At 10:33 AM +0100 2/8/11, Florence + Michael wrote:
I have the Henle Urtext edition of that Nocturne, which should
reproduce Chopin's notation: as far as I can see it is the same as
in that example. We're discussing dotted notes that share noteheads:
you can see some in measures 33 - 35.
Small point, perhaps, but an "urtext" is an attempt to reproduce
accurately a composer's "original intention" minus subsequent layers
of editorial decisions. But whether it attempts to reproduce the
original notation is not at all clear. A facsimile, on the other
hand, IS the original notation, but still needs to be interpreted.
Notation is not and never has been a matter of "this shall ye do and
none other!" It has always been a combination of tradition,
innovation, and attempted communication between composer and
performer. The marks on the paper are no more the music than a
blueprint is a building.
As just one pretty obvious example, the BG editors attempted to
reproduce Bach's music exactly, including keeping the original clefs
that he used. But they foundered on the fact that the "standard"
pitch and the organ pitch in the various places where Bach worked was
different, and sometimes the organ part was notated in a different
key from the other parts. They had to make decisions, but in some
cases they made the wrong decisions.
The NBA edition, on the other hand, made an attempt to resolve some
of the questions raised by the BG edition, but used modern clefs to
do so, not the clefs Bach used. Therefore, not an exact copy.
Both are "urtext," for their own time, place, and practices.
I'm not a pianist so I can't speak to Chopin's notation, but I'm very
aware that composers often used notation that was in effect a
shorthand and in some cases very idiosyncratic, so even first
editions (which may or may not have been approved by the
composer--don't assume that they were!!)--have been edited by SOMEONE
and perhaps reflect editorial practice of the time rather than the
composer's notation. And when we get into manuscripts of unpublished
works--well, just ask Kim Patrick about some of the things he's had
to unravel in his transcriptions of 18th century music!!
Just one of the little frustrations musicologists have to deal with
on a daily basis. Silly ol' composers!
John
--
John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music
Virginia Tech Department of Music
College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[email protected])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
"We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition
of jazz musicians.
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