Last updated: Feb. 18, 1997

Brief Guidelines/Suggestions for Inputting Texts

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

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.