Klarinet Archive - Posting 000401.txt from 2004/01

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Stupid bass clef bass clarinet question!
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 21:45:03 -0500

Apropos of Dan Leeson's story about a composer who sent in a concert pitch
score and expected the publisher to transpose the parts (which the
publisher did not do), Patricia A. Smith wrote:
>>What a LAZY composer. I was always told when
>>arranging AND composing to make SURE I transposed
>>the parts properly IN THE SCORE!

Most people who play transposing instruments would probably join you in
this sentiment. All together now: Roll eyes and groan, "Duh!" But,
believe it or not, on the composers' chat forum at the Sibelius Music
website, we've had arguments about whether to submit scores in concert
pitch or transposed.

A number of the composers (mostly amateurs, like me) believe that it's
old-fashioned to publish transposed full orchestra or full band scores.
They're convinced that the modern trend is to submit the score in concert
pitch throughout, because it's easier to read. Some of them evidently
extrapolate this debatable assertion incorrectly to mean that we should
*also* turn in the *parts* at concert pitch, for the sake of consistency.
This is a genuine misunderstanding, not simple laziness, since the computer
program we use will re-format back and forth between a concert pitch score
and a transposing score with a click of the mouse. Even if the composer is
utterly clueless about such things, it's no trouble at all to turn in the
full score at concert pitch and the parts in transposed pitch. Apparently,
some of the youngest composition students are simply ignorant, since some
have asked, "What is a transposing instrument?" Some don't play
instruments, or play nothing but piano. However, several of the more
experienced, adult composers, who do play instruments, assume it's the
prospective conductors reading the scores online who are too ignorant or
too lazy to understand a transposed score!

Since I'm not persuaded that transposed full scores are really "out" (What
do the conductors in the group have to say about that?), I transpose not
only the parts but also the full score, so that someone reading it online
will *know* that I'm aware of transposing instruments and that I've
transposed the parts. I wouldn't like to start downloading a large score
and discover too late, as it printed out, that many of the parts have to be
edited and re-copied, and I assume other people wouldn't be thrilled,
either!

Lelia Loban
E-mail: lelialoban@-----.net
Web site (original music scores as audio or print-out):
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org