(These files were imported from the midi files in the archive and proofread/tidied/corrected from the Chappell score – see below.)
- 00. Introduction (4,080 bytes, updated 30 Nov 2002)
- 01. As we lie in languor lazy (5,499 bytes, updated 24 Nov 2002)
- 02. When Islam first arose (4,010 bytes, updated 03 Nov 2002)
- 03. O Life has put into my hand (3,955 bytes, updated 01 Dec 2002)
- 04. Sunbeam! The Priest keeps saying (5,257 bytes, updated 01 Dec 2002)
- 05. If you ask me to advise you (6,717 bytes, updated 22 Jul 2008)
- 07. Tramps and scamps (2,892 bytes, updated 03 Nov 2002)
- 08. When my father sent me to Ispahan (3,070 bytes, updated 02 Nov 2002) [includes 4th verse, which isn't in the score]
- 09. Peace be upon this house... A storyteller am I (5,007 bytes, updated 24 Nov 2002)
- 10. Musical maidens are we (10,706 bytes, updated 03 Nov 2002)
- 11. Peace be upon this house... To stop your wild carouse (5,774 bytes, updated 24 Nov 2002)
- 12. The Sultan's executioner (6,279 bytes, updated 23 Nov 2002)
- 13. I'm the Sultan's vigilant Vizier (3,792 bytes, updated 23 Nov 2002)
- 14. O luckless hour (32,954 bytes, updated 30 Nov 2002)
- 16. If you or I should tell the truth (5,806 bytes, updated 24 Nov 2002)
- 17. From Morning Prayer the Sultan of Persia comes (6,097 bytes, updated 02 Nov 2002)
- 18. Let a satirist enumerate (4,078 bytes, updated 02 Nov 2002)
- 21. Laughing low (7,332 bytes, updated 09 Nov 2002)
- 22. It's a busy, busy, busy, busy day (7,815 bytes, updated 25 Nov 2002)
- 26. Hassan the Sultan with his Court approaches (4,348 bytes, updated 06 Nov 2002)
- 27. There was once a small Street Arab (3,950 bytes, updated 02 Nov 2002)
- 28. A bridal march the funeral dirge becomes (4,421 bytes, updated 02 Nov 2002)
These files are also available in a single
.zip file (147,629 bytes, updated 22 Jul 2008).
As mentioned above, these started off as the
midi files from the archive. When I started, I thought this would
be quicker than typing it all in manually: that I'd just need to type
in the words, and tell it where a word was split across two notes. In
practice, though, I don't think I saved much time over typing it in
from scratch.
While NWC can import
MIDI
files, there's a lot left to do:
- Most noticably on playback, all dynamics are lost, and so need to
be re-entered.
- When a note isn't joined to the next one (particularly if it's
staccato, but for longer notes even when it's not), it becomes a
slightly-shorter note followed by a very small rest. NWC can be told the granularity
at which to interpret note lengths (in an attempt to work around this
problem), but this loses detail from places where such lengths
are needed.
- Sometimes the barlines appear in the wrong place. If there's a
partial bar at the start, for example, this happens. It's possible to
insert a double-barline where the first bar should really be, and then
tell NWC to audit the
barlines. But that fails to join up adjacent rests into a single
longer rest. And sometimes, particularly when complicated timing's
involved (e.g. with triplets), the note lengths get distorted
slightly.
- While making the file look pretty is a secondary goal to making it
sound right, it's still a goal. If I can notate something in two
ways, both of which sound identical, but one of which looks better,
then I still want to choose the better option. As such, on the
(admittedly shaky) assumption that the score has made all the optimal
choices, I needed to go through and rewrite loads of accidentals to a
variant form (e.g. converting A♭ to G♯).
Chris Hall <chall0@gmail.com>
