Page-turner
A page-turner is a person who turns sheet music pages for a musician, often a pianist, usually during a performance.[1]
While some music is set so that the pages end at places where the musician can spare one hand to turn them, this is not always possible. A page-turner is often necessary for musicians who are playing complex pieces and prefer not to play from memory, or the pageturn seems impossible to do if the musician wants to keep playing the piece cohesively without stopping. A page-turner needs to be able to understand the musician's signals and follow the music to know when to turn the page, and to do so quickly and unobtrusively.[2] Page-turners are sometimes acquaintances of the performer or members of the accompanying orchestra doing a favour. Professional page-turners are often freelance casual workers, not associated with any given concert hall or orchestra.
Mechanical page-turners are also available,[3] sometimes controlled by the musician via a foot pedal.[4] Charles Hallé is said to have invented the automatic page-turner.[5] Foot pedals to turn pages are also available for music displayed on computers.[6] One of the first wireless pageturners with a pedal was invented in 2009, it included a pedal and a flash drive for a computer.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Stamberg, Susan (2009). "Turning a Page? Better Consult a Professional". Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Stewart, Paul B. “The Page Turner.” American Music Teacher 56, no. 1 (August 2006): 4–5. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mah&AN=21975136&site=ehost-live.
- ^ "Automatic page turner could help musicians and the disabled". MIT News. 13 May 1999. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ US patent 5962801, Tim Bowman, Ben Shepard, "Page turner", published 5 October 1999
- ^ Siepmann, Jeremy (1998). The Piano. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 181. ISBN 0-7935-9976-8.
- ^ Dobrin, Peter (22 April 2016). "Classical music page-turners turn the page into the modern era". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Ajero, Mario. “AirTurn AT-104 Wireless Page-Turner.” Clavier Companion 1, no. 5 (September 2009): 64–65. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mah&AN=44303208&site=ehost-live.
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