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Mikrokosmos, No. 102 - excerpt

What are these notes about? I had to learn this piece in 8-27-1963 in my first year at the music conservatory in Bern.

The notes look like square notation, but the music was written in 20th. century.

It’s nr. 102 of Bela Bartok’s “mikrokosmos”.

Elements in Space
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Albrecht Hügli
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    How do you keep that l.h. chord sounding? Even pedalling it won't last that long. And why is it written with no key sig., when the B chord is a clue? – Tim Jan 25 '19 at 20:09
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    @ Tim, good thought, that’s the question. The title will tell you. But concerning the key: in many pieces Bartok doesn’t set a key, however tonality is clear. – Albrecht Hügli Jan 25 '19 at 20:28
  • Yes, Todd, and that’s the answer. :) I’ ve learnt something by asking wrong ... – Albrecht Hügli Jan 25 '19 at 20:40
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    I neither knew that diamonds are used in string instruments as notation of dinamics: this is actually the title of mikroksmos 102. And the instruction “press down without sounding” is written at the left bottom of the page. Above the first trade of B in the beginning you can read the hint 1) – Albrecht Hügli Jan 25 '19 at 20:46
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    @AlbrechtHügli Diamond noteheads are used in string instruments for *harmonics* not dynamics. – Pat Muchmore Jan 25 '19 at 21:57
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    @AlbrechtHügli, doesn't help. On an instrument like guitar these would be harmonics. Don't know how to play these on a piano. –  Jan 25 '19 at 22:04
  • @Pat: Yes, of course, I meant “harmonics”. That’s the title of the piece. – Albrecht Hügli Jan 25 '19 at 22:38
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    Those note heads are definitely [diamonds, not squares](https://adage.com/creativity/work/diamond-shreddies-combo-pack/352). – 200_success Jan 26 '19 at 00:18
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    There's a "1)" notated above that chord. Doesn't the footnote say? – Kilian Foth Jan 28 '19 at 08:20
  • @Killian: exactly! The foot note says how the notes have to be played, and this I knew.. The title of the piece is "HARMONICS". (I've got to admit I didn't know that harmonics is a term for string instruments and that brilliants are the generally use for notation of harmonics. l believed this notation is an invention of Bartok. what the 1) means I have explained elsewhere on this site. And of course I have known the answer to my question but I thought this were interesting for others. – Albrecht Hügli Jan 28 '19 at 08:49
  • Off topic: The date should be formatted as 1963-08-27, adhering to ISO 8601. Or the common American format 08/27/1963 if you prefer. But this mix is confusing. – rfbw Jun 29 '22 at 11:45
  • @rfbw: oh, you're corrected the date. Thank you, that's fine! Sorry, I missunderstood *off topic*: I thought you mean the question were off topic .. – Albrecht Hügli Jun 30 '22 at 21:11

1 Answers1

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I believe the square notes (usually called diamonds) indicate keys that are silently depressed and held down. This technique allows those notes to ring sympathetically when the right hand notes are played. This specific piece is mentioned in this Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_extended_technique

The relevant passage:

Composers such as Béla Bartók started to look at the piano as a more percussive instrument and explored various techniques to achieve percussive effects. His Bagatelles and Mikrokosmos (the series of works for the instruction of young pianists) both contain unusual instructions to the pianist. He even used special notation for certain of them: "hold keys silently" is indicated by square note heads rather than the usual round ones.

Lastly, the "1)" above first chord probably indicates a composer's note somewhere in the score, so that will give you the definitive answer.

Peter
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    Oh, **Brilliant**! I'd accept this if it were possible! Bravo, Peter! – user45266 Jan 25 '19 at 20:32
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    @user45266 Yes, this answer is correct. Just a note, although I see why you describe them as squares, these noteheads are generally referred to as diamonds. The same diamond noteheads are often used for harmonics on string instruments. – Pat Muchmore Jan 25 '19 at 20:39
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    @PatMuchmore Yes, I've usually heard them referred to as diamonds as well, but both the OP and the Wikipedia article used the term "square." Truly square noteheads (basically like what's shown but rotated 45 degrees) also exist. – Peter Jan 25 '19 at 20:59
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    So, that would be a way to excite harmonics on a piano. Very cool. –  Jan 25 '19 at 22:05
  • Yes, you know what happens if you press the keys slowly down without playing. “Hold the keys silently”. The strings of the piano are open. The sff in the first bar effects them to vibrate and they still resonate to the soft piano tune. That’s what Tim was wondering how pedaling could be hold so long. – Albrecht Hügli Jan 25 '19 at 22:49
  • Do digital pianos simulate harmonics like this? Is this a standard feature or something only more advanced pianos do? – Tim Jan 26 '19 at 20:56
  • Um, I've tried this on my digital piano/keyboard, and it doesn't work. Not sure about other pianos, though. That would be so cool if they did! – user45266 Jan 26 '19 at 22:14
  • So, this would be a good moment to use the _*Sostenuto*_ pedal, right? – Borjovsky Aug 04 '19 at 03:21
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    @Tim I know this was a while ago, but I just got a new digital piano, and it does indeed simulate this effect! It's a Kurweil Forte, and it has a setting called "string resonance." I don't think this is at all standard, but at least I can now say it's possible. – Pat Muchmore Sep 29 '20 at 14:24
  • @Borjovsky Not in this particular piece, because it's specifically written so that one hand can hold the notes while the other hand plays everything else. However, this "silently depressed key" effect does work *very* nicely with the sostenuto pedal if you want more involved passagework. – Pat Muchmore Sep 29 '20 at 14:26
  • @PatMuchmore Thanks for sharing that information, and congratulations on your new piano... at a glance, it looks like an absolute beast of a unit! – Tim Sep 30 '20 at 15:40