![]() ![]() Footnote 4 The implications of this lingering tendency will be assessed later. In discussing four different types of digital edition – scholarly edition, e-score database, downloadable files of a self-publishing composer, and a vendor's self-publishing service – Lisa Hooper noted in 2013 the propensity of users to print the material for practical purposes, ‘utterly defeating the original intent’ by ‘taking the “e” out of e-score’. Footnote 3ĭespite the potential advantages of digital formats, what might be called a ‘print to play’ tendency remains widespread, partly because the online distribution of music in the form of PDF files continues in large part to define how musicians engage with digital scores. Footnote 2 George Litterst struck a more positive note a year later when outlining the practical benefits of digital sheet music, including ‘the ability to replace an entire room full of print materials with a single, handheld device’ search, highlighting and annotation features ease of access control over the size of text copy-and-paste functionality enhanced readability in low light hands-free reading and ‘audio-interpretation of the text’. He speculated that this regrettable state of affairs could be variably attributed to musicologists’ disappointment with information and communications technology after ‘so many failed promises’, a lack of maturity in the available technology, and a perception that DEMs were of ‘limited use’. On the face of it, digital editions of music (hereafter DEMs) have come a long way since 2009, when Frans Wiering lamented an ‘almost complete’ lack of attention within musicology to ‘more radical possibilities for innovation’ beyond ‘currently accepted practices such as the use of music notation software for the preparation of scores, the online distribution of music in PDF format or even the interchange of score data in some encoded format’. Two ostensibly conventional editions of nineteenth-century music serve as case studies demonstrating how the notorious limitations of the printed page might be transcended more effectively and propitiously. I then encourage the development of a ‘digital edition concept’ with the potential to effect more creative engagement with music on the parts of instrumentalists and singers alike. To that end, the first part of the article surveys a selection of digital editions both in general and from the standpoints of different types of performer. Footnote 1 This article evaluates current digital editions of music in terms of their value to performers in particular, and in doing so it seeks to clarify and, to some extent, align more closely the respective priorities of researchers on the one hand and practical musicians on the other. At the same time, it is important to recognize and respect musicians’ need for a fixed version of the score on given performance occasions, even if it is bound to be superseded thereafter.Įven a cursory glance at Stanford's ‘Digital Resources for Musicology’, Princeton's ‘Guide to Online Music Sources’ or similar websites reveals the existence of a huge number of digital scores ranging from manuscripts and early imprints to contemporary art music and jazz, intended for a commensurately broad spectrum of users. Only by moving conceptually beyond the stasis of ‘the material medium’ and harnessing the dynamic flux of the digital medium can the dynamic flux inherent in music itself best be captured. Instead, in developing future DEMs for performers, the aim should be to take fuller advantage of the affordances of the digital medium so that musicians can engage with and make music all the more creatively. The conclusion is that digital editions of music (DEMs) are unlikely to replace printed editions and that wholesale replacement should not be the goal in any case. Two ostensibly conventional editions of nineteenth-century music serve as the basis of case studies that show how the notorious limitations of the printed page might be transcended more effectively and propitiously. Consideration is then given to a new ‘digital edition concept’ which might achieve more creative engagement with music on the parts of instrumentalists and singers alike. ![]() To that end, the first part surveys existing digital editions of music both in general and from the standpoints of different types of performer. One of the aims of this article is to clarify and align more closely the respective priorities of researchers and practical musicians in using music notation. ![]()
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