: How to play these ornaments How do you play these mordents with the sharp underneath them? Usually that would mean to play the lower note sharp, but in this case the mordent's going up. Right now I'm playing them like the

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How these are played may be determined by the date of composition (unless the composer explains things.) In the Baroque, the mordent sign often (if not always) meant the "lower" mordent. A stroke through the sign meant "upper" mordent. In the 19th century this is often reversed.

In the case given, the first mordent is on E# which seems to indicate that it's an upper mordent so I'd play E#-F#-E# (relying on the idea that ornaments connect different notes rather than notes and altered notes). Half-step mordents are crisper (or more dissonant) than whole step mordents (as I hear it.)

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A look at the orchestral version (from imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/19513) answers the question, because the ornaments are written out in full.

Why the sharp is printed below the ornament sign in your edition and not above it, I have no idea - but it wouldn't be the first misprint ever found in a score!

FWIW the IMSLP's score of the piano version imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/173317 has the sharp above the ornament, where it belongs.