Page-turner

A note turner (notes ) page-turner or Seitenumblätterer, sarcastic and " Aphid ", is an assistant to a musician. His job is on time and quickly to one side to flip the sheet music according to the flow of the music played.

Activity

The reason for the staff contact by a second person, is that the musician has no hand flip freely and this would lead to an interruption. Are usual touch turners playing keyboard instruments, as the notation in two systems requires frequent page breaks and the musician needs so far away from the music stand with both hands on the keyboard and. The note turner sits always faces away from the audience in concert, that is, between the musicians and backstage. Note turner stand on practical reasons for turning.

Frequently note turners are especially in genres where a rote presentation is uncommon, especially in chamber music. At the organ, the registrant accepts addition to the establishment of the register, the task of the note Wenders.

Alternatively, the musicians play by heart or turn the pages yourself. In music notation notes are arranged as far as possible, that at the end of a page is a break, during which the musician or just the note turner can turn the pages, especially in orchestral parts. The faster the tempo of a piece of music and the fewer breaks it contains, the more you will need a touch turner.

A note turner required advanced knowledge of music, as he always compare the music played with the notes, the process to know (for example, repetitions) and can understand short signals the musician has to be able to turn the page in time can. However, note turners are not studied professional musician in most cases. They are also not permanent employees usually at a concert hall or a concert promoter, but a sideline working on a fee basis. Often there are friends or acquaintances of the instrumentalists who do this as a favor. In the professional music business fixed fee rates are provided for the staff contact.

Well-known examples and artistic reception

Ignaz von Seyfried had as a note turner at the premiere of the third piano concerto of Beethoven difficulties since Beethoven's notes only from " almost nothing but empty [n ] leaves [ n] " and " purely incomprehensible [n ] Egyptian [n ] hieroglyphics me " passed. The music for 6 instruments and an furrower of Paul Hindemith 's lost it. In Charles Ives ' Second Sonata for Violin and Piano of the note turner for both musicians must turn the page and plays at the end of the sentence in the Barn itself on the deep notes of the piano with. In the parody of love songs polkas for Choir and Piano by PDQ Bach fünfhändig (aka Peter Schickele ) small pianistic tasks are the note turner that moves around the two main pianists around, in addition to the leaves is intended.

The movie The girl who is turns the pages of a pianist mother and her Notenwenderin. The violinist and conductor Aleksey Igudesman the score turning is sometimes used satirically.

In episode 114 of the TV crime series SOKO Leipzig a Notenwenderin is at the center of the action.

Mechanization

In the 19th century there were attempts to turn over the notes by means of technical devices. Another mechanical touch turner brought Düsseldorf 2003, two young entrepreneurs on the market.

For the more rare event that the notes are displayed on a screen, there are special computer programs that switch the displayed page automatically or be controlled by a pedal. Such a technique used, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra since 2000, but they managed it again soon.