Darcy James Argue wrote: [snip]>
To use a real-life example (albeit one involving a different instrument), lots of bluegrass fiddle players don't read any kind of music notation at all, but are nonetheless more capable than most of writing idiomatically for the violin.
[snip]
Actually they may be more capable than most of creating music which is idiomatic for the violin, but if they "don't read music notation at all" they can hardly "write" for it, can they?
And that I think was the thrust of comments made about the viola-composer-who-doesn't-read-alto-clef -- making up music that sounds great on an instrument is fine, but is it really considered "writing" for that instrument?
How many people who are recognized by the classical music world as being good or even great composers couldn't write for the instruments they were composing for because they didn't know the clefs? I think that learning one's craft is an important part of learning one's art, although they aren't the same.
In the case under discussion, I think the composer is fine to write music he thinks will sound good on the viola and then hire an engraver to make sure it is properly engraved for a viola player to read, but I do hope the composer actually learns how to write (as in putting marks on paper) for the viola properly in order to better understand viola music.
-- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
