Klarinet Archive - Posting 000057.txt from 2009/04
From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Orchestra parts Errata - "The reprint rumor letter"
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:35:09 -0400
Niewig's comments on "The reprint rumor" are very cogent, thorough, and well
written.
But I would to add some additional information, particularly with respect to
Kalmus.
During WW2, when the U.S. entered the war against Germany, all German
editions lost their copyright status and could be copied without fear of a
law suit. And Kalmus simply took everything that was nailed down. Many of
those editions had not lost their copyright through time, they simply lost
it through being on the wrong side of a declared war. The Breitkopf & Hartel
cover pages what with all the baroque squiggles, and the bear holding
something that I was never able to figure out, soon appeared on editions
published by Kalmus, and without any reference to the B&H publication. Even
today, major orchestras buy the parts for Beethoven's 5th symphony from
Kalmus, for example because B&H charges $150 and Kalmus charges $12. If you
are the orchestral librarian, you'd be crazy to buy certain editions of the
standard orchestral repertoire.
However, as an added bonus, Kalmus (and other printers, too) offer
improvements to their edition by supplying things that were not a part of
the original printing. For example, Kalmus provided bass clarinet parts
that were originally in bass clef and/or for bass clarinet in A, transposed
to treble clef and made into a bass clarinet in B-flat part. They also were
the first to provide clarinet parts as substitutes for the basset horn parts
in the gran Partitta. And many of these additional parts that came along
without charge were in the hand of a particular copyist who was very
recognizable. I grew up playing his handwritten parts. My first gig as bass
clarinet in the Nutcracker Ballet used his book. It cost $2 at the time and
Kalmus supplied it if you wanted it.
Services like this were eventually included in the German editions after the
war.
As for changing notes in an edition to preserve the copyright, I belief that
this was done by Stravisnky. He would change this or that note for bassoon,
and another here and there for a trombone, and he would do it in perhaps
half an hour's time. Then he claimed that he had made a new and improved
edition. Go ahead an copy the old one, he would say, the new one is the one
that will sell. That man was no fool. He knew full well how to work the
copyright laws to his benefit.
Dan Leeson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Clinton F. Nieweg" <proofferr@-----.com>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 2:57 PM
Subject: [kl] Orchestra parts Errata - "The reprint rumor letter"
<From: "Edward Branham" Believe it or don't ....
Publishers often INTENTIONALLY place a few 'errors' for copyright protection
purposes. Some other publication containing their 'signature error' has
illegally copied their work ...
------
I would be interested in seeing an example of this rumor in different
publications. With many years of experience proofing orchestra music I have
not yet found this to be true, so
with the help of librarians, conductors and publishers I wrote this letter
in 1990:
The fallacious rumor that reprint houses deliberately “add a few easily
correctable mistakes to their editions so that they can renew the copyrightâ€
has been around for as long as these houses have existed. The music that
Kalmus, Luck’s, Broude, and Dover print is exclusively in the public domain
on unedited titles. In-so-far as copyright is concerned, Kalmus does not
claim copyrights for its reprints that are unedited.
The main reason for the printed errors in reprint house parts is that the
original publishers (especially the French and Russian ones) produced
engravings full of mistakes. Kalmus simply reprints these engravings, with
the mistakes, articulation, ornamentation, etc. as is.
While they do use the best copy that can be found, the fact remains that the
reprint copy will only be as error-free as the plate from which it was
created. Thus it can be assumed for any Kalmus publication that unless the
catalog lists an editor’s name, Kalmus has made no changes to the music.
The changes that Kalmus does make to various works are in the interest of
improvement. Editor-in-Chief Clark McAlister is heavily involved in the
production of the Kalmus “Corrected Editionsâ€, a process that is extremely
expensive and time consuming. Original proofing to re-engraving to
production can take up to four years for just one piece. (*Please note that
not all Corrected Editions are Critical Editions: for a Critical Edition,
the editor must have access to the facsimile of the composer’s manuscripts,
or preferably, the original manuscripts.)
In terms of specific publishers, Dover scores contain on the whole the
greatest number of errors, as they are reprints of original uncorrected
European publications. Luck’s buys much of its music directly from Kalmus,
and like its supplier, does some improvement to the parts. Broude publishes
its collection of titles on good paper, but the music is again often
uncorrected unless improvements have been made.
Consequently, if Kalmus were to deliberately sabotage its own music, another
reprint house could simply put out a better edition and make more sales. It
is in the best interest of all reprint houses to produce the best parts
possible.
Many Kalmus titles have had the original publishers errors corrected and are
the standard orchestra parts used by the Major Orchestras worldwide. Titles
that are in the U. S. public domain can be found at
http://www.kalmus-music.com
Written by Clinton F. Nieweg with the advice of other librarians,
conductors, performers and publishers - 1990.
~ Proof Purr-fect Research ~
Clinton F. Nieweg
Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Librarian (Ret.)
(Research for Conductors, Librarians, Performers)
proofferr (at) yahoo (dot) com
Co-founder:
MOLA (for Librarians of larger performing groups) www.Mola-inc.org
OLI Yahoo group (for Librarians of regional and community orchestras)
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/OrchLibInfo/
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