Mora (stretch mark)

The mora (Latin for delay ) is an expansion symbol in the square notation of neumes to indicate the extension of a tone and is placed as a point behind the corresponding note or group of notes. The exact length of a tone provided with a mora is not specified. In Gregorian chant, the corresponding notes are sustained for about twice as long. Morae often appear in the Graduale Romanum with closing notes , as well as before quilisms and pausae and thus also serve as a symbol for the phrasing. Often you can breathe after a mora. Inside phrases, instead of a mora, an episem is set to indicate an extended tone.

Examples of Morae in the square notation of Gregorian chant

Mora on the line at a single barrel

Mora between the lines in a single barrel

Mora on the line with a punctum inclinatum

Despite the similarity, the mora has nothing in common with the punctuation in modern musical notation; the function is more like a fermata .