to cases where the inputter is working from a score, not from a separately printed libretto)
• Segregate stage directions from lines of character's speech in brackets to distinguish from dialog in parentheses, or, if available, code as parentheses in italics
• Break phrases and clauses of prose dialog into separate lines for ease of reading
• Maintain structure of poetic passages (this may take some work if only the score is available) <\ul>
• Simultaneous speeches
  • Indent from start to end of group a couple of spaces and add a makeshift bracket like this:

/ CHARACTER A | No one can understand our sentences at the same time! | | CHARACTER B \ I know you are, but what am I?

• Choruses with differences in wording among the parts (method depends on best result):
  • Show all voice parts separately if the text is different among them, beginning with the first part that sings:

/ T. | We're the tenors! | | B. | Basses come in second! | | S. \ Sopranos enter last!

  * Choose text of highest-sounding part
  * Identify a patterned poetic structure among the versions and use that
  * Choose the fullest version of text
  * Ignore changes in word order or "filler" syllables

• Repeated phrases or lines
  • Immediate repetition of a single line can be shown with :|| typed at the end of it:

DIE BEIDE Ich liebe dich! :||

  * If a group of three or more lines is repeated, type the first line and add whatever equivalent of "etc." that may be valid for the language of the libretto:

CHORUS And here we sing the dumb refrain, ho, ho! [etc.]

• Diacritics and other alphabetic problems
  • Because not everyone has the best text-displaying software, the ampersand commands for special characters are problematic. Some files on the libretto site use makeshift equivalents such as 'a, ^o, 'e (e.g. French); ue, oe, ae, ss (German).
  • Transliterations of other alphabets (e.g. Cyrillic) will need attached explanations
  • Texts that use non-Roman alphabets for display should include a link to web sources for fonts needed.
• Size of files
  • One-act operas, cantatas, song cycles, selections = one file
  • Multi-act operas, oratorios = multiple files or one file
• Type of files
  • Please send plain ASCII files (with or without HTML coding), or, if necessary, WordPerfect 6.1 or Microsoft Word for Windows files in binary form.
• Endnotes
  • This space is for extra information such as the source of your text.