Klarinet Archive - Posting 000222.txt from 2003/02

From: "Mark Charette" <charette@-----.org>
Subj: RE: [kl] Castelnuovo-Tedesco Question
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 11:57:30 -0500

An interesting article showing the difficulty in determining the "critical
edition" of a piece is in "Carl Maria von Weber's Clarinet Concertos - A
Challenge for the Editor and the Clarinetist" by Frank Heidlberger in the
December 2002 edition of "The Clarinet".

Heidlberger presents us with the difficulties in establishing the "critical
edition" - it does not necessarily mean that the autograph(s), first
edition, or subsequent editions are in fact the "critical edition", but all
must be weighed against other factors. He presents a short table in the
magazine:

-------

How to Make a Critical Edition

- Examination and determination of authentic / non-authentic sources

- Comparative description of the sources: dependence / relationship

- Definition of a primary source: this source will be the main score of the
edition

- Creation of the main score with marked additions from other authentic
sources and/or from the editor (...)/[...]

- Compilation of a critical report: shows differences between authentic
sources, verifies decisions of the editor, describes problematic details of
the main score

-------

This is apropos in the C-T case; without some rigorous scholarship involved
the substitution of one note vs. another, even where it might seem trivial,
is indeed not a trivial matter. As Tony Pay pointed out, it changes the form
of the music in some other not-so-subtle ways.

Mark C.

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