Mensurstrich

Mensurstrich (plural Mensurstriche) is a German term used in musical notation to denote a barline that is drawn between staves, but not across them. It is typically seen in modern editions of Medieval and Renaissance vocal polyphony, where it is intended to allow modern performers the convenience of barlines without having them interfere with the music, which was originally written without barlines. In most cases note values are allowed to cross over a Mensurstrich without requiring a tie. A few modern composers (such as Hugo Distler, whose vocal music is reminiscent of Renaissance vocal polyphony) have made a practice of using it in their music in order to minimize the regularity of meter.