Gauldin rules for text setting (pp. 22-24, 39-41).
1. Any white note may carry a syllable.
2. The final breve must carry a syllable (generally true of last note in interior phrases, too).
3. Accented syllables are usually set with longer values, but those longer values may occur on strong or weak beats of the measure.
4. Melismas start with a longer value and an accented syllable (in other words, melismas are like quantitative accents).
5. Melismatic and syllabic setting is common; neumatic setting is less common.
6. Avoid repeated rhythmic figures that might suggest dance rhythms.
7. Smaller note values tend to occur in greater numbers in the second half of a phrase, larger values in the first half.
8. In a series of black notes beginning on a beat, put a syllable on the first note but do not change syllables during the run. Do not put a syllable on an offbeat black note beginning a run.
9. The first white note after a block-note run cannot carry a new syllable; wait for the next one.
10. Single quarter notes may carry a syllable if it is the penultimate syllable of a word that is accented immediately before (such as Domine).
11. Eighth-notes AND the note following them may not carry a syllable.
12. Repeated notes must carry a syllable. The one exception: portamento (anticipation in a cadence formula; see p. 44).
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