Purposeful Accidentals

By Pamela Whitcomb

Developing an editorial policy for accidentals can be tricky business, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Converting from archaic conventions to modern ones often means prioritizing either form or function: form-based approaches favor editorial transparency, while function-based approaches prioritize clarity of content.

Here are two brief passages from Giovanni Maria Ruggieri’s opus 5 cantatas (1706), transcribed with the accidentals and barlines as they appear in the source.

Example A

Example B

In this source, barlines are generally irrelevant to determining the duration of a given inflection. Instead, an accidental was assumed to apply only to immediately repeated pitches or to later pitches in passage work during the same harmony. The cancellation of a previous accidental could be signaled, then, by a change of pitch or harmony, intervening rests, or the lack of an accidental renewing the inflection.

For a modern critical edition, the accidentals need to function according to modern conventions,^[i] with the duration of accidentals ruled by the barline, but there are several ways to approach that modernization process. A proper editorial method for accidentals will include a statement about whether modern conventions apply in the edition, the treatment of source accidentals, the conditions under which editorial accidentals are added and how they are presented, and the treatment and presentation of cautionary (courtesy) accidentals.

Three possible approaches are presented below, along with a sample statement for the editorial methods section of the edition. Each method statement begins the same way, noting that modern conventions apply, then itemizes the editorial practice in these situations:

1. When an accidental in the source is rendered redundant when read according to modern convention.
2. When an accidental needs to be added editorially according to modern convention.
3. When a cautionary accidental is given in the source.
4. When a cautionary accidental is deemed necessary by the editor.

The sentences pertaining to these situations are identified by number in the sample paragraphs that follow.

Approach 1: Form Over Function

Editorial method statement: All accidentals in the edition function according to modern conventions (they remain in effect through the measure unless cancelled). [Nos. 1 and 3:] However, all accidentals given in the source are shown in the edition, even if unnecessary according to modern conventions. [Nos. 2 and 4:] Editorial accidentals are shown in brackets; these accidentals are added whenever necessary according to modern conventions, such as on repeated pitches after a barline, cancellations within a measure, cautionary accidentals in ambiguous situations, etc.

Example 1A

Example 1B

This method favors editorial transparency, in that it both clearly shows all source accidentals and explicitly marks all accidentals added by the editor. It also results in more accidentals appearing in the score than strictly necessary under modern conventions, which sometimes results in visual clutter (e.g., ex. 1A, mm. 2 and 3). This method is one that works exceptionally well in early repertoires, up to about the mid-17th century. It can be used with or without ficta accidentals, as needed.

Editors who prefer a functional approach will criticize this method because the reader might infer from the bracketed accidentals that the composer or copyist was “in error” at that point, and that the editor has “fixed the mistake.” However, that conclusion could only be reached by a reader who had not looked at the editorial method statement (which, I will grant, might be the typical reader).

Approach 2: Balanced Form and Function

Editorial method statement: All accidentals in the edition function according to modern conventions (they remain in effect through the measure unless cancelled). [Nos. 1 and 3:] Accidentals given in the source that are rendered redundant by modern conventions are tacitly removed. [Nos. 2 and 4:] Editorial accidentals are shown in brackets; these accidentals are added whenever necessary according to modern conventions, such as on repeated pitches after a barline, cancellations within a measure, cautionary accidentals in ambiguous situations, etc.

Example 2A

Example 2B

Here the editorial method addresses the clutter of approach 1 by removing redundant accidentals. But because the original version applied accidentals according to harmony rather than barlines, some sticky situations do arise, namely in measure 2 of example 2A, where some editors will balk at the removal of the source accidental on note 5 once it is rendered redundant by the editorial accidental needed at note 1. Editors will have to decide what to do in these situations:

1. Allow the accidental to be suppressed, as done in example 2A.
2. Adjust the editorial method to always retain the first source accidental (on a particular pitch) in a measure, even if an editorial accidental on the same pitch is needed earlier in the measure.
3. Adopt a method that would allow the editor to move the accidental on note 5 to note 3 with a critical note. In this case, example 2A would have no brackets on the flat on note 3, and the critical note would read “M. 2, Voice, note 3, flat moved from note 5.”

This method usually works well for seventeenth-century music, especially if the harmonic language is not especially chromatic or modal.

Approach 3: Function over Form

Editorial method statement: All accidentals in the edition function according to modern conventions (they remain in effect through the measure unless cancelled). [No. 1:] Accidentals given in the source that are considered redundant or superfluous according to modern rules are tacitly deleted. [No. 2:] In situations in the source where an accidental is not reiterated after a barline but would have been understood as still in effect, the necessary accidental is added tacitly in the edition. Likewise, in situations in the source where the lack of an accidental indicates the cancellation of a previous accidental, the cancelling accidental is added tacitly in the edition. [Nos. 3 and 4:] Cautionary accidentals (those redundant with the key signature) given in the source are retained only if deemed helpful, and those added by the editor are given in parentheses.

Example 3A

Example 3B

The editor using this approach is taking complete control of the interpretation of the accidentals in the source and fully realizing their presentation according to modern conventions—the edition presents the function of the accidentals of the source, but not their appearance in that source. Because these adjustments are being made silently in the edition, the reader will not be able to determine the original configuration of the accidentals in the source. Therefore, this approach works best for repertories in which the interpretation of accidentals is not typically controversial. It is also the most clutter-free approach of the three presented here.

Priorities and Pitfalls

When editing from sources with pre-modern conventions for accidentals, one priority will usually result in something else being sacrificed. For approach 1, transparency causes clutter. In approach 3, there is very little clutter, but the reader cannot reconstruct the original. Approach 2 bridges the gap but is not without its own difficulties.

Does the editor favor transparency, because the reader will sometimes interpret ambiguous situations differently? If so, then there will probably be more accidentals on the page than strictly necessary, and the number of bracketed accidentals will not be insignificant. There is a danger of not seeing the forest for the trees.

Does the editor favor notational clarity, because the interpretation of accidentals is not controversial? Then the resultant editorial method will be one of translation rather than transcription and annotation, and some information will necessarily be lost in that process.

 Pamela Whitcomb is Director of Music Publishing at A-R Editions and is also a veteran house editor.