The notation I've indicated in the red box in the attached image, what does it really mean in music context?
1 Answer
Your excerpt comes from a Russian edition with piano accompaniment. The symbols ф-п are simply the Russian letters for f-p, that is, fortepiano, their word for pianoforte. The violin part starts at con sordino, which is why fingering is not given in the earlier bars.
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Why would con sordino and allegro vivace still be in Italian rather than Russian? I can also see a nf down the bottom, what does that mean? May 1, 2018 at 19:01
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1It is mf for mezzo forte down the bottom. con sordino and allegro vivace are standard directions that are not typically translated. Typically, they are not translated into English, either.– user48353May 2, 2018 at 0:22
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1Good thinking on your part. It may seem so, but there is actually no evidence that f-p was translated, or equivalently, that it was originally present in another language. Russian editions were often illegal photographic copies of Western originals. Text desired to be inserted or replaced would simply be overlaid.– user48353May 3, 2018 at 0:27
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Well, it is not the dynamics forte piano which is meant. It is the instrument "piano" which originally was called fortepiano. So it is just a note telling what the piano plays in those two bars. Note the whole note rests in those two bars; they are for the violin player. Dec 2, 2018 at 19:15