Ligature
Connected note complex of mensural notation.
What it means
A ligature is, in mensural notation, a sign that combines several notes into one written unit. It arose from the multi-note neumes of monophonic chant and keeps their basic idea: the group belongs to one text syllable and is read as one movement. Unlike the neumes, however, in mensural notation not only the pitch but also the duration of each individual note is fixed.
In the notation
The notes appear as squares and diamonds set next to one another, some of them connected by vertical strokes. Which value is meant results from the shape of the group: from the direction of the initial and final signs, from the presence and position of a stroke, from the shape of the noteheads. The rules for this are numerous and have changed over time. Reading direction also counts: with noteheads stacked vertically one on top of the other, one reads not from left to right but from bottom to top: with vertically stacked heads, the lower note sounds first.
Musical use
The ligature has its place in polyphonic music from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. It saves space and at the same time makes the bond to the text syllable visible — an advantage that was lost in the transition to modern notation, because there, beaming and text underlay are separate matters. With the establishment of individual notation and the barline, the ligature fell out of use; modern editions of early music resolve it and usually show the original grouping by a square bracket above the notes concerned.
The ligature is to be distinguished from today's tie, which draws two identical pitches together, and from beaming, which concerns only the notation and says nothing about syllable binding.
Performance practice
If your edition marks the resolved ligatures with brackets, use this indication for phrasing: it shows which notes belong to one syllable and thus to one movement. Sing the group as a unit, with weight on the first note, and avoid new attacks within the bracket. For work with facsimiles it holds: first clarify the mensuration signs, then read the groups.