On 28 May 2008 at 8:26, Trent Johnston wrote:

> The fact 
> that the music was only sold in parts (with no full score) suggests that the 
> orchestral requirements where very minimal (very few instruments to a part 
> and often only one or two in the case of stringed instruments).

It suggests nothing of the sort. The reason a score was not 
distributed was because scores as *we* think of them did not really 
exist. The score was nothing more than a guide to the copyist for 
creating the parts, which were the *real* music, i.e., what was 
needed to perform the music.

All of Beethoven's symphonies were published first in parts only, and 
the parts sets came with no score. I don't think we'd call 
Beethoven's symphonies "minimal" in regards to "orchestral 
requirements," whether by our standards or theirs.

-- 
David W. Fenton                    http://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates       http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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