A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Bind

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Binchois, Egidius

A Dictionary of Music and Musicians
edited by George Grove

Bind

Bini, Pasqualino

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From volume 1 of the work.

1502848A Dictionary of Music and Musicians — Bind

BIND (Ger. Bindebogen; Fr. Liaison; Ital. Legatura). A curved line (also called tie) placed between two notes of the same degree, to denote the continuance of the sound during the value of both, instead of the repercussion of the second note. The employment of the bind is a necessity whenever a sound is required to be of a duration which cannot be expressed by any single note, as for example five or seven quavers (Ex. i), and it is also convenient, and in modern music invariably adopted, when the duration of a note extends beyond the limits of the bar (Ex. 2). This is, however, an improvement of comparatively recent date, such passages having been formerly written in the inconvenient form shown in Ex. 3.

${ \override Score.Rest #'style = #'classical \time 4/4 \tempo "1." \relative c'' { c2 ~ c8 r r4 | c2 ~ c4 ~ c8 r \bar "||" } }$

${ \time 4/4 \tempo "2." \relative g' { g2 c ~ | c4 b d2 ~ | d2 c4 g ~ | g f e2 \bar "||" } }$

${ \time 4/4 \tempo "3." \relative g' { g2 c2. b4 d1 c4 g1 f4 e2 \bar "||" } }$

It is difficult to ascertain with anything like certainty the precise date of the invention of the bind, but it appears probable that it had its origin in the endeavours which were continually made by the earlier composers (before the 15th century) to give rhythmic variety to their counterpoint. Morley (Practical Music, 1597) describes two kinds of counterpoint, which he calls 'long and short' and 'short and long' in each of which a single note alternates with two notes bound together, the sign of the bind being formed thus , as in Ex. 4; and the fourth of the five orders of counterpoint established by Fux (1725), and adopted by all his successors, consists of syncopation—that is, of a non-accented note bound to the accented note of the next bar (Ex. 5).

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \time 2/1 \tempo \markup { 4. \italic "Short and long." } << \relative b' { b1 g^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } | g a | d^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } d | b a^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } | a g | c^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } c | b \bar "||" } \new Staff { \clef bass \relative g { g1 c b a g fis g d' c b a a g } } >> }$

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \time 2/1 \tempo \markup { \italic "Long and short." } << \relative g' { g1^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } g | g a^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } | a a | b^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } b | a g^\markup { \halign #-1.2 \rotate #-90 \magnify #4.2 "{" } | g fis | g \bar "||" } \new Staff { \clef bass \relative g { g1 c b a g fis g d' c b a a g } } >> }$

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \time 4/4 \tempo "5." << \relative e'' { r2 e ~ | e d ~ | d c ~ | c b | c1 \bar "||" } \\ \relative c' { c1 d e d c } >> }$

A curved line similar to the bind, but placed between two notes of different names, denotes the slur or legato, and the possibility of confusion resulting from this resemblance induced Sir Sterndale Bennett to introduce a new sign for the bind, consisting of a rectilinear bracket, thus ⎴; he appears, however, to have thought the innovation not worth preserving, as he only employed it for a time in his op. 33 to 37 recurring afterwards to the usual curved line.

[ F. T. ]