critical notes

By A-R's house editors

Composers and notators throughout history have employed a variety of notations to indicate repetitions of musical passages, from repeat barlines to first and second endings to more complicated verbal instructions like da capo al fine or dal segno al fine. Here are some tips for handling various types of repeat notation in A-R’s house style.

By Esther Criscuola de Laix

What are critical notes? Well, many of our editions say that “critical notes describe rejected source readings” or “differences between the source and the edition” that are not otherwise covered by the editorial methods. It sounds straightforward enough. Yet many volume editors find this to be one of the most fiddly and confusing parts of the editing process. So, here are some dos and don’ts to help dispel the confusion.

By A-R's house editors

Three types of editorial intervention occur in the process of critical editing, and there are distinct ways that these interventions are shown in the edition. 

By Alexander Dean

A further investigation into accidentals in modern editions of early music, this post deals with the challenges presented by various sources, and how the editor might go about choosing from the available options.

By Alexander Dean

Dr. Andrew Levin’s edition of a viola concerto by a certain Joseph Schubert presented a unique editorial challenge: how to identify and account for the various versions of the piece evident in the surviving performance parts, and how and whether to incorporate the overlapping manuscript markings, especially in the solo viola part. In this case, the additions to the solo part were probably made by the performer, and the performer may have been Schubert himself.

Resolving these questions meant delving into the heart of what makes a critical edition worthwhile. What are the responsibilities of the editor, and what are the opportunities afforded by a source situation such as this? How much can be notated in the score, and what should be relegated to the critical commentary? And for what is in the score, is there a clear way to set off different layers of notation without sacrificing clarity and readability?