April 2021
Buy the Book: Why We Still Need Music Publishers
by Wendy Powers
Over the past twenty years, hundreds of thousands of free music scores have become available online. Recorderists and other musicians have found the Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) and the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) particularly useful, abounding with old editions past their copyrights, foreign editions with warnings that they may not be legal in the US, and new editions—some quite good by public-spirited contributors such as Eric Haas, Allen Garvin, and David Fraser (who is editing the complete vocal works of William Byrd and John Dowland for use through CPDL)—and some quite awful, by editors who make mistakes or freely make changes to musical works.
Even with such free online riches, I would not dream of stopping my purchases of hard copies of published music, both for myself and for my students. To explain why I have purchased hundreds of scores for my library, and why I will continue to do so, I will look at a few examples of score books from my music collection.
What a Good Edition Can Do
I bought Bernard Thomas’ London Pro Musica edition of 5 Virgil Motets a 4 by Josquin des Prés, Marbriano de Orto, and anonymous (LPM 551) from the Von Huene Shop years ago because I am always on the lookout for new Renaissance motets that I can use with recorder consorts. I was unfamiliar with these secular motets on two Latin texts from Virgil’s Aeneid connected with the story of Queen Dido. As with all LPM editions, Thomas’ collection includes very clear scores that walk an appealing fine line between orientation toward the scholar and the performer His useful commentary and Nigel Coulton’s translations situate this fascinating repertory in historical context. Thomas does not transpose these vocal works or otherwise arrange them for modern use. And Thomas seems aware that his editions are also used by instrumentalists, so his scores generally are sensitive to avoiding excessive page turns and they include excellent individual parts in clefs that are useful for recorders, viols, and other early instruments.
Simply grouping these five works together opened a door into a rich text tradition that was previously unknown to me. I have since looked at more scholarly (and expensive!) editions of these works, but I always come back to the LPM edition when I want to coach these gorgeous pieces. Thomas’ choice of what to include in this small collection taught me something new and exciting that I would have otherwise missed; he has vast knowledge and exquisite taste in early repertory. LPM has kept its many, many editions very reasonably priced. For this and for all the above reasons, I want London Pro Musica—which is morphing into Edition Zefiro—to thrive, and so am more than willing to continue buying its editions.
Modern compositions that are still under copyright are not normally (or legally!) found on free sites on the Web. I have just purchased German composer Sören Sieg’s set of miniatures for solo recorder titled Ukuvalelisa directly from his Web site soerensieg.de/en. Sieg has formed his own company to publish his wonderful compositions for recorder and other instruments, which enables him to market and distribute his works as he likes and to earn money directly, something that is not easy in the music business these days. His editions include essential information about the inspirations for his compositions (you will have to go to Sieg’s Web site to find out what the names Ukuvalelisa means!) and performance practice. Most of Sieg’s music is not available any other way. Because of copyright restrictions, the work of other living or dead modern composers for the recorder–e.g., Will Ayton, Hans-Martin Linde, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Paul Hindemith, Benjamin Britten, Hans Ulrich Staeps—are likewise not found outside of purchasing hard copies. Paying for published music is the best way to support both composers and their publishers.
Bringing back lost music
A third reason to purchase published editions is to get a sense of an original source collection as a way to discover lost repertory. A good example is Amherst Early Music’s edition of Petrucci’s Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A, the earliest important polyphonic music print from moveable type, originally published in Venice in 1501. (Full disclosure—I work for Amherst Early Music and was one of the editors of this book.) The ninety-six works in Odhecaton are by Josquin, Isaac, and loads of other composers from that era, and include three- and four-part instrumental works, chansons, and a few sacred pieces. Some of the works are anonymous or unique to this print, and so would not likely be found in an online source. The commentary is by the eminent musicologist David Fallows. Each piece is carefully laid out without page turns, making it useful for instrumentalists. AEM’s edition of Odhecaton is now the only modern edition of this vital source in print, so it is essential both for players of Renaissance consort music and for scholars. Some of my most rewarding playing sessions with friends have been spent working our way through this collection looking for music new to us, that would have otherwise escaped our notice. The curation of Petrucci’s editor, Petrus Castellanus combined with its reborn availability via AEM’s edition conveniently opens up a new world of consort music.
The Joys of an Anthology
The idea of curation leads me to one last type of music publication, the anthology. Collections of solos, duos, trios, and so on for particular types of instruments has proven particularly useful over this year of pandemic, when all teaching has happened over Zoom or similar platforms. I have found the Alto Recorder Solo Book: Music from the 1th to 21st centuries, selected, edited and, arranged, and published by Eric Haas to be a trove of solo repertory for online teaching. (More full disclosure—Haas is a member of the ARS board and a friend.) No one is as knowledgeable about music suitable for recorder as Haas, and his anthology shows me new works and composers every time I poke through its 135 pages. Having students purchase the book, available from the Von Huene Workshop, enables me to easily (and there is little that is easy about online teaching!) pick out a piece for students to work on without having to send a pdf that must be printed. Haas has created scores with almost no page turns, beautifully edited and laid out. It is like having a trusted guide to recorder-friendly instrumental works from the Middle Ages to yesterday; here is forgotten and brand new repertory, some available in facsimile online, but that I never would have thought to seek out without Haas’s curation. Anthologies like this are a perfect core for a home music library.
To sum up, keep buying music books—for the wisdom of the editors, for the unique compositions, for the convenient user-friendly format, for creating a ready-to-hand repertory to explore at home. Patronizing music publishers allows them to keep music in print and to bring out new compositions, new editions and arrangements, and new collections. We need music publishers and the retail establishments that sell music editions to stay in business.
One final thought
As a rule, I try not to dive too deeply into scary tech scenarios. Once in a while, however, I get worried about what would (will?) happen if the pdf format became obsolete, the way WordPerfect, Compuserve, LPs, and my Blackberry faded away. The 2,000-year history of the book as a technology is very comforting to me; we can still read codices from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and I see no end to books as an important medium.
Wendy Powers is an ARS Board member currently serving as Treasurer, who lives and teaches in New York City.
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