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And parts is parts- building a libraryhttp://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2009/08/11/and-parts-is-parts-building-a-library/

Posted on August 11, 2009

As look out !ro" "y palatial o!!i#e towards the busy inner #orridors o! $%&Pnternational 'ead(uarters and our #ra#k tea" o! 'ar)ard-edu#ated interns working as!a#t #he#kers and web te#hni#ians, a" re"inded o! the sa#red "ission o! this augustinstitution- to gi)e our hu"ble readers a rare and pre#ious gli"pse o! the gla"orous li!eo! the *+ P' + ' *& A 3 & .

A re#ent e)ent dro)e ho"e the i"portan#e o! this "ission. n this o##asion, was pri)ileged to wel#o"e a distinguished #olleague, a genuine %A 3* *+ P' +

' *& A 3 & to our ho"e !or dinner. 4hen this "aestro arri)ed a bitearly, he !ound not the e5pe#ted !east arrayed on our dining roo" table, but a sta#k o!or#hestra parts, a s#ore, a pen#il and an eraser.

6Ah- you7re in the "idst o! nuts and bolts work, he said, 6our poor ignorant !ans #anne)er !ully i"agine the gla"orous li!e o! a sy"phony or#hestra #ondu#tor.

! #ourse, he was right- "ere i"agination is too !eeble a tool to #reate a )i)id portraito! the li!e o! a sy"phony or#hestra #ondu#tor, hen#e the urgent need !or this blog.

4hat "y #olleague had re#ogni ed was the pro#ess o! "arking and editing or#hestra parts, whi#h #an be an in)aluable tool !or a working #ondu#tor.

*o"e years ago, was at a #ondu#ting se"inar on the topi# o! "usi#al "aterials and thetea#her said in a #o"pletely "atter-o!-!a#t "anner that we should all own our own partsto as "u#h o! the #ore repertoire as possible. At the ti"e this see"ed an i"possibletask- the #ost alone boggled the "ind, as did the notion o! taking the ti"e to "ark all o!those parts.

had also noti#ed in the past "y boss, the "usi# dire#tor o! the "a or or#hestra wasworking !or at the ti"e, had no need !or his own pri)ate library- he si"ply had a

photo#opy o! his own s#ores sent !ro" his ho"e to the or#hestra7s library. &hen, the

or#hestra7s e5pert library sta!! would re#on#ile e)ery "arking, bowing and edit in hiss#ore with the parts to be handed out to the players. 4hen you7)e seen this syste" ina#tion, it see"s rather a bad deal to ha)e to buy your own parts and "ark the" yoursel!,espe#ially when, unlike "y "illionaire boss, you are li)ing on li"ited resour#es.

'owe)er, o)er the years, noted that, indeed, "any o! "y senior #olleagues did ha)etheir own libraries, "eti#ulously edited and "arked, whi#h they sent around the worldwhere)er they #ondu#ted. ! #ourse, "y !or"er tea#her, a)id ;in"an, earned a greatdeal o! press re#ognition !or his early re#ording o! the <onathan el ar edition o! the=eetho)en sy"phonies. 4hen we had the opportunity to ask hi" at Aspen about the useo! the new edition, he in!or"ed us that he had used his own set o! parts whi#h he had

prepared !or this pro e#t, and that they were so "arked up that not "u#h o! el ar7s

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work #ould still be seen. 6&hey look like a !u#king ahler sy"phony, was histypi#ally short reply.

sn7t this business o! "arking up parts rather naughty> ot ne##essarily- depends on the"arkings. *houldn7t we ust be able to put those ni#e 3rte5t parts on the stands and let

the players get on with their obs>

%or a )ariety o! reasons, probably not. ost i"portantly, notation has #hanged sin#e=eetho)en7s ti"e. =eetho)en wrote what he wanted the audien#e to hear, not what the"usi#ians needed to do to a#hie)e that e!!e#t. ahler and later #o"posers use notationto tell the "usi#ians what they need to do to "ake the "usi# sound as he wishes.odern players are trained to read "usi# as instru#tions, not as soni# representation ?6see a !orte, there!ore play a !orte as opposed to 6 see a !orte, there!ore reali e a!orte @, whi#h "eans one #an sa)e a lot o! ti"e and e!!ort in !rustration in rehearsal by"arking in details o! balan#e and arti#ulation that are needed to "ake sure that theaudien#e hears what the #o"poser "eant the" to.

! #ourse, balan#e and arti#ulation issues )ary !ro" hall to hall and or#hestra toor#hestra. A #ouple o! years ago did =eetho)en with two di!!erent or#hestras 2weeks apart using bowings had battle tested se)eral ti"es be!ore. &o "y surprise, !ound needed to "ake "any #hanges ea#h ti"e to what had done in the past and to"ake #hanges !ro" band one to band two to suit the per!or"ing spa#e and the playingstyles o! the two strings se#tions. ! had been using "y own parts, it "ight ha)e been(uite !rustrating !or "e.

'owe)er, this brings "e ba#k to "y initial !eeling o! 6oh shit- 7ll ne)er be able to dothat when it was suggested should build "y own library. )en as a string player with"any years o! or#hestra playing under "y belt, !ind that really knowing e5a#tly what want to "ark in a string part- not ust the bowings but also arti#ulations and anydyna"i# tweaks- is so"ething that needs many years and many performances to sortout. &here are ideas that work wonder!ully with one group on#e, but ne)er again, andideas that work e)erywhere, e)ery ti"e. deally, want "y parts to a =eetho)ensy"phony to only #ontain the se#ond type o! "arkings, and nothing e5tra that needs toget !i5ed or #ontradi#ted or that will get in the way o! a "ore natural or !resh reading.? t7s worth di!!erentiating between ha)ing one7s own bowings, whi#h is a #o"ple5 issuein itsel!, and ha)ing one7s own parts, by the way. 7)e kept bowing "asters o! "ost

pie#es 7)e done !or a long ti"e, but that7s not the sa"e thing as ha)ing a uni!or"ly

"arked set@

&weaked o)er ti"e, a #ondu#tor7s personal library be#o"es inseparable !ro" their own"usi#al identity. re#ently read an inter)iew with harles a#kerras in whi#h hedes#ribed how he #a"e to start his own library. 'e stu"bled on a distributor going outo! business and bought all the sets a)ailable at a )ast dis#ount, then was able to spendthe ne5t se)eral de#ades "arking and editing his own "aterials. 'e des#ribed it as ali!e-#hanging, #areer-"aking episode. )en as new editions be#a"e a)ailable, it was

pre!erable to re#on#ile his e5isting parts with the new s#holarship than to repla#e the"with the new edition. =ee#ha" was !a"ous !or not needing nor wanting "u#h rehearsalti"e, yet his re#orded per!or"an#es are !ull o! i"pe##able balan#es and the "ost

pre#isely udged arti#ulations- e)erything was "eti#ulously "arked in his parts

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?although don7t know i! any o! his =eetho)en parts looked like 6a !u#king ahlersy"phony. @

3se!ul as it is to ha)e your parts "arked be!ore rehearsal and to ha)e the "usi#ianslooking at "aterials whi#h are as #lose as possible to what you7re trying to a#hie)e, it is

perhaps ust as use!ul to ha)e the parts ba#k on your desk a!ter the #on#ert. t was greatha)ing "y own set o! parts !or the !irst ti"e to =eetho)en 2 with the * in April, bute)en better getting the" ba#k a!ter the #on#ert and ha)ing ti"e to go o)er the" with the"e"ory o! the rehearsals and #on#ert !resh in "y "ind ?this brings us to another topi#-the )alue o! studying A%& a #on#ert- so"ething we all struggle to budget ti"e !or,

but whi#h is in)aluable@. &hink what kind o! shape they7ll be in a!ter 10 per!or"an#esBPerhaps they will start to look like a 6!u#king ahler sy"phony.

)en in a long #areer, it helps to ha)e help- this is ti"e #onsu"ing work. re#ently readan inter)iew with arin Alsop7s 6personal librarian. ow that7s what needB=ee#ha", who was a )ery wealthy "an, didn7t need to hire a personal librarian- hislong-su!!ering wi!e "arked his parts !or hi". see" to re"e"ber that the sa"e wastrue o! 'arnon#ourt7s wi!e as well. 7)e #are!ully "entioned this to *u anne se)eralti"es, but to no a)ail. 'owe)er, we now ha)e a sonC. n !a#t, there7s a librarian intown whose daughter used to work !or his #o"pany and is now working !or the == .Perhaps i! you need a good library assistant, you should breed the" yoursel!> ! *a"gets a pen#il and eraser !or his 8 th birthday, $!tp readers will know why.

n#e de#ided to start building a library in earnest and had the resour#es to do so, wanted to start with "ost #entral pie#es in the repertoire- the =eetho)en sy"phonies,the last !our o art sy"phonies and the like. ther #hoi#es are "ore personal. t is keyto "y se#ret plans !or world do"ination to re#ord the *#hu"ann sy"phonies, so a"gradually a#(uiring those parts. ! #ourse, in addition to ha)ing one7s own "arkings inthe parts, another good reason to own your own parts is to !inally be !ree o! #rapeditions and to !inally stop getting to rehearsals and !inding out that the woodwindsha)e letters, the brass ha)e rehearsal nu"bers and the strings ha)e bar nu"bers, or that

people are playing !ro" 2 di!!erent )ersions o! the sa"e pie#e. &he new =reitkop!*#hu"ann parts are not as good as they #ould possible ha)e been ?there are so"e lousy

page turns and the riti#al notes aren7t up to snu!! and it see"s like the editor has notspent "u#h ti"e with the Autograph or with the lara *#hu"ann edition, basing hisedition instead solely on the !irst edition@, but they7re )ery good and a )ast, )asti"pro)e"ent on the old edition. &hey7re easy to read, ni#ely printed and user-!riendly

in ter"s o! bar nu"bers. Dikewise, the =arenreiter o art parts !ro" the A ? eueo art Ausgabe@ are great- easy to read and easy to rehearse with.

4ith =eetho)en, we now ha)e a #hoi#e o! wonder!ul editions. t wasn7t always so. &heold =reitkop! edition was and is pretty good, but the "any di!!erent reprint editions?Eal"us, Du#ks, =roude, et#@ o!ten had/ha)e in#o"patible bar nu"bers and editorialinsertions. &he last ti"e did =eetho)en 8 it was using an#ient =roude =rothers partsthat were a disaster- lots o! naughty little #hanges and a "i5ture o! parts o! di!!erentsi es and ones with and without bar nu"bers. A night"are, really.

ot so this ti"e- 7" ust !inishing editing "y new set o! parts in the new =reitkop!

3rte5t edition edited by Peter 'aus#hild. &here are so"e interesting #hanges !ro" theold =reitkop! grew up with as well as the el ar whi#h did a !ew years ba#k, but

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"ost i"portantly, they are well printed and pro!essionally presented. 7)e written be!ore about the two "ain 3rte5t =eetho)en editions and will do so again as the year un!oldsand roll out "ore o! "y own sets, and you #an read "ore about the =reitkop! here . *o!ar, #an tell you that 7" using

*y"phony 1- 3nde#ided. a#tually use the 'enle edition o! the s#ore edited by Ar"inaab, rather than the li)e =rown or el ar, and "ay end up buying those parts, buta" also intrigued with =rown and o! #ourse el ar is always good

*y"phony 2- li)e =rown/=reitkop!. id !ind a !ew wrong notes, but otherwisewonder!ul and user !riendly.

*y"phony F- el ar. othing against the other editions- 7)e been doing this pie#e!ro" the el ar edition !or too "any years to #hange now, and it7s the =eetho)ensy"phony tend to need the "ost tweaks in- ad usting to a new edition would takeages.

*y"phony G- el ar. a#tually !ound a !ew things in "y parts this su""er that wasn7t happy with that would ha)e been better in the 'aus#hild, but that7s the beauty o!owning the parts- you #an !i5 what you don7t like.

*y"phony - 7)e used both li)e =rown and el ar re#ently. pre!er =rown inse)eral pla#es and appre#iate his pre!eren#e !or "aking a)ailable )ariant )ersions wherethere is legiti"ate #on!usion o)er =eetho)en7s !inal intentions, where el ar see"s to

pre!er to be de!initi)e. &he el ar parts, on the other hand, are "ore user !riendly, parti#ularly where page turns are #on#erned. ha)en7t yet bought this one, but 7"leaning towards =rown.

*y"phony H- *tay tuned- 7" doing it this *pring and will start looking at "y optionsthen. 7)e done it in the old edition and in el ar, but don7t know the new =reitkop! atall. ! any o! "y #olleagues ha)e #o"pared a)ailable editions and ha)e thoughts, pleaseshare.

*y"phony I- el ar. 4onder!ul edition and (uite used to it now.

*y"phony 8- 'aus#hild/=reitkop!. 3sing !or the !irst ti"e in a !ew weeks, and ust!inishing editing the". $ery happy so !ar. Probably went !or it o)er el ar partly

be#ause was a little annoyed that the el ar Gth

used in <uly wasn7t as good as 7dhoped ?although the riti#al otes, as always with el ar, are )ery interesting andopinionated@.

*y"phony 9- 'a)en7t bought yet. id it last with el ar and was happy, but a"intrigued by 'aus#hild ?it was the last one he did in the series@.

ther works "ay ha)e to wait- 7" doing =rah"s G again this year, whi#h would be agreat pie#e to ha)e in "y library. 'owe)er, there is a new riti#al edition in progressand only the !irst 2 sy"phonies ha)e been released. t see"s silly to in)est in a 90 yearold reprint edition when #an wait !or so"ething better. guess that has been the

general lesson 7)e learned o)er the years- there is no hurry to these things.

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%or now, it is ba#k to =eetho)en 8. &he strings are done, and ha)e to "ake so"ede#isions about the winds. &here are a lot o! balan#e proble"s in the 1 st "o)e"ent o!the sy"phony, perhaps be#ause the pie#e was written with an enor"ous string se#tion in"ind ?the pre"iere used FH )iolins, 1G )iolas, 12 #ellos, I basses and doubled winds- a!a#t o!ten o)er looked by those who #lai" he pre!erred s"aller or#hrestras@. 4ith a

huge string se#tion, so"e o! the balan#e proble"s do go away ?depending on how "u#hdoubling you do in the winds@, and "y ne5t per!or"an#e is with a large string se#tion?albeit with non-doubled winds@, so "aybe this ti"e don7t need those balan#e tweaks.e"e"ber, the goal is only to "ark what is needed e)ery ti"e, not what "ight beneeded or e!!e#ti)e one ti"e.

Ah yes- and the other goal> ould it be to "ake your =eetho)en parts look like a6!u#king ahler sy"phony> *tay tunedC..

Ah yes, the gla"our ne)er stops here at $%&P ntl.

3P A& - 7" sorry that the original )ersion o! this post didn7t ha)e any o! the rele)antlinks. think that7s been !i5ed now.

J laine %ine on August 11, 2009 at 1: 1 p" said:

&hank goodness !or your integrity. &here is nothing en oy "ore, or#hestral-playing-wise, than a #ondu#tor who knows what is in the "usi#ians7 parts, and #an use rehearsalti"e to rein!or#e those "arkings rather than to in)ent the". t really sa)es ti"e, both inrehearsal and o)er the long run.

7" wondering how you !eel about using #olors in s#ores. ha)e seen so"e a#ade"i##ondu#tors use s#ores with all kinds o! bright #olors to indi#ate what is happeningwhere, but, ne)er really ha)ing the in-the-!lesh #han#e to see a pro!essional #ondu#tor7ss#ore ?and so o!ten being in the or#hestra, where it is out o! pla#e to ask@, 7" taking thisopportunity to do so.

J Pingba#k: 6&hey look like a !u#king ahler sy"phony K arking Parts L ri#dberg

J Eenneth 4oods on August 12, 2009 at 11:28 a" said:

'i laine, and thanks !or the #o""ent. t7s always great to hear !ro" youB. 7" agnosti#about #olored "arkings in s#ores- was trained to use red and blue pen#il and tohighlight "eter #hanges. stopped using the highlighter a!ter about a year when anothertea#her told "e "y s#ore o! D7'istoire looked like it had been de#orated with le"on

pie, but still use red and blue !or )ery #o"ple5 s#ores where really want todi!!erentiate the i"portan#e o! #ontrapuntal )oi#es ?*#hoenbergs use o! 'auptsti""eand ebensti""e bra#kets does the sa"e thing, and 7)e used that as well@. =ernsteinne)er went anywhere without his 6reddi-blue pen#il- sa"e with *olti. thers, like

Deinsdor! and asur, re!use to "ark anything in their s#ores. At the end o! the day, itshouldn7t be a substitute !or learning the "usi# properly, but neither should )anity

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pre)ent you "arking so"ething that would ha)e helped you do a beter ob. &here7s awhole post on this topi# here ?(uite a bit o! o)erlap with this post, un!ortunately@-http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/200H/10/F1/s#ore-"arking/7" against using too "any other highlighters, or ust sla)ishing highlighting the entiresolo )iolin part o! the *ibelius !iddle #on#erto in purple. t see"s a"ateurish, but i!

that7s what is needed, then !ineB

&here is also o)erlap here on the sub e#t o! bowings, whi#h is one should elaborate onin "u#h "ore detail-http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/12/08/"ailbag-bowings-and-s#ore-study/

&hanks again !or the #o""ent

=&4- eaders will note the use o! the ;in"an (uote in those and other pie#es on this blog. t is house editorial poli#y to use that (uote as o!ten as possible. A "aestro o! hisuni(ue stature #an take a little ribbing, thinkC

J Paul '. uller on August 12, 2009 at 9:FF p" said:

An orderly set o! parts #an "ake a = M di!!eren#e. ha)e seen whole rehearsalsdestroyed be#ause the brass se#tions had rehearsal nu"bers and the strings "easurenu"bers and the woodwinds neither. *o we spend 20 "inutes where e)eryone is"arking in "easure nu"bers but o! #ourse so"eone isn7t paying attention and then getslost !irst ti"e through the pie#e. 7)e had "issing "easures in "y part, notes in thewrong key and illegible "eter "arkings. &he whole thing degenerates into the#ondu#tor saying things like: 6 E, you see the double bar line a!ter the piu "eno"osso> 4e7re starting two bars ba#k !ro" that. t should be "arked NA7 in the strings or"easure 1G2 in the brassC

ha)e seen ele#troni# "usi# stands where the parts are on a s#reen. &hat would see" to be the ulti"ate answer K e5a#tly the right thing is in !ront o! e)eryone K no pen#ilsre(uiredB

J ;oltan on August 21, 2009 at 11:0 a" said:

=ut this "ust be the !irst ti"e the ;in"an (uote was used O!ourO ti"es in OoneO post.

<ust !or that, lo)e this postB

?#an7t wait to hear his ahler 8th ne5t yearB@

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J Eenneth 4oods on August F0, 2009 at I:G p" said:

%ro" lint ieweg ?e"eritus librarian, Philly r#h, #o-!ounder, DA@ )ia e"ail-

Een,ay re-post this on the D group list> t has e5tre"ely )aluable in!or"ation !orlibrarians and #ondu#tors to read. ? agree with e)ery word@.lint ieweg

J Eenneth 4oods on August F0, 2009 at I:G p" said:

%ro" =ernard Eee!e on r#hestra Dibrary n!o list-

worked with =ee#ha" on se)eral broad#asts and #an assure you that the parts were"arked by his librarian, =rown!oot.&his ad"irable and tireless "an was so de)oted to his "aster and so )ersed in his"ethods and style that he #ould "ark the

parts o! a new pie#e without troubling the great "an, espe#ially when he was dealingwith "arital proble"s. &he pi#ture o! &=7s wi!eor rather one o! his wi)es "arking parts is, shall say, (uaint. &he bowings were

pro)ided by the e"inent )iolist, Dionel &ertis.

*e#tion bowing is a relati)ely "odern de)elop"ent. 4hen the =erlin P #a"e toDondon in the 20s, #riti#s #o""ented on the unusualsight o! all the players in a se#tion bowing.as one. *o"e years ago #ondu#ted ukas7sopera Ariane et =arbe-bleu. ne or two o! the partshad #o""ents:7 4hat a "asterpie#e7 and so on, with little sket#hes o! !he #ondu#tor K&os#anini. =ut there was not a single bowing "ark addedto the printed part. 4as this 1911 or !or the studio per!or"an#e o! e5#erpts in the =

period>

Een "ight ponder a rue!ul re"ark heard !ro" a #o"poser K i! the bowings o! a=rah"s sy"phony had been agreed by the #o"poser, <oa#hi" and the #on#ert-"aster o!the $ienna Philhar"oni#, the ne5t #on#ert"aster would want to #hange the".

=ernard Eee!!e in Dondon

J Eenneth 4oods on August F0, 2009 at I:GH p" said:

E4 responds )ia r#hDib n!o

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'ow !as#inating to hear !ro" =ernard about his personal e5perien#es working with=ee#ha" and =rown!oot. &hank you !or weighing in. y in!or"ation on =ee#ha"#a"e!ro" two o! "y tea#hers who worked as his assistant at )arious ti"es- hope?and a" !airly #ertain@ ha)e not "is(uoted the", and a" guessing that their

e5perien#es with =ee#ha" si"ply o##ured in di!!erent parts o! his #areer- be!oreor a!ter working with =rown!oot. &hey7re both de#eased now, so #an7t !ollowup, 7" a!riad. 'ow lu#ky to ha)e a =rown!oot as a #olleague. n any #ase, the

pri"ary point o! "y post is not how a set o! parts e)ol)es ?who does the bowings, who "arks the parts@, but why- to sa)e rehearsal ti"e, to !o#usrehearsal ti"e and to !a#ilitate work at a higher le)el.

ha)e heard "any si"ilar #o""ents to that about =rah"s, <oa#hi" and the 6ne5t#on#ert"aster, and ha)e #ertainly obser)ed the pheno"enon during "any years asan or#hestral "usi#ian. 'owe)er, there is !ar "ore to "arking a set than si"ply"arking bowings, and e)en bowings are "arked in pen#il !or a reason- thesethings always e)ol)e. onetheless, i! your bowings are e!!e#ti)e at getting the"usi#al results you are a!ter, "ake sense instru"entally and are true to the"usi#al te5t, 7)e ne)er seen an or#hestra that wouldn7t try the" or that didn7trespe#t the #are and preparation that went into the".

&hanks

E4