109: Cadenzas - creating

There are a number of ways to approach the writing of cadenzas in Sibelius. The central concept is that it is not currently possible in Sibelius to have a bar of an indeterminate length as is customary for cadenzas. However, it is possible to create bars of an arbitrary length, or to make several regular bars appear as a single bar of an arbitrary length.

Here are a few approaches to creating cadenzas in Sibelius. Note that in all cases, it is helpful if you calculate the length of your cadenza (in terms of note-values) before you start to input it:

• Create an irregular bar, or a series of them, using Create > Bar > Other. You can specify the exact duration of the bar, as complex as you like, and fill them with music as normal. You should avoid deleting (hiding) any unwanted rests if possible, as they will have an effect on note spacing.
• If you need to have regular (measured) bars of music and free rhythm simultaneously, use tuplets in the free rhythm part and hide their numbers and brackets, to "fake" free rhythm -- see Free rhythm in your User Guide for further information.