Ambiguous 8va in Outdoor Overture
Posted: Fri May 09, 2025 3:10 pm
In Copland's Outdoor Overture, the trombone 1 part occasionally is written 8va. In this instance (bar 239):

the 8va is written over fifth-line A. But according to the score, the part is not octave-shifted until a beat later:

Do we read 8va as indicating the note underneath, or the note(s) to the right? Or is this just sloppy typesetting?

the 8va is written over fifth-line A. But according to the score, the part is not octave-shifted until a beat later:

Do we read 8va as indicating the note underneath, or the note(s) to the right? Or is this just sloppy typesetting?