Talk:Lo! He comes, an infant stranger (Thomas Merritt)

The "a cappella" marking would surprise Merrit. Unaccompanied singing would've been very much the exception (open air, or underground, perhaps!) but organ was envisaged if available. Or even brass band, for which Merritt wrote too.

It would be much better if instrumentation were not specified.

Alan Knight

Marghek 18:22, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

The question is: "does 'instruments' reflects the original accompaniment or the accompaniment that is in the score?". When there are more than one edition of the same work, it's the original accompaniment of which we think first. But in this case, as in many others, it reflects only the present edition. And many editors aren't sure of what the composer wanted and if the composer wanted only one accompaniment throughout his life. Anyway, this can be discussed further in the forums. Just my two (more) cents. ;-) Claude 06:59, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

OK, I'll try to find time to discuss on a forum.

Marghek 10:23, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

But another point: the midi (? generated automatically ?) is a hindrance not a help! The chorus doesn't appear until after the repetitions of the "verse", and the chorus is at the same tempo as the verses - slow (in fact, probably too slow) - not as marked in the pdf - much brisker.

Marghek 10:23, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Well, Alan, I agree about the mistakes in the MIDI file I produced in June, particularly regarding the tempo (which is not mentioned at the beginning of the score) and the redirections (which are not clearly mentioned as well - for my understanding). So I prefer to delete the file. Feel free to produce the MIDI file yourself as you did for the score. It should be very easy from the music program you used to elaborate the score. -- Among 11,500 scores on CPDL, 10,000 came with the corresponding MIDI file by the same editor. I try to produce a MIDI file for the other works (when there is no copyright opposition) because, as a choir webmaster, I think it is useful to elaborate such files for rehearsal. Sorry. Claude 17:13, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Page title

I obviously agree with the CPDL adage title = text, but in this case, it seems inappropriate. Surely, after an exclamation mark, the use of a capital "H" is perfectly in line with textual expectations. Should an error in the lyrics result in a spelling mistake? joachim 13:39, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Joachim on this. —Carlos  06:20, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

Reply by: Chucktalk Giffen♫ 14:20, 17 September 2010 (UTC)  Help  From what I've been able to dig up on such issues, it could be "Lo! He comes..." or "Lo, he comes..." – or possibly "Lo, He comes..." (if one accepts capitalization of pronouns for a Deity, as in "To Thee all angels sing..."). Other examples: "Lo! He comes with clouds descending" versus "Lo, there do I see my father" illustrate the usage. I would opt for "Lo! He comes, an infant stranger" in the present case, especially since the English text provided is possibly in error, because the second stanza (as given) begins with the line "Lo! He comes, by man unfriended". I would also change the first line of the first stanza to accord with the second stanza.

Fine by me. --Bobnotts talk 20:37, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

Page renamed, redirection from the previous name deleted as superfluous. Claude 21:05, 17 September 2010 (UTC)